Quick Start Leads #3 Notre Dame Over FSU In Women's Basketball Exhibition

Notre Dame, Ind. - Defending NCAA Division I National Runner-Up Notre Dame proved it will be a worthy championship contender as the Fighting Irish beat the Ferris State University women's basketball squad 92-32 in exhibition play on Wednesdy (Nov. 5) evening at Purcell Pavilion inside the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind.

The Fighting Irish, ranked third in the preseason national polls after reaching the national championship game for the third time in four years last season, jumped out to a decided early advantage and led 58-11 at halftime.

However, the Bulldogs continued to battle in the second half and were outscored just 34-21 over the final 20 minutes. FSU also posted a better field goal percentage than the Irish in half two.

Notre Dame forced 32 Bulldog turnovers and outrebounded the smaller FSU lineup by a 51-30 count for the game. The Irish also tallied 18 steals and 10 blocked shots to nine thefts and one swat for FSU.

Junior guard Katie Mavis paced the Bulldogs with a team-high 10 points while FSU also received five points from senior forward Heidi Highstreet along with four by senior center Christina Branch and senior forward Ashley Rando.

Five Notre Dame players reached double-digits led by All-American Jewell Loyd with 20 points. Mychal Johnson added 15 points, freshman Brianna Turner scored 13 points, Michaela Mabrey totaled 12 points and Taya Reimer netted 10 points.

Both Reimer and Turner, who were the nation's McDonald's National Players of the Year at the high school level the last two years, notched double-doubles with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.

For Ferris State, Branch led the way with a team-best six rebounds.

Notre Dame shot a blistering 61.1% in the opening half before being held to 35.3% shooting in the second period to finish at 48.6% overall. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs shot only 10.7% in half one, but came back to hit on 36% of their shots in the second half to wrap up the game with a 22.6% shooting figure.

Ferris State was four-of-14 (28.6%) from three-point range and four-of-five (80%) at the line compared to Notre Dame's seven-of-18 (38.9%) three-point effort and 17-of-22 (77.3%) charity line showing.

Notre Dame totaled 50 points in the paint and also owned a 38-6 edge in points off turnovers. They also outscored FSU 17-4 in second chance production.

Wednesday's matchup was the second-ever meeting between FSU and Notre Dame as the two teams previously met in an exhibition game in 2005 at the Joyce Center.

Ferris State will play its final exhibition game against another NCAA Division I opponent in Toledo (Ohio) on Saturday (Nov. 8) with tipoff set for 12 p.m. (ET) in Toledo, Ohio. FSU opens the regular-season on Nov. 21 against Kentucky Wesleyan in Nashville, Tenn.