Notre Dame pulled off quite the women's basketball victory Monday night.
The No. 2 Irish embarrassed No. 9 Tennessee 72-44 in Purcell Pavilion. It was the Volunteers' second largest defeat and the 44 points was a program low.
"We just were not very good today," Vols associate head coach Holly Warlick said. "We were not in Notre Dame's league. I am disappointed we didn't play hard. We didn't compete.
"Give Notre Dame all the credit. They forced us into a lot of hurried plays, and I don't have an answer for today. We just didn't compete, and we didn't play and Notre Dame had a whole lot to do with it."
Notre Dame (20-1) has won 17 games in a row and is 6-1 against Top 25 teams this season. The Irish also became only the second program that can boast of having two wins in a row over Connecticut and Tennessee.
Notre Dame defeated both programs in last year's NCAA tournament and knocked off the Huskies in overtime earlier this month.
But even with everything the Irish have accomplished, coach Muffet McGraw thinks her team is capable of more.
"I don't think we have painted our masterpiece yet," McGraw said. "I think every game we have seen glimpses of what we can be. I think we can play even better."
Notre Dame didn't need a masterpiece to defeat Tennessee. The Volunteers (14-5) missed 14 of their first 17 shots and finished 17 of 61 from the field. Tennessee also couldn't score from the foul line, going 7 of 16 at the stripe.
"There was no positivity out there on the floor," Vols forward Glory Johnson said. "Eventually, everyone just started yelling at each other, and that's just not how our team is. You can't do anything with negative energy."
Notre Dame star guard Skylar Diggins shook off a slow start to the game to score the final seven points of the first half after only having three in the first 16 minutes. Diggins really found her rhythm in the second half, scoring 17 of her 27 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
Notre Dame forward Devereaux Peters had a double-double with 16 points and a caree-high 16 rebounds, and guard Kayla McBride carried the offense in the first half scoring 11 of her 17 points in the first 20 minutes.
"These type of games in the middle of the Big East are learning experiences for me, playing with these veterans," McBride said. "It gave me a lot of confidence to be on the court with them."
Not everything went well for Notre Dame, Natalie Novosel, who is the Irish's second leading scorer, finished with four points, 12 below her season average of 16.
"I think some times the foul trouble can really bother you," McGraw said. "She got one quick foul and then I think she tried to play a little bit conservatively, and that's not her game. She missed her first couple of shots, got two fouls and had to sit the rest of the half. I think that's hard for a scorer. It just wasn't her night."
