Notre Dame Loses Another Big Lead And Falls To Syracuse
Notre Dame proved it is talented enough to build yet another big lead over one of the league's top teams, but as has been the case for much of the season, the Irish once again struggled down the stretch as they fell to Syracuse 81-69.
Notre Dame got off to a slow start, missing five of their first six shots and turned the ball over four times as the Irish fell behind 11-4. Notre Dame clawed their way back into the game, tying 15-15 on a Mikayla Vaughn layup, and her free throw gave the Irish their first lead of the game.
That is when the Irish offense caught fire, and Notre Dame outscored the Orange 15-0 to end the opening quarter. Sophomore forward Sam Brunelle fueled the first quarter surge, scoring nine points in the opening stanza.
Notre Dame went 11-17 in the opening quarter and knocked down 19-33 shots in the first half as they took a 44-34 lead into halftime. Ten Notre Dame turnovers and Syracuse knocking down six triples allowed the Orange to stay within striking distance.
The Fighting Irish found themselves in a very familiar fourth quarter position, and what is watching a double-digit lead wither away. The hot shooting that was behind Notre Dame leading by double figures for much of the first three quarters disappeared, and the Irish went just 2-10 from the field as Syracuse battled back to take a 71-69 lead with 3:29 left in the game.
To make matters worse, Brunelle came up limping after that go-ahead bucket and it wasn't until Syracuse took a commanding 76-69 lead that Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey could get a timeout to stop the bleeding.
Yet another turnover out of the timeout did Notre Dame in, and the Irish failed to get back on track as Syracuse maintained its lead and pulled out the victory.
Notre Dame failed to score a single basket in the final 4:23 of the game, as a 69-67 lead turned into an 81-69 defeat.
Brunelle finished the game with a season-high 19 points. Maddy Westbeld scored 12 points and Destinee Walker added 11. Notre Dame freshman Olivia Miles got her first career action, and the five-star recruit scored four points, had two rebounds, two assists and three steals in just 14 minutes of action.
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