No. 20 Notre Dame 85, Providence 54

1/30/2008 9:08 PM

By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -The first time Notre Dame pressed full-court, Providence guard Kendria Holmes threw a long pass to Mi-Khida Hankins for an easy layup.

It was the only basket for the Friars in a span of nearly 7 minutes as the 20th-ranked Fighting Irish used a 20-2 run to take control Wednesday night en route to an 85-54 victory.

Notre Dame (16-5, 4-3 Big East) forced Providence into a season-high 29 turnovers, including 23 steals - the most by the Irish in 13 years and one shy of the Big East record.

Irish coach Muffet McGraw credited forward Devereaux Peters for giving the Irish a spark off the bench. Peters had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, but McGraw said it was Peters' play on defense that was key even though she had just one steal and one blocked shot.

``She just brings instant energy. She helps us to press,'' McGraw said. ``She rebounds. She got some baskets. She immediately comes in the game and is a huge difference in how we're playing. We're running more, we're pressing more, we're rebounding more.''

Providence coach Phil Seymore said it was the worst his team has played against a press.

``Once they started pressing, that just changed the game and changed our approach in how we attacked offensively,'' he said. ``I expected us to take care of the ball a little better than we did.''

The Irish who gave up 81 points against DePaul and Connecticut to lose back-to-back games at home for the first time in five years, had little trouble in improving to 16-0 all-time against Providence (11-9, 1-6).

The Irish scored 34 points off Providence turnovers, outrebounded the Friars 45-32 and outscored them inside 38-28.

``They really pounded us inside,'' Seymore said.

Notre Dame started slowly, making just one of its first 10 shots to fall behind 9-3. But Tulyah Gaines got the Irish going with a steal, behind the back dribble and layup to ignite the 20-2 run.

``I thought she played really hard and got us going a little bit,'' McGraw said. ``Then the press finally kicked in and we were able to get some turnovers for baskets.''

Lindsay Schrader had 15 points for the Irish, Peters and Charel Allen had 12 points each and Gaines and Melissa Lechlitner added 10 points. Allen also had a career-high six steals and Gaines and Ashley Barlow added four each. Hankins led Providence with 15 points and Shantee Darrian had 10.