Batteast scores 20 points to lead sixth-ranked Irish past Georgetown

Jacqueline Batteast had 20 points and eight rebounds as No. 6 Notre Dame recovered from nearly squandering a 17-point lead, beating Georgetown 72-58 Saturday in South Bend, Ind., for its ninth straight win.

Georgetown (9-13, 4-7 Big East), which trailed 31-14 with 5 minutes to go in the first half, cut the lead to 35-30 early in the second half on a basket by Varda Tamoulianis. Later in the half the Hoyas closed to 42-39 when Mary Lisicky hit a 3-pointer. Lisicky closed the gap to 43-41 when she made a pair of free throws with 12:41 left.

But Batteast dribbled around a crowd in the lane and drove the baseline to spark a 17-4 run by the Irish (22-3, 10-2). Batteast and Charel Allen scored six points each during the spurt. Megan Duffy, who had 17 points and seven assists, capped the run with a pair of free throws to give the Irish a 60-45 lead with 6:34 left.

Batteast moved into fourth place on Notre Dame’s all-time scoring list with 1,765 points, two points ahead of Alicia Ratay. Ruth Riley, who led the Irish to a national championship in 2001, is third with 2,072 points.

Teresa Borton added 14 points and had a career-high 12 rebounds for her fourth career double-double as the Irish outrebounded Georgetown 42-21.

Lisicky led Georgetown with 16 points. Kate Carlin added 11 points and Bethany LeSueur had 10. Kieraah Marlow, Georgetown’s leading scorer at 13.2 points a game, was held to six.

Elsewhere

(7) Baylor 87, Oklahoma State 51: At Waco, Texas, Sophia Young had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bears (19-3, 9-2 Big 12) to a victory over the Cowgirls (7-14, 2-9). Steffanie Blackmon added 12 points and 13 rebounds for Baylor. The Bears led by as many as 35 at 57-22 and 66-31, the last coming on Young’s jumper with just more than 11 minutes left. … Nebraska 88, (14) Iowa State 59: At Lincoln, Neb., Kiera Hardy scored 27 points and Jina Johansen finished with a career-best 16 points and nine assists, leading the Cornhuskers (15-8, 7-4 Big 12) to a upset victory over the Cyclones (18-4, 8-3). Nebraska raced to a 24-point lead in the first half and stayed comfortably ahead in front of a season-high crowd of 12,429 at the Devaney Center. Megan Ronhovde scored 12 to lead Iowa State. … (22) Boston College 75, Syracuse 50: At Syracuse, N.Y., Brooke Queenan scored 16 points and Clare Droesch had 15 to lead the Eagles (16-6, 7-4 Big East) past the Orange (11-12, 3-9). The win snapped a three-game skid by the Eagles and sent Syracuse to its fourth straight loss. The Orange have lost their last 14 games against ranked teams.