No. 2 Notre Dame Pulls Away from @ClemsonWBB

Final Score: #2/2 Notre Dame 71, Clemson 51 Records: CU: 8-7, 0-1 ACC; ND: 13-0, 1-0 ACC Clemson Leading Scorer: Kelly Gramlich: 13 points Updated Series Record (trend): ND, 1-0 (W1) Next Game: Clemson vs. Georgia Tech; Jan. 8, 2014; 7 p.m. NOTRE DAME, IN – The Clemson women’s basketball team fell at No. 2/2 Notre Dame, 71-51, despite holding the Irish 17 points below their season average and trailing by just four points at halftime in Purcell Pavilion. Clemson (8-7, 0-1 ACC) competed in the ACC opener for the Irish (13-0, 1-0 ACC), in what is the first-ever meeting between the programs.  The game also marked the ACC head-coaching debut for Audra Smith, although she is no stranger to the contest, spending nine seasons at Virginia as an assistant and playing for the Cavaliers. After the game, the squad was forced to return to their hotel due to severe weather in the area. South Bend has received nearly 10 inches of snow, and temperatures in the high teens throughout the day. The Tigers have just off two days to prepare for a home game against Georgia Tech on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Kelly Gramlich led Clemson on Sunday with 13 points on 5-9 shooting, including a 3-5 mark from behind the arc. Chancie Dunn  also finished in double-figures with 10 points on 5-10 from the floor. The Irish came in averaging 88.9 points per game, with 85 or more in eight of their previous 12 games. Clemson limited the number of possessions, and held the Irish to 8-28 shooting in the first half.  The Tigers battled foul trouble throughout, as leading scorer Nikki Dixon picked up two fouls less than a minute into the game, and ended up fouling out in just ten minutes of action.  Quinyotta Pettaway also fouled out, and Charmaine Tay and Nyilah Jamison-Myers finished with four fouls apiece. Notre Dame finished 19-27 from the line, while Clemson was just 4-6.  The Tigers turned the ball over just 15 times in the game, the 11th time this season they have committed fewer than 20. However, Notre Dame was efficient, turning the 15 miscues into 20 points. Conversely, the Irish committed just seven turnovers, and the Tigers did not score a single point in the ensuing seven possessions.  Four Irish scored in double figures, led by 16 apiece from Jewell Loyd and Kayla McBride. Natalie Achonwa had 15 points and 13 rebounds as well.  The Tigers jumped on top early, as Gramlich hit a pair of deep threes in the first two minutes, and Chelsea Lindsay hit a layup to give the Tigers an 8-2 lead. Notre Dame would grab the lead back and take a six point advantage at 23-17, before Clemson again cut it to two points with 2:43 to play. The Irish would take a 27-23 lead into halftime. Notre Dame opened the second half on a 14-4 run over the first seven minutes to seize control. Clemson cut the lead to 11 on several possessions as late as 7:07 on a fastbreak layup by Dixon.  However, the Irish pulled away, outscoring Clemson 17-8 over the final seven minutes of the game.  Player of the Game: Kelly Gramlich – The junior guard gave Clemson a hot start and scored 13 points, including three three-pointers Stat of the Game: 20-0 – Clemson was outscored 20-0 in points off turnovers Individual Notes

• Kelly Gramlich had a team-high 13 points on 5-9 shooting, including 3-5 from behind the arc. She now has 99 career made three-pointers in 73 games, the 10th-most in school history. 
• Gramlich has scored in double-figures in two straight games, and now has 35 made three-point field goals on the season. 
• Charmaine Tay had eight points in 23 minutes for the Tigers. It was actually her second career game in the building, as she was a member of the Louisville Cardinals in 2010-11
• Quinyotta Pettaway had a team-high eight rebounds, giving her 587 for her career. She ranks 12th in school history in career rebounds
• Chancie Dunn scored 10 points on 5-10 shooting. It was her fifth games this season in double-figures and 11th of her career
• Chelsea Lindsay added five assists in 36 minutes of play; She now has a 52:32 assist to turnover ratio this season
• Clemson played the game without Associate Head Coach Daryl Oliver on the sidelines, as he was stranded due to weather after a recruiting trip to the northeast

Team Notes

• Notre Dame came in averaging 88.9 points per game, and was held 17.9 points below its season average
• Clemson held Notre Dame to .286 (8-28) shooting in the first half, but the Irish connected on 17-27 (.630) of their shots in the second half
• Notre Dame had a 20-0 advantage in terms of points off turnovers, and a 42-22 advantage in the paint
• Clemson fell to 0-2 against ranked teams this season
• Notre Dame was the highest-ranked opponent Clemson has played since matching up with No. 2 Baylor during the 2010-11 season. 

Audra Smith Quotes:

• The gameplan coming in was to slow the game down and take the air out of the basketball, and slow them in transition, because we knew we can’t run with them in transition. Mainly because of our numbers, and this is an outstanding team. We knew coming in that they want to get a lot of points in transition, so our goal was to run our offensive sets and not look to score until as late as possible in the shot clock, and we were able to do that. I felt like we did a good job of that in the first half. I felt like fatigue and foul trouble is what killed us in the second half. We put them on the line 27 times, and they made 19 of those. Of course, the 42 points in the paint doesn’t help. In the second half, our foul trouble really began to catch up with us. They started executing offensively.