Jan. 16, 2005
By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Jacqueline Batteast had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Megan Duffy scored 17 of her 19 points in the first half to lead Notre Dame over Purdue 86-69 on Sunday.
Seventh-ranked Notre Dame (14-3) rebounded from a 17-point loss to No. 16 Connecticut, winning easily and beating No. 20 Purdue for the first time since the 2001 NCAA championship game. The victory ended a four-game losing streak to Purdue.
The Boilermakers (10-6), beaten by 20 points on Thursday by No. 11 Minnesota, lost back-to-back games for the first time since December 2001, when they lost to the Irish and LSU.
It was the 36th career double-double for Batteast, tying her with Ruth Riley for second place on Notre Dame's career list. Teresa Borton added 18 points, and Notre Dame outscored the Boilermakers 38-24 in the paint.
Erin Lawless led Purdue with 16 points, Katie Geralds had 14 and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton and Emily Heikes had 10 points each.
The Irish led 54-38 at halftime, scoring four more points than they had in the entire game against UConn. Duffy was 4-of-4 shooting in the first half, including three from 3-point range, and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Batteast added 15 points in the half.
Purdue opened a 25-21 lead when Lawless hit a 3-pointer midway through the first half. But the Boilermakers, who were shooting 50 percent at that point, went 5-of-14 the rest of the half while the Irish went 9-of-14.
Duffy started the run with a pair of 3-pointers. Batteast hit Notre Dame's sixth 3-pointer of the half with 5:09 left, giving the Irish a season high for 3s. Notre Dame went 6-of-7 in the first half and 0-for-1 in the second half.
The Irish made seven free throws in the final 63 seconds to take a 16-point halftime lead - matching their biggest of the season.
Purdue cut the lead to 62-51 when Heikes stole the ball and hit a fast-break layup with 14:32 left. But Duffy answered with a pair of free throws, Borton scored inside and Tulyah Gaines scored on a 15-foot jumper as the Irish regained control, leading by 21 points late in the game.
Notre Dame forced 21 turnovers, leading to 29 points.
The six losses for the Boilermakers are the most at this point in the season since they had six by Jan. 5, 1997, when Purdue finished with a 17-11 record.