Turner, Irish come back to beat Duke (Jan 26, 2017)
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Brianna Turner had 25 points and 12 rebounds and No. 8 Notre Dame held off an upset bid by No. 14 Duke with a 62-58 victory Thursday night.
Lindsay Allen finished with 12 assists for the Irish (19-3, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who moved back into a first-place tie in the ACC with Florida State.
Lexie Brown scored 22 points to lead the Blue Devils (17-4, 5-3 ACC), who lost their 12th straight to Notre Dame.
Notre Dame took its first lead of the game, 40-39, five minutes into the second half on Erin Boley's jumper from the left of the lane.
After a Brown 3-pointer pushed Duke back in front, the Irish ran off six straight points to end the third quarter and make it 50-46 Notre Dame.
With the Irish up seven with five minutes to play, they burned 90 seconds off the clock thanks to a pair of Kathryn Westbeld offensive rebounds following Marina Mabrey 3-point misses at the end of the shot clock.
Westbeld was then rewarded by hitting a layup with 3:29 left, and her dish to Turner for a layup a minute later gave Notre Dame its largest lead, 62-51.
Duke scored the final seven points of the game, but ran out of time.
After playing just two home games since Dec. 7, the Irish began a stretch where they'll play six of their final nine regular season games at Purcell Pavilion.
The Irish never led in the first half, falling behind by nine in the first quarter, but Turner had 13 points through the first 20 minutes to help Notre Dame battle back to tie it, 35-35 at the break.
BIG PICTURE
Duke: The Blue Devils have yet to solve Notre Dame - in 15 games all time against Notre Dame, Duke has won just one.
Notre Dame: The Irish returned home for the first time in two weeks after three straight on the road, and improved to 27-0 in ACC play at Purcell Pavilion.
UP NEXT
Duke: The Blue Devils play four of their next five at home, beginning with Wake Forest on Sunday.
Notre Dame: The Irish welcome Virginia on Sunday.