The Notre Dame women’s basketball team (6-8, 1-1) kicked off 2020 with a 60-52 over now 3-10, Pitt. Destinee Walker helped lead the way with with sixteen points, five of which proved to be huge in the stretch run.
Mikki Vaughn tied her career high of 17 points and nearly earned a double-double with nine boards while Anaya Peoples earned her third double-double in the last four games with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
How It Happened
The opening quarter saw the teams play to an 8-8 draw before the Irish got off to a much quicker start in the second. Midway through the period, the Notre Dame offense found a little rhythm, recording a stretch in which they made 5-of-6 from the field to take a 24-18 lead before Peoples drained a jumper at the buzzer, to give the Irish a 30-22 halftime lead, in large part due to the 17 turnovers they forced in the first half.
Notre Dame flew out of the gate to start the second half, going on a 7-0 run, with five points coming from Walker. An 8-0 run by Pitt later in the quarter kept things closer than anyone associated with the Irish would have liked, but ultimately they still took a 46-36 lead into the final frame.
A quick fourth quarter start for Pitt saw them cut the Irish lead to three before the Notre Dame weathered the storm and closed things out. Leading by five with 23 seconds left, Walker came up big again with a crucial steal which translated to two Irish free-throws from Walker, as the grad transfer helped seal the victory.
The women return to the court Sunday afternoon when they’ll take on 7-6 Syracuse.