Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Ogunbowale leads Notre Dame rout of Louisville (Feb 6, 2017)

Published Feb. 6, 2017 9:54 p.m. ET

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AP

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Muffet McGraw said Monday night's second quarter against Louisville was the best her Notre Dame team has played this year.

The No. 7 Irish forced turnovers on four of the 12th-ranked Cardinals' first five possessions of the second quarter, part of a larger 22-4 first-half blitz that turned a deficit into a big lead.

Arike Ogunbowale scored 22 points and the Irish ran away with an 85-66 win, their sixth straight.

''I was so thrilled with the turnovers,'' McGraw said, but she didn't mean Louisville's. The Irish (22-3, 10-1 ACC) set a school record with just three turnovers, their first not coming until the 1:22 mark of the third quarter.

''No turnovers at halftime, I thought there was a mistake on the stat sheet,'' McGraw said. ''That was a really well-played game.''

Lindsay Allen added 15 points and her eight assists moved her past Skylar Diggins into second place all-time at Notre Dame.

Freshman Jackie Young had 16 points and seven rebounds, four on the offensive glass, in what McGraw said was her best game this year.

''She's really coming along,'' McGraw said. ''I've been waiting for this game.''

Kathryn Westbeld contributed 14 points and Brianna Turner had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Irish.

''I feel like this is the first time we've put two halves together,'' Turner said. ''We played the full fourth minutes and didn't let down.''

Asia Durr scored 31 points to lead Louisville (20-6, 7-4), which has lost two straight. Mariya Moore added 18 points and seven rebounds.

Louisville cut the Notre Dame lead to 12 with 6:28 to play, but consecutive jumpers by Allen and layups by Ogunbowale with just over three minutes left kept the Irish cushion comfortable.

The Irish defense got their early spurt going by forcing nine Louisville turnovers in the first half. The Cardinals finished with 16 miscues, which led to 25 Irish points.

''You just can't do that,'' said Louisville coach Jeff Walz. ''That was one quarter of basketball that we played poor and you can't do that when you play a team like this.''

BIG PICTURE

Louisville: The Cardinals lost to Notre Dame for the 10th straight time, and haven't beaten the Irish since 2009.

Notre Dame: Since losing their first ACC regular season game ever to open conference play, the Irish have run off 10 straight conference wins.

WALKING WOUNDED

After missing Sunday's loss at North Carolina State with a knee injury, Louisville's second-leading scorer and top rebounder, Myisha Hines-Allen, came off the bench against the Irish, but played just one minute in the first half and did not score.

Louisville starting point guard Briahanna Jackson managed just five scoreless minutes due to back spasms.

''We've got to figure out a way to find some people to step up,'' Walz said. ''We just didn't have that tonight.''

UP NEXT

Louisville: The Cardinals, in the midst of three games in seven days, travel to Virginia Tech on Thursday.

Notre Dame: The Irish host Georgia Tech on Sunday.

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