VU women can't hang on to big lead vs. Notre Dame

A matchup of top 20 women’s basketball teams at Memorial Gymnasium on Tuesday turned into a challenge to see which could find the right defense.

Vanderbilt lost, and in heartbreaking fashion as Jessica Mooney’s driving layup bounced off the rim as time expired. The Commodores, who had an 18-point second-half lead, fell 59-57.

“Needless to say, it’s frustrating,” senior Christina Wirth said. “… This was a game we needed to win and should have won, but at the end we played not to lose.”

It took more than 24 minutes, but the 12th-ranked Fighting Irish (11-1) settled on straight man-to-man and No. 20 Vanderbilt (11-3) scoreless for more than nine minutes of the second half.

At the same time, the Commodores surrendered 22 unanswered points as it desperately sought a solution.

“We changed defenses about 45 times,” coach Melanie Balcomb said. “… We tried everything. I don’t think we changed defenses that much in my entire life – because none of them were working.”

Notre Dame’s early attempts to slow Vanderbilt’s attack included some full-court pressure and some zone. Neither worked.

It was four 3-pointers by Wirth, three in a span of 1:42 during the first half, that forced the Fighting Irish to settle on man-to-man.

“Our defense was outstanding in the second half,” Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. “We played all man-to-man because Christina Wirth was having a great game.”

Wirth was held scoreless on five second-half shots, and the Commodores made just 10 of 29 field goal attempts (34.5 percent) over the final 20 minutes.

The comeback was the largest in Notre Dame history. It topped a 16-point rally against Connecticut in the 2001 Women’s Final Four. The Irish won that one 90-75 on the way to the national championship.

“The second half we just got mad,” Notre Dame senior forward Lindsay Schrader said. “We were getting whooped. … We took that really, really personal and we fought back hard.”