Douglas Lifts Purdue Over Notre Dame

Katie Douglas, who sat out Saturday’s game against Indiana State because of a knee injury, scored 21 points and had a career-high eight steals to lead No. 18 Purdue over No. 7 Notre Dame, 71-61, Wednesday night at West Lafayette, Ind.

“I felt I could be effective on the court,” Douglas said. “The decision was on me. Toward the end of the game I took a couple of fouls and it was getting a little sore.”

Camille Cooper added 19 points, and Kelly Komara had 16 points for the defending national champion Boilermakers (6-1). It was their ninth victory over the Irish in 11 games.

Niele Ivey led Notre Dame (4-2) with 17 points, and Ruth Riley added 11, and Ericka Haney had 10.

Purdue broke a 48-48 tie with 9:57 left on Michelle Duhart’s layup and outscored the Irish, 23-13, in the final 10 minutes. Purdue Coach Kristy Curry credited the Boilermaker defense in forcing 24 Notre Dame turnovers.

No. 1 Connecticut 88, Seton Hall 45--Sue Bird made three-point shots to start and end a 13-point run late in the first half as the Huskies won a Big East opener at South Orange, N.J. Connecticut (7-0) closed the game with a 26-3 run in its last game until Dec. 23, when the Huskies play host to UCLA. Arminda Moreno had 13 of her 15 points in the second half for Seton Hall (3-3).

Drake 90, No. 9 Iowa State 86--Freshman Carla Bennett scored 21 points and the Bulldogs withstood Stacy Frese’s school-record 10 three-point shots to win at Des Moines. Drake (3-3) led by eight with 8 1/2 minutes left, then held on as Iowa State (4-2) missed some key shots down the stretch. Stephanie Schmitz and Haley Sames each scored 18 points for Drake, which shot 61.3% (19 for 31) in the second half and 55.7% for the game. Frese was 10 for 18 on three-point attempts, finishing with a career-high 34 points. Frese and Tara Gunderson had the previous school record of eight three-pointers.

No. 12 Texas Tech 66, New Mexico 59--After sitting out most of the first half with foul trouble, Plenette Pierson scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half to lead the Lady Raiders (6-0) at Albuquerque. New Mexico (4-4) took its final lead at 45-40 on a jump shot by Jordan Adams. But Texas Tech ran off seven consecutive points, five by Pierson, to make it 47-45.

No. 13 Rutgers 58, Pittsburgh 52--Tasha Pointer made six free throws in the final 1:34 to lead the Scarlet Knights at Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers (4-2) built a 24-point lead midway through the second half, then survived a barrage of three-point shots and a 24-1 run by Pittsburgh (4-2) in the Big East opener for both teams.

No. 16 Penn State 78, La Salle 64--Katrena Carr’s 14 points and Helen Darling’s 12 points and 12 assists helped lift the Nittany Lions at Philadelphia. Penn State (5-2) went on a 19-2 run after Shannon McDade of La Salle (4-3) tied the score, 40-40, early in the second half.

No. 20 Duke 70, No. 24 Virginia Tech 61--Georgia Schweitzer’s 27 points helped the Blue Devils hold off a strong second-half run at Blacksburg, Va. The Hokies (5-3) trailed, 40-26, at halftime but cut the lead to one with 3:35 left. Duke’s Krista Gingrich made a three-point shot to extend the lead to four, then Duke (7-1) finished by outscoring the Hokies, 14-9, over the final three minutes. Amy Wetzel led the Hokies with 22 points.