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No. 3 Irish Roll 105-51 Over UMass Lowell; Turner Sets Freshman Record

By Nicholas D. Blazek

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Brianna Turner figured the best way to make her debut at Notre Dame was to put her name in the record book. The Fighting Irish freshman put on a display in her debut, scoring 29 points to help the No. 3 Irish to a 105-51 win against the UMass Lowell Redbirds.

Turner dropped 22 points in the first 13 minutes as the Irish were up by 30 with just under seven minutes to play in the first half, 43-13. The 6-foot-3 forward finished with 29 points and nine rebounds, in what coach Muffet McGraw called a “phenomenal” performance.

"“She plays like she practices,” McGraw said. “She does that every day in practice so it’s not surprising that she does it in the game. She’s just going to keep getting better.”"

The Irish (1-0) got off to a 14-0 lead to start the game, as the Riverhawks (0-1) missed on their first six attempts.

Preseason All-American Jewell Loyd added 20 points, trailing only Turner in the scoring columns.

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Coach McGraw alluded to the fact that the Irish are playing more freshmen this year, but believes they will all improve with playing time. The Irish did commit 18 turnovers, which is troubling, but she attributes to being inexperienced.

"“I think we had four turnovers in the first four minutes,” she said. “We had a few people that got a lot and I think that was just nerves.”"

The win was the 20th straight season opening win for Notre Dame, and it’s 29th consecutive win at Purcell Pavillion. The Irish went 37-0 last season before losing to Connecticut in the title game.

The Riverhawks were a 5-23 team last season, and are in their first year under coach Jenerrie Harris. Harris had been an assistant coach at Navy for the past five seasons. This is only their second season as a Division I team.

Thanks to WatchND.com for Video

The Irish will play at No. 14 Michigan State on Wednesday at 7 p.m., live on the Big Ten Network.