For the second time this week the Irish proved to be too much for a ranked Big East opponent as they defeated St. John's 69-36 in front of a sellout crowd.
Senior forward Devereaux Peters led the charge with the fifth double-double of her career, all of which have come in the last nine games. She finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the game.
"She's a lot more active for one thing," Irish coach Muffet McGraw said about Peters after the game. "I think she is really hitting the boards at both ends and is looking to score more and be a bigger offensive threat."
Senior forward Becca Bruszewski was also strong in the post, scoring 19 points for the Irish.
"I was happy with the rebounding," McGraw said. "Overall our inside game is really coming along."
Notre Dame (17-4, 6-1 Big East) got off to a hot start offensively and let its defense carry the team the rest of the way. St. John's (14-6, 3-4) shot 32 percent from the field for the game and was held to only 15 second-half points.
The Irish went on a 26-10 run over the last 14 minutes of the first half and extended that run even further in the second half, increasing their lead to 56-25.
The Red Storm scored only four points in the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Irish cruised the rest of the way.
"I was really pleased the defense today in both the first and second half," McGraw said. "We did a really good job with what we wanted to do."
The front court was the strength of the Notre Dame offense in the victory. They displayed their offensive balance this week as the guards led the way against Georgetown and the forwards dominated the post against St. John's.
The Irish played their second consecutive game without freshman guard Kayla McBride. The team announced before the game that she would not be playing for the remainder of the season due to an off-the-court issue.
Notre Dame will have the week off to rest before traveling to Villanova Saturday night.
