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Devereaux Peters scored 18 points and No. 18 Notre Dame closed the first half with a 23-2 run, dominating IUPUI 95-29 on Friday in the first round of the Women's Basketball Association Classic.
Junior guard Natalie Novosel added 12 points, and forward Erica Solomon had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Fighting Irish (3-2), who forced 19 first-half turnovers while taking a 41-13 lead into the locker room.
Notre Dame also went 17 of 35 from the field in the first half, scoring 26 in the paint.
''I was disappointed with the defense initially,'' said Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw, whose team opened with an 11-2 run but watched IUPUI close within 16-10 before the Irish got on track.
''I thought we really could have gotten out on the trap a little more than we did. But we did force a lot of turnovers,'' McGraw said. ''I thought that when we went to the bench we got more energy. Erica came in and did a great job.''
Peters added six rebounds in her 20 minutes of action, and also drew praise from her coach.
''When she went to the basket, she was unstoppable,'' McGraw said. ''She was phenomenal inside. She looked just go graceful. She made some great plays inside, had a couple of hook shots, used her left hand a little bit. I thought she was just moving really well without the ball. She did a nice job at all ends of the floor.''
Peters said she was trying to get into a rhythm after a rough couple of games.
''I was just trying to get back into the flow of things,'' she said. ''I really tried to make an impact today.''
The closest the Jaguars came to getting a player in double figures was seven points each from junior Jasmine Horne and freshman Demetri Nunley-Lash.
''We have so many young kids, and it's the first time playing in front of 7,000 people,'' said IUPUI coach Austin Parkinson. ''I told them when a team goes on a run, a lot of times it's like quicksand. When you are not used to that, you really don't know how to stop it.''
The Irish, who stopped a two-game losing streak, will face Wake Forest in the next stage of the round-robin tournament. IUPUI (1-3) faces Butler in the next round.
