Ogunbowale becomes all-time Irish scorer in rout of Duke

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Arike Ogunbowale scored 25 points to become Notre Dame’s all-time leading scorer as the fifth-ranked Fighting Irish routed Duke 89-61 on Thursday night.

Ogunbowale hit 11 of 19 shots as she passed South Bend native Skyler Diggins-Smith’s 2,357 points scored from 2009-13 for coach Muffet McGraw. Ogunbowale now has 2,371.

Her jumper, after a steal, over Duke’s Haley Gorecki at the free-throw line with 8:49 remaining in the second quarter swished through the basket and took her past Diggins-Smith, who was in Dallas awaiting the birth of her first child.

Notre Dame had a video tribute for Ogunbowale at the media break following the basket that delighted the crowd of 8,399 in the Purcell Pavilion.

Jessica Shepard had 24 points (on 10-of-19 shooting) and 10 rebounds — her 11th double-double of the season and 51st of her career that started at Nebraska — for the Irish (25-3, 12-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). Brianna Turner had her seventh double-double of the season — 21 points and 15 rebounds — and three blocks on the historic night for their teammate.

Miela Goodchild scored 26 points with the help of a freshman school-record eight 3-pointers to lead the Blue Devils (11-14, 3-10 ACC), who lost their third straight. Leaonna Odom scored 12 points and Jade Williams 10 as Notre Dame held Duke leading scorer Haley Gorecki to six points, 12 under her average.

Ogunbowale finished with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the first half as the Irish used a 16-0 run at the end of the second quarter to forge a 52-25 halftime lead. Interestingly, Notre Dame got two points from Mabrey, who contributed four steals and six assists, and none from Jackie Young in the first half.

The spurt reached 22-0 as Notre Dame took a 58-25 lead with the first six points of the third quarter. Duke, which last scored at 5:07 of the first half, finally scored at 6:18 on a Jade Williams layup with 6:18 to play – a drought of 8:49 without a basket.

Notre Dame’s 22-0 run was its 36th of 10 points or better this season. The Irish, meanwhile, had not allowed a 10-0 run by an opponent this season until Goodchild’s long 3-pointer completed a 12-0 run by the Blue Devils that cut a 62-32 Irish lead to 62-44 with 37 seconds remaining.

However, Ogunbowale’s layup at the buzzer gave the Irish a 64-44 lead heading into the final quarter.

BIG PICTURE

Duke: The Blue Devils, whose last victory was an 85-69 triumph on Feb. 7 over the same North Carolina team that beat Notre Dame 78-73 on Jan. 27 in Chapel Hill, had just eight players dressed because of injuries. Coach Joanne P. McCallie’s squad shot just 39.3 percent (11 of 28) in the first half and just 28.6 percent (4 of 14) in the second quarter and committed 12 turnovers.

Notre Dame: Coming into the game trailing Diggins-Smith by 11 points, Ogunbowale made sure she wouldn’t have the record on her mind when she scored 10 points in the first quarter on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2 of 3 3-pointers. After her first basket, however, she came up with a steal, raced down the floor and missed a layup.

UP NEXT

Duke: Sunday at Wake Forest.

Notre Dame: Monday at No. 18 Syracuse.