Notre Dame had a decent start on the road against No. 9 Louisville on Sunday, ending the first quarter trailing, 18-16. But the Irish (10-16, 5-9) had a rough going in the second and third quarters as the Cardinals (23-3, 12-2) outscored them, 49-24, en route to an 82-49 loss.
The Irish scored eight unanswered points in 90 seconds during the first quarter to gain an 8-4 lead. That advantage grew to 12-10 as the Irish made six of their first eight shots. However, it was all Louisville after that first quarter as it went on a couple of sustained scoring runs that made it impossible for the game to become competitive. Such things happen when one team clearly is outmatched by the other.
Mikayla Vaughn led the Irish with 16 points and tied with Sam Brunelle and Katlyn Gilbert for the team lead with six rebounds. Destinee Walker played all but 27 seconds and scored 12 points to go with a team-high three assists.