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SOUTH BEND, Ind.—The No. 15 Notre Dame women’s basketball team turned 31 University of Evansville turnovers into 41 points Wednesday night en route to a 96-61 victory over the visiting Purple Aces at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Indiana.
After Evansville scored the game’s first three points on an old-fashioned three-point play by senior guard Ashley Austin, Notre Dame’s Becca Bruszewski hit back-to-back three-pointers after consecutive Evansville turnovers to grab a lead the Irish would never lose.
Notre Dame would score 18 of its first 27 points off of UE turnovers, as the Irish would build a 27-10 lead midway through the first half before eventually taking a 49-30 advantage into the halftime locker room. Bruszewski would lead Notre Dame’s first-half charge with 12 of her career-high 18 points.
“We knew going in that handling their pressure was going to be one of the keys to the game, and unfortunately, it seemed like we were back on our heels for much of the first half, and that led to the turnovers, which led eventually to the final score,” said UE head coach Misty Murphy. “I will give my team credit though. They continued to scrap and battle hard even after Notre Dame took the early lead. The Irish just out-worked us tonight, and we have to learn from this game and move on, because we have a tough game against Wright State coming up on Saturday.”
Evansville would remain within 19 points for the first 10 minutes of the second half, before a quick 7-0 run fueled by three UE turnovers pushed the Notre Dame cushion to 75-47 with 8:16 to play. Evansville would get no closer than that the rest of the way, as the Irish improved to 2-0 on the season in their home opener at the Joyce Center.
Honorable mention all-Big East guard Ashley Barlow paced five Irish players in double-figures with 19 points, including 11 in the second half. Guards Ashley Austin and Ashlee Barrett, and junior forward Anaris Sickles each totaled 10 points to lead Evansville, with Sickles grabbing a team-best seven rebounds. Notre Dame would hold a 41-7 edge in points off of turnovers in the contest.
With the loss, Evansville evens its record at 1-1. The Purple Aces will now return home to Roberts Stadium to host the Wright State Raiders (0-0), as UE will try to avenge a last-second loss in Dayton from last season. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. and the game will be the first game of a UE basketball doubleheader, with the men’s team hosting Buffalo at 7:05 p.m. Both games can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
