Box score
SOUTH BEND, Ind.- In the very first game at the newly-renovated Purcel Pavilion, the fourth-ranked University of Indianapolis women’s basketball team dropped a 97-53 exhibition contest versus Notre Dame. The official attendance climbed to 7,508, a new Notre Dame women’s basketball record for an exhibition contest.
Facing a tough 1-3-1 three-quarter-court press, the Greyhounds got off to a slow start, thanks in part to seven turnovers in the opening seven minute. To make matters worst, last year’s second-leading scorer
Jessica Canary (Coatesville, Ind./South Putnam) picked up two quick fouls before the first media timeout.
With Canary’s minutes limited, UIndy leaned on junior
Samantha Meissel (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute North) on the offensive end. The All-GLVC first teamer scored the team’s first four points to tie it at four.
The opponents traded runs from that point, starting with an 11-0 rally for the Irish. UIndy answered with a 10-2 run of its own, including holding its host scoreless for three minutes. The surge, capped by a three-pointer from senior
Katie Dewey (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central), brought the Hounds to within three at 17-14 with under 10 minutes to play.
The turning point of the half came on the next Notre Dame possession after the the Irish caught a break after banking in a near-baseline triple. With her shot closely contested by
Cayla Keegan (Castalia, Ohio/Margaretta), 2009 Naismith National High School Player of the Year Skylar Diggins pulled up from long range and somehow got her shot to fall after it grazed the backboard.
The Irish went on to outscore the Hounds 25-8 the rest of the half. The Greyhound turnover total reached 16 in the opening 20 minutes as the score stood at 42-22 at the break.
Meissel led the Hounds with 10 points at intermission, followed by Dewey’s six.
Coming out of the half, Canary made her presence felt right away, earning her first points by following a Dewey steal with a three-pointer on the Hounds’ first second-half possession.
Meissel earned a steal and later hit a jumper to trim the margin to 15, but the Irish scored seven straight to remain the momentum.
Later at the 12-minute mark, a three from Dewey made it 63-40 Irish. The shot would mark the start of a lengthy field drought for UIndy, however, as the Hounds would not connect from the floor over the next seven minutes, allowing Notre Dame to pull away.
All 11 Greyhounds finished with at least 10 minutes of playing time. Dewey had a team-high 16 points, while Meissel finished with 12.
Indianapolis wraps up exhibition play with a game versus 2009 Atlantic 10 regular-season champs and 11th-ranked Xavier Saturday. Tip off from the Cintas Center is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST.
Notes: Tuesday night’s game was the UIndy is ranked No. 4 in the Division II Bulletin Preseason poll…The Greyhounds have nine letterwinners returning from a team that finished 24-10 and made the school's first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance last year... Notre Dame ranks fourth in the Division I Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll and was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll behind defending-national-champion Connecticut…ND is now 30-1 (.968) in exhibition games since 1993-94, including an active 25-game preseason winning streak.