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No. 3 Notre Dame hands No. 8 Kentucky its first loss

Dec 18, 2011 - 9:37 PM South Bend, IN (Sports Network) - Natalie Novosel scored 23 points, while Skylar Diggins recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 assists as No. 3 Notre Dame defeated No. 8 Kentucky, 92-83.

Devereaux Peters also had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Lady Irish (10-1), who have won seven straight games.

Samantha Drake scored 21 points and A'dia Mathies netted 17 points for Kentucky (10-1), which played just its second true road game of the season.

Notre Dame took control early and built a 26-17 advantage after Natalie Achonwa made a jumper with eight minutes left in the opening half.

Kentucky fought back and took its first lead when Samarie Walker made a layup to make it a 28-27 game with under five minutes to go.

But the Lady Irish responded by outscoring the Lady Wildcats 19-12 the rest of the half to take a 46-40 lead into the locker room.

Mathies tied the score at 62 midway through the second half with a three- pointer, but the Lady Irish went on an 8-2 spurt to make it 70-64 after Diggins made a layup.

Once again, Kentucky clawed back and took a 75-74 lead with just over five minutes to play when Drake converted a layup.

The Lady Irish, though, countered again with an 11-0 run capped by a Peters layup for an 85-75 lead with 2 1/2 minutes to go. They held on for the win from there.