As the halftime buzzer sounded, senior Charel Allen hit a 3-pointer to give Notre Dame the 48-42 lead and the momentum to pull off a 104-86 win over Georgetown Saturday in Washington, D.C.
Allen, who finished with 14 points, was one of seven Irish players to score double digits and help the Irish break 100 points on the road for the first time in school history.
Notre Dame emerged from the locker room in the second half with a six-point lead and never looked back. The Irish shot 72 percent from the field in the second half en route to their victory over the Hoyas. The game gave the Irish a chance to do what they do best - run the ball.
"We were trying to run, we like to run, push the ball and transition," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. "We just had a lot more opportunities than we usually have, we got a lot of layups."
At the 12:50 mark in the second half, freshman Brittany Mallory hit a 3-pointer off a fast break that started the Irish on a 24-10 rush over the Hoyas. Mallory led the Irish in scoring, going for 14 points in what McGraw called "her career night." The freshman guard hails from Baltimore and drew home support at Saturday's game.
"We had a really big crowd with Brittany being from here and Devereaux Peters having a lot of family," McGraw said. "The Notre Dame Club [of Washington, D.C.] really turned out for us too, so we probably had more fans then [Georgetown] did, which was nice. That really helped us."
The game wasn't all about big numbers from the Irish. Hoya Kieraah Marlow had a career-high 34 points and finished with 13 rebounds. Kristin Heidloff and Meredith Cox also aided in Georgetown's drive, posting double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Marlow's performance demonstrated a need for improvement in the Irish defense.
"We've got a lot of work to do defensively," McGraw said. "Marlow had a career night for Georgetown tonight."
One key defensive area for the Irish is limiting the number of fouls they commit. Peters fouled out with 4:46 left in the second half and Ashley Barlow finished the game with four. Notre Dame allowed 22 fouls on the game, giving the Hoyas the opportunity to go 17-for-25 from the line.
But going 68 percent from the line wasn't enough to keep Georgetown in the game as Notre Dame already lead 91-73 when Peters fouled out. Despite reaching four fouls, Barlow, shone on offense as she lead the Irish with 21 points.
"Ashley Barlow was really outstanding," McGraw said. "She was our leading scorer, and she really shot the ball extremely well offensively."
Erica Williamson, Lindsay Schrader, Melissa Lechlitner and Becca Bruszewski rounded out the seven Irish players to reach double figures, combining to give Notre Dame a huge offensive win.
