Notre Dame went into Monday’s sport towards Duke ranked because the nation’s No. 1 group for the primary time this season.
It appeared very a lot the half whereas dismantling one of many nation’s higher groups. The Preventing Irish cruised to a 64-49 win at residence towards the No. 11 Blue Devils to open their reign because the nation’s high group in convincing trend.
Duke put up a struggle by way of the primary half as Taina Mair’s 11 factors helped hold the Blue Devils inside a single possession as Notre Dame took a 29-27 lead into the break. However the tone of the sport shifted dramatically after halftime.
Notre Dame opened the second half with a 17-1 run to grab management of the sport. Duke did not rating its first area purpose of the half till Jadyn Donovan secured a layup with 4:04 remaining within the third quarter. By then, it was too late. The bucket minimize Notre Dame’s result in 46-31, and the Preventing Irish by no means let the Blue Devils again into the sport.
Hannah Hidalgo led the Notre Dame effort with 19 factors, 4 assists and three steals. Sonia Citron added 15 factors, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Notre Dame managed the glass with a 41-28 rebounding benefit that included 15 offensive boards. The Irish restricted the Blue Devils to a 1-of-9 (11.1%) effort from 3-point distance whereas taking pictures 6 of 18 (33.3%) from past the arc themselves.
It added as much as a dominant effort by Notre Dame to safe its 18th consecutive win. The Irish misplaced back-to-back video games to TCU and Utah on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30 and have not misplaced since. Their résumé now consists of wins over then-No. 2 UConn, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Texas, No. 17 North Carolina, No. 17 Georgia Tech, No. 21 Cal and now No. 11 Duke.
Notre Dame transfer to No. 1 in the AP ballot on Monday following beforehand undefeated UCLA’s loss to rival USC final Thursday. It wasn’t a unanimous choice (16 votes) as No. 2 Texas (8) and No. 3 UCLA (6) additionally acquired first-place votes. However the Irish made a robust case on Monday that they belonged on the high as they now eye securing the No. 1 seed within the NCAA event.
That may seemingly take some extra work from the Irish, who have been ranked No. 4 behind No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 South Carolina and No. 3 Texas in the NCAA’s first early bracket reveal on Sunday.
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