11Notre Dame 73 - 66 Florida State
Final
  for this game

No. 2 Notre Dame makes 10 3's to defeat No. 12 Florida St

Feb 23, 2016 - 4:37 AM TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) After being the nation's top 3-point shooting team for most of the season, Notre Dame had struggled beyond the arc for a month.

The second-ranked Fighting Irish were able to get back on track Monday night, making 10 of 20 3-point attempts in a 73-66 victory over No. 12 Florida State.

''We sloughed off a little bit in some games but we're back now. I thought we shot it really well,'' Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said.

The Irish (26-1, 14-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) came into the game fourth in the nation in 3-point percentage at 40.6 percent. But in seven games after making 11 against Syracuse on Jan. 21, they had shot 28.3 percent from the perimeter. It is the fifth time this season Notre Dame has had 10 or more 3s in a game.

''We were just on. A lot of it was Bri (Brianna Turner),'' said Michaela Mabrey, who had three 3s. ''They just focused on her and we found ways to exploit them. We did a good job of finding each other.''

Madison Cable, who came into the game third in the nation in 3-point percentage, had 13 points and seven rebounds but was 1 of 5 from 3-point range.

Turner had 15 points and six rebounds as Notre Dame extended its winning streak to 19 games.

The Irish made seven of their first eight 3-point attempts as they led by as many as 19 points late in the second quarter. Florida State (21-6, 11-3) cut it to 24-19 on a layup by Kai James when the Irish scored 14 straight points, including four consecutive 3-pointers. The Seminoles closed the half with four straight points to trail 43-28.

Florida State cut it to single digits early in the fourth quarter and got within 62-55 on a layup by Ivey Slaughter with 9:03 remaining but Notre Dame scored five straight to end any momentum. A 3 by Maria Conde made it 71-66 with 7.8 seconds left.

Perimeter defense has been a problem for Florida State over the past three games as opponents have gone 30 of 74 from the outside. The Seminoles shot 38.1 percent from the field (24 of 63), which is their worst in an ACC game this season.

''We had a couple missed assignments but I thought we locked in on defense after halftime,'' coach Sue Semrau said. ''The way we shot the ball was uncharacteristic. We got great looks but didn't knock them down.''

Slaughter led Florida State with 15 points and 10 rebounds, which is her third double-double of the season. Shakayla Thomas added 14 points as the Seminoles saw their 31-game home winning streak snapped. It was the third-longest in the nation.

STAT LINE

Notre Dame: Lindsay Allen had a career-high 11 assists. The junior guard, who scored six points, leads the ACC in assists, averaging 5.6 per game. Her previous career high was nine.

Florida State: James had all eight of her points in the second quarter as Florida State had a 30-26 advantage on points in the paint. ... The Seminoles led for most of the first quarter and were up 13-8 before the Irish closed the quarter with a 9-2 run.

TIP-INS

Notre Dame: The Irish have won all five meetings against Florida State by an average margin of 14.6 points.

Florida State: The Seminoles are 1-4 against ranked opponents and have dropped both games to teams in the Top 10. Last season Florida State set a school record with six wins over ranked teams, including two in the Top 10.

UP NEXT

Notre Dame hosts Clemson on Thursday.

Florida State travels to North Carolina State on Thursday.

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Follow Joe Reedy at twitter.com/joereedy. His work can be found at http://collegebasketball.ap.org/journalist/joe-reedy






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