SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw winced when Ashley Barlow launched from beyond the arc in the final minute with the third-ranked Irish trailing Syracuse by a basket.
But Barlow, who had missed her previous four 3-point attempts, was true from the right wing with 34.2 seconds left, and Notre Dame escaped with a 74-73 victory on Saturday.
“Despite my screaming the entire half to stop shooting the 3, she just kept her poise and made it,” McGraw said.
Juanita Ward’s three-point play had given the Orange a 73-71 lead with a minute left, but Barlow got open on the wing and saved Notre Dame (19-1, 6-1 Big East), which has beaten Syracuse (16-5, 3-5) 22 times in 23 meetings.
No. 1 Connecticut 98, Pittsburgh 56
PITTSBURGH — Tina Charles scored 24 points to become the sixth Connecticut player to reach 2,000 points in her career, and the No. 1 Huskies coasted to their 60th consecutive victory.
Connecticut (21-0, 8-0 in Big East) is 10 victories away from matching its own NCAA women’s record for consecutive wins.
No. 11 Oklahoma 70, Texas Tech 66
LUBBOCK, Texas — Danielle Robinson scored 26 points, including two free throws with 8.9 seconds left, as the Sooners beat Texas Tech for the 10th consecutive time.
N.Mex. 60, No. 20 TCU 53
ALBUQUERQUE — Amy Beggin scored 19 points and Eileen Weissmann added a career-high 17 to help lead New Mexico (13-7, 5-3 Mountain West) to an upset victory.
The Associated Press
