Final
Notre Dame beats Tennessee by 28
Jan 24, 2012 - 2:56 AMVideo
Diggins missed four of her first five shots, but wound up hitting five three- pointers to go along with five assists, five rebounds and four steals in the lopsided win.
Peters donated 16 points and 16 rebounds, and Kayla McBride added 17 points for the Fighting Irish (20-1), who extended their winning streak to 17 in impressive fashion.
Meighan Simmons scored 13 points to pace Tennessee (14-5), while leading scorer Shekinna Stricklen was held to five points on 2-of-10 shooting.
The Lady Vols had won the first 20 meetings before falling to the Irish in the Dayton Regional Final of the NCAA Tournament last season. They had never lost in eight trips to South Bend, but that streak ended abruptly on Monday.
Notre Dame held Tennessee to just 7-of-35 shooting (20 percent) from the field in the first half, and its ability to score in the paint provided a 28-18 lead at the break.
The Irish connected on their first five shots out of the locker room, three coming from Peters as the margin grew to 39-21 less than three minutes into the second half.
Diggins' three-pointer four minutes later made it a 21-point game at 47-26, and the Irish never took their foot off the pedal.
Tennessee made just two field goals over the final seven minutes. It was the second worst loss in the program's storied history.
Notre Dame improved to 4-1 against top-10 teams this season.
- TENNESSEE: 44
NOTRE DAME: 72
Final
Jan 23 8:54 PM - TENNESSEE: 18
NOTRE DAME: 28
Halftime
Jan 23 7:47 PM - TENNESSEE: 0
NOTRE DAME: 0
1st Half - 20:00
Jan 23 7:03 PM - 63
roots
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