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Notre Dame has little trouble cruising past Louisville

Feb 12, 2013 - 4:42 AM South Bend, IN (Sports Network) - Monday's Notre Dame-Louisville matchup was not nearly as dramatic as the men's game between the schools on Saturday, as the second-ranked Fighting Irish rolled through the No. 10 Cardinals, 93-64, for their 18th straight victory.

Two days after Notre Dame's men's team outlasted Louisville in a five-overtime Top-25 thriller on the same floor, the women Fighting Irish made sure there was no doubt this one ended in regulation.

Natalie Achonwa recorded 22 points and 12 rebounds and Skylar Diggins chipped in 21 points with seven assists in the rout. The pair combined to shoot 17- of-24 (71 percent) from the field.

The Irish (23-1, 11-0 Big East) had three more double-digit scorers, as Kayla McBride scored 15 points, Jewell Loyd had 12 and Ariel Braker followed with 10 as they improved to 7-1 against ranked foes this season.

Louisville (20-5, 8-3) came in sporting a six-game winning streak and the fourth best scoring defense in the Big East, but allowed Notre Dame to shoot a scorching 57 percent from the field.

Bria Smith and Antonita Slaughter netted 18 and 16 points, respectively, in defeat.

Notre Dame never trailed and used a 15-3 run late in the first half to turn a three-point lead into a comfortable 37-22 cushion following a Michaela Mabrey bucket with under 4 1/2 minutes on the clock.

It was a 46-35 at the break, and Achonwa's putback early in the second half capped a 15-2 flurry that stretched the margin to 63-42.

The Cardinals never threatened from there in dropping their sixth straight meeting with the Irish.

With the win, the two-player senior class of Diggins and Kaila Turner set the program's highest four-year win total by a senior class with 118.