No. 5 Lady Irish easily rout Yellowjackets

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Coach Muffet McGraw thought No. 5 Notre Dame would benefit from a week off from the Atlantic Coast Conference grind. What she didn’t figure on was the break lasting another half against scrappy Georgia Tech.

Arike Ogunbowale overcame a first-half scoreless drought of nearly 17 minutes to finish with 27 points, leading the Irish to an 85-69 victory on Sunday.

“I thought (the layoff) would give us a mental break, but we weren’t as sharp as we needed to be in the first half,” McGraw said.

The Irish (23-2, 11-1 ACC) got past 15 turnovers and poor foul shooting in the first 20 minutes for their eighth straight victory.

Jackie Young scored 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting, Jessica Shepard had her eighth double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Kathryn Westbeld added 10 points.

The Irish hit 14 of 17 free throws after a 1-for6 performance in the first

No. 5 Notre Dame 85, Ga. Tech 69

half and forced Georgia Tech into 23 turnovers and an equal number of personal fouls.

“We had a plan, but they had to execute,” McGraw said. “A lot of the turnovers were good ideas that just went awry. We also buckled down defensively. (But) the ability to get the ball in Arike’s hands and into Jackie’s hands when we drive the ball was what really helped us in the second half.”

Kaylan Pugh had 13 points, Francesca Pan 12 and Chanin Scott and Kierra Fletcher scored 10 each for the Yellow Jackets (1511, 4-9 ACC), who were tied 39-all at halftime.

“I don’t think they’re used to seeing that kind of full-court pressure,” Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph said. “But they did a great job with the adjustments in getting the ball into Arike’s hands. She made plays, which is why she’s one of the best players in the country.”