• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Notre Dame blasts Syracuse to stay unbeaten

Feb 9, 2014 - 11:09 PM South Bend, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Jewell Loyd hit on 9-of-11 field goal attempts in a 23-point effort that carried second-ranked Notre Dame to a 101-64 rout of Syracuse, which matched the Fighting Irish's best-ever start to a season in program history.

Kayla McBride and Michaela Mabrey added 18 points each to Notre Dame's 23rd consecutive victory, tying the 2000-01 national championship team for the most to begin a campaign. The triumph also extended the Irish's school-record regular-season winning streak to 46 games overall.

Natalie Achonwa tallied 14 points in just 17 minutes for Notre Dame (23-0, 10-0 ACC), which led from start-to-finish and dominated the Orange in every phase.

Loyd netted seven points and McBride had five during a 14-2 game-opening run for the Irish. A minute later Notre Dame owned a double-digit advantage and held it the rest of the way, and shot a scorching 61 percent in the first half to claim a commanding 61-28 advantage at the break.

McBride tallied 16 points prior to the intermission and Mabrey buried four first-half 3-pointers in a period where the Irish held a lead as large as 37 points.

Brittney Sykes topped Syracuse (17-7, 6-5), which connected on just 32.8 percent of its field goal tries and committed 24 turnovers, with 14 points. Rachel Coffey finished with 12 in defeat.