Notre Dame girls basketball team capitalizes on turnovers, beats Sikeston

The Sikeston girls basketball team committed more turnovers than scored points Thursday at Notre Dame.

That's not a recipe for success.

Notre Dame took advantage of Sikeston's miscues to mask its slow start in a 71-42 victory.

"When we came out, I don't think we were 100 percent ready to play," Notre Dame senior Brooke Bohnert said. "Once I think the nerves kind of settled and we started to calm down, I think after that first quarter, we kind of opened our eyes to settle down and stop passing it and turning it over."

Sikeston led 8-7 after one quarter, and that came despite committing 13 turnovers over the opening eight minutes. But Notre Dame couldn't capitalize because it only went 2 of 15 (13 percent) over that span.

"We were kind of just going through the motions," Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said. "We were committing a few turnovers ourselves, not accelerating to the point I wanted us to."

Notre Dame's offense finally started converting in the second quarter. Notre Dame went 25 of 48 (52 percent) from the field over the final three quarters and gained separation as the game progressed.

"We didn't change our offense," Peters said. "We ran the same offense, but we're a team that has to score off of transition. We were scoring off of transition because we weren't turning it over. So it all came down to turnovers. Reduce turnovers and get easy baskets, and we started pushing the ball a little better."

Sikeston's struggles to control the ball fueled Notre Dame's offense. Sikeston (9-4) finished with 43 turnovers, including at least 10 in each quarter.

"We rely on our defense to create our offense," Notre Dame senior Summer Burger said. "I think staying between the ball and our man was the biggest thing. We worked on shell drill for like 10 minutes last practice, staying between your man and the ball. Intercepting those passes were key."

Sikeston coach Matt Schonhoff lamented the nature of his team's turnovers.

"Turnovers did kill us, unforced turnovers, silly turnovers," he said. "We were focused, but at the same time, I think these girls were wanting so hard to show we are a good team against a good team."

Sikeston wasn't helped by poor shooting. It went 14 of 46 from the field (30 percent) over the first three quarters, which allowed Notre Dame to lead by 20 points entering the final period.

"The thing is when we've played our two games against conference teams, we've gone way too fast," Schonhoff said. "We tell them to just relax, relax, just run offense. If we do break the pressure, just run offense."

Notre Dame (8-5) turned its one-point deficit after one quarter into a 10-point lead at halftime. The lead ballooned to 20 points after three quarters.

Sophomore Kaitlin Welter helped Notre Dame expand its lead with eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, during a 14-0 run that started midway through the third quarter.

Thursday's win marked the beginning of a tough stretch for Notre Dame. It will play three teams in St. Louis and make a trip to Poplar Bluff, Mo., over the next eight days. Notre Dame faces Cor Jesu today before making the drive to Poplar Bluff on Monday. Then it faces the top team in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's large school poll -- St. Joseph's -- on Wednesday before taking on the No. 9 team in that poll -- Ursuline -- on Jan. 21.

"How's that for a fun schedule?" Peters said.

Sikeston 8 13 10 11 -- 42

Notre Dame 7 24 20 20 -- 71

SIKESTON (42) -- Tyangela Gibson 14, Darqueshionna Howard 3, Aleah Little 6, Yalonda Johnson 2, Taneshia Pulley 7, Keyonna Blissett 9. FG 19, FT 3-9, F 17. (3-pointers: Howard 1. Fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (71) -- Shelby Beussink 8, Miranda Fowler 9, Brooke Bohnert 11, Summer Burger 12, Annie Siebert 4, Madison Huckstep 8, Karsen Powers 7, Halle Lynch 2, Kaitlin Welter 8, Taylor Feeney 2. FG 27, FT 14-18, F 15. (3-pointers: Welter 2, Fowler 1. Fouled out: none)