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No. 2 Notre Dame women beat Duke 83-54 in ACC quarterfinals

Mar 4, 2016 - 10:39 PM GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) Second-ranked Notre Dame started its third Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with a dominating show of balance and depth.

Freshmen Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale each scored 14 points in the Fighting Irish's 83-54 win against Duke in Friday's quarterfinals. Five players reached double figures while giving plenty of rest to the starters.

''I think everybody knows everybody's strengths, everybody knows what their role is, and they play it very well,'' Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. ''They don't try to do too much, they do exactly what they're supposed to do. So when they get the ball, everybody knows what's going to happen next, and I think that's important.''

The top-seeded Fighting Irish (29-1) shook off a slow start to build a double-digit lead by midway through the second quarter en route to an easy win. Notre Dame led by 15 at halftime and by 31 from there, continuing its three-year dominance of the league since joining the ACC in 2013-14.

Notre Dame improved to 55-1 against ACC opponents during that time, including 7-0 in the league tournament. The Fighting Irish advanced to play No. 21 Miami in Saturday's semifinals.

Azura Stevens scored 19 points to lead the eighth-seeded Blue Devils (20-12), who shot just 32 percent. They were without No. 2 scorer Rebecca Greenwell, who missed her second tournament straight game with a back injury. That left Stevens as one of two double-figure scorers for Duke compared to the Fighting Irish's overwhelming balance, which had nine players score by halftime.

''It's a tough one,'' Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said. ''I'm very proud of this team, but we know we could have played better. It's not the feeling that we want to have.''

Notre Dame blew the game open with a 16-2 run, fittingly with five different players scoring, to take a 35-15 lead with 3:41 left before halftime. Then after Duke closed within 13 early in the third quarter, Notre Dame ran off a 12-0 burst to make it 51-26 with 5:38 left.

Notre Dame shot 47 percent and scored 19 points off turnovers while committing just seven turnovers to begin its stay in Greensboro.

''It's a really important stepping-stone going into the NCAA Tournament,'' senior Hannah Huffman said. ''If you have a good tournament here, it helps really build us up and gives up some really solid momentum going into the (NCAAs).''

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TIP-INS

Duke: Oderah Chidom had 11 rebounds. .. Kyra Lambert had 12 points. ... Duke fell to 1-9 all-time in the tournament against No. 1 seeds. ... Duke had its lowest seed since checking in at No. 9 in 1993.

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish took a 44-32 rebounding advantage and scored 20 second-chance points. ... The Irish blocked seven shots. ... No starter played more than 29 minutes.

STEVENS' HEALTH

Stevens, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, played 35 minutes a day after scoring 14 points in 36 minutes against Virginia in her return from a partially torn plantar fascia in her left foot.

So how did her foot feel?

''I'm sure you can imagine how it is,'' she said. ''It's sore, but I'll be back.''

DUKE'S RESUME

McCallie thinks Duke should be in the NCAA Tournament field, adding that Greenwell will be back.

''We played one of the hardest schedules in the country,'' she said. ''We played away at a lot of great programs. I think this team has done amazing things. We have one of the best players in the country on our team.''

UP NEXT

Duke: Awaits word from selection committee whether it will play in the NCAA Tournament.

Notre Dame: Will face No. 21 Miami in Saturday's semifinals.

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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap