NOTRE DAME, Ind. (AP) – Marina Mabrey scored 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting and No. 2/2 Notre Dame shot a blistering 69.8 percent in a 94-53 victory over WKU on Wednesday night inside Purcell Pavilion.
Arike Ogunbowale added 16 points, Jessica Shepard had 12 and Brianna Turner finished with 10 for Muffet McGraw's Fighting Irish (10-1), who visit No. 19 Marquette on Saturday.
Shepard, who made all six of her field goal attempts, has made 15 straight over three games going back to her final shot in a 72-56 victory at Toledo on Dec. 8.
As a team, Notre Dame twice shot 70.2 percent in victories over Xavier in 1985 and Mercer in 2011. The Irish made 37 of 53 against the Lady Toppers.
Raneem Elgedawy and Dee Givens scored 10 points each to lead the Lady Toppers (5-8), who were held to 30.4 percent shooting (21-of-69) and committed 21 turnovers by a variety of Notre Dame defenses. Notre Dame outrebounded WKU 38-29 and had a 12-5 edge in blocks, four by Turner.
Turner had two blocks on WKU's second possession and Notre Dame opened with an 8-0 run and finished with a 9-2 run for a 23-8 lead after the first quarter.
The Irish then turned up the defense and the offense followed as they hit their last 12 shots of the quarter to open up a 53-15 halftime lead.
Mabrey hit three 3-pointers and had 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting, while Ogunbowale had 12 points and Shepard had 10 points on 5-for-5.
The Irish took a 72-27 palindrome lead on a 3-pointer by Jordan Nixon and led 74-30 after three quarters thanks to 72.5-percent shooting (29 of 40).
WKU will return to the court next Saturday, Dec. 29, at 7 p.m. as the Lady Toppers welcome the top-ranked Division II team, Union (Tenn.), to E.A Diddle Arena. For the second time this season, the Lady Toppers will feature as the second half of a doubleheader alongside the Hilltoppers; the men's team will square off against Wisconsin at 4:30 p.m. earlier in the day.
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