Arkansas-Pine Bluff 57, (7) Notre Dame 102

1 2 T
ARPB (0-2) 34 23 57
#7 ND (1-0) 58 44 102

Final

7:00 PM ET, November 15, 2009

Bruszewski (19 points) leads eight Irish players in double figures

ESPNChicago.com 
2009-010 Season
DATEGAMELINKS
· Nov 15, 2009 @ND 102, ARPB 57Recap | Box Score
Next 5 Games
ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF (ET) NOTRE DAME (ET)
11/18 @ARST 8:05pm
11/20 @MISS 12:00pm
11/22 @TTU 3:00pm
12/01 @UTPA 8:00pm
12/06 @ISU 1:00pm
11/19 @MSU 6:00pm
11/22 IONA 2:00pm
11/26 SDSU 3:15pm
11/27 @SCAR 1:00pm
11/28 OKLA 3:15pm
 · Complete Schedule: Arkansas-Pine Bluff | Notre Dame
Associated Press

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Coach Muffet McGraw was not as excited as the 9,080 fans about Notre Dame (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 4 AP) breaking the 100-point barrier at home for the first time in seven years in a 102-57 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday night.

"I don't care how many points we score," she said. "I'm looking at the other one, and 57 is just too many. That's where we're trying to emphasize. We can score. We've got a lot of depth. We've got a lot of people who can score. Defensively, that's what I'm looking for, who our five best defenders are."

Becca Bruszewski led eight Irish players in double figures as Notre Dame (1-0) dominated inside against the smaller Lady Lions (0-2), who surrendered 100 for a second straight game. Bruszewski consistently cut through Pine Bluff's 2-3 zone defense for baskets inside.

"I wasn't really hitting well from outside, so cleaning up inside and just staying in the paint," she said.

Ashley Barlow added 15 points, freshman Skylar Diggins had 14 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Shay Holmes led Pine Bluff with 14 points, Jasmine Abrams had 13 and Rekevia Brown scored 12.

The Irish opened the game up with their pressing defense, forcing 33 turnovers.

"We knew what it was going to be like before we got here, but not to that magnitude," Pine Bluff coach Cary Shelton said. "They just lure you into it. They just walk you right smack into it."

The Irish got caught up in the Pine Bluff tempo at times and had 27 turnovers of their own.

"We were a little sloppy ... a lot sloppy. We've got a lot of things to tighten up," McGraw said.

The crowd at the refurbished Purcell Pavilion was the biggest ever for an opening game for Notre Dame and the 14th largest ever.

"The crowd was electric from the start of the game," McGraw said. "It was almost deafening. I think it's going to be a great home-court advantage."


Women's Basketball Scores

Other Scores:

Sunday, November 15th
2 Stanford 81 Final
Rutgers 66
Bowling Green 72 Final
3 Ohio State 91
4 Baylor 65 Final
9 Tennessee 74
6 Duke 77 Final
16 Texas A&M 95
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 57 Final
7 Notre Dame 102
8 Oklahoma 51 Final
Georgia 62
10 Michigan State 71 Final
Detroit 62
South Dakota State 64 Final
11 Arizona State 73
Idaho State 43 Final
13 California 100
Centenary 19 Final
17 LSU 92
Manhattan 68 Final
18 Virginia 86
19 Louisville 65 Final
Dayton 63
Lehigh 54 Final
20 Vanderbilt 90
Western Illinois 37 Final
23 Purdue 70
Florida Atlantic 40 Final
24 Iowa State 80
North Dakota State 65 Final
25 DePaul 77