Feb. 5, 2012

Box Score: Notre Dame 90, DePaul 70 | Postgame Notes | Photo Gallery 

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Jasmine Penny scored a career-high 24 points and Katherine Harry added 20 but it was not enough as No. 2/2 Notre Dame topped No. 23 DePaul 90-70 on Sunday at Purcell Pavilion.  The win was the Irish’s 20th straight.

Notre Dame (23-1, 10-0 BIG EAST) shot 58% from the field and was 8-of-9 from 3-point range. Natalie Novosel paced five players in double-figures with 21 points and was 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Skylar Diggins added 11 points and dished out a team-best 10 assists.

Harry complimented Penny’s performance in the paint by tying a career-high with 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds.  Harry also added two assists and three steals for DePaul (17-7, 5-5 BIG EAST).

The Blue Demons opened the game with a 4-0 lead after Harry made back-to-back layups.  Notre Dame answered with a 12-1 run and led 12-5 with 16:05 to play.  

DePaul responded to the Irish run and tied the game at 12 on Brittany Hrynko 3-pointer.  The freshman’s triple proved to be the Blue Demons only of the half as DePaul was just 1-of-7 from behind the arc in the first stanza.

Notre Dame put together a 13-0 run over the next 3:08 before a Harry layup ended DePaul scoring draught with 10:20 to play.

The Irish shot72% (23-32) including 6-of-7 from 3-point range and went to the locker room up, 56-31 behind 17 points from Novosel.

The second half saw DePaul outscore the Irish 39-34 with the Blue Demons shooting 48% from the field while the Irish cooled off and were just 12-of-28 for 43%.

Notre Dame took its largest lead of the game, 72-36 when Devereaux Peters converted a 3-point play with 16:05 to play.

DePaul answered with a 17-5 run which saw Anna Martin, Harry and Penny all contribute to the Blue Demon scoring burst.  Penny, who finished 8-of-9 from the free throw line, capped off DePaul’s run with a pair of free throws.

With the Irish’s lead down to 24 (77-53) the Blue Demons did not allow the Irish to lead by more than 26 the rest of the way.

Kelsey Reynolds, who is from Mishawaka, Ind. and playing in front of her hometown crowd, provided the Blue Demons a spark off the bench. The sophomore tallied six points, two assists and a steal all in the second half for the Blue Demons.

DePaul returns to the court on Wednesday when it hosts Villanova.  The 7 p.m. BIG EAST Conference clash can be seen live on Lakeshore Public Television with Dave Bernhard and Trish Babcock-McGraw calling the action.

Notes:  Jasmine Penny scored 20+ points for just the second time in her career… Penny has now led DePaul in scoring in four games…Katherine Harry tied a career-high with 20 points… Harry was 10-of-15 from the field… paced the floor with nine rebounds including seven on the defensive end… Harry now ranks ninth in DePaul’s record book with 706 career rebounds… Brittany Hrynko dished out a career-high nine assists… Notre Dame’s 90 points and 25 assists are the most by a DePaul opponent this season… DePaul still leads the all-time 19-17 while Notre Dame has won the last two series games… ND is now 10-6 in games played on their home court and has won three straight.