The luck of the Irish took its toll on the OU women’s basketball team Saturday as Notre Dame stunted the OU offense en route to a 78-53 Irish win and Elite Eight berth.
Oklahoma ended Notre Dame’s run through the tournament in the final seconds of overtime last year, but the Fighting Irish did not need extra time for this year's revenge.
Notre Dame was 9-of-18 from the 3-point line, where OU went 1-of-11 after making 11 in Tuesday’s win over Miami (Fla.).
All-American senior guard Danielle Robinson ended her career at OU with 16 points and 3 assists, but the Wade Trophy finalist turned the ball over seven times.
As a team, OU committed 24 turnovers — indicative of the Sooners' offense all game.
And that offense quickly turned ugly for OU in the first half.
The Sooners had 11 points in the first five minutes — leading the Fighting Irish 11-9 — but Notre Dame went on a 25-6 run to bury the Sooner offense.
Notre Dame senior guard Brittany Mallory usually averages 6.6 points per game, but she surprised the Sooners with 12 points and three steals in the first half.
Robinson had numerous looks at the basket but could not convert, going 2-of-9 from the field with four turnovers.
Notre Dame’s largest lead of the half was 19 points, 34-15.
With five seconds left in the first half, Robinson made her second field goal — the Sooners’ first in more than seven minutes — to enter the locker room down, 34-17.
OU scored four quick points out of halftime, breathing some life into its offense.
The largest comeback in NCAA history was in 2008, when OU came back from a 26-point deficit against California; however, that wasn’t in the cards for OU this time around.
The Sooner surge was short-lived, and OU trailed by no less than 13 for the remainder of the game. Notre Dame opened up another 19-point lead, 58-39, with 9:57 remaining.
The Fighting Irish’s largest lead was 27, 78-51, coming with 1:48 to play. The only sour spot of the stat sheet for Notre Dame was 26 total turnovers.
Mallory did not cool off for the Irish in the second half. She finished with 20 points, going 6-of-10 from the 3-point line.
OU’s leading scorer was freshman center Nicole Griffin with 18 points but just three rebounds. The Sooners were outrebounded as a team, 47-24.
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