Notre Dame girls basketball team rides hot start past Perryville 58-23

~ The Bulldogs built a 37-9 lead by halftime in the road victory

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Notre Dame drained its first four shots of the game, including three 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs raced to an 11-2 lead by the time Perryville settled in.

Notre Dame (3-2) went on to a 58-23 victory over the Pirates.

"They sat in a zone. We were looking to run our offense against it and they gave us the 3-point shots and we hit a few," Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said. "I think three girls hit a 3 in the first quarter, and confidence builds confidence. We talk about executing our offense and taking what they give us, and tonight we did."

The Pirates started out in a zone and Notre Dame immediately made them pay.

Madison Huckstep and Miranda Fowler buried back-to-back 3-pointers, Huckstep scored on a layin and Karsen Powers buried a deep 3-pointer.

"We hit more of our shots than normal," Powers said. "We played defense really good and we worked on our offense against a zone during practice because we knew it was coming. [The 3 is] way more effective. Most of our shots are 3-pointers, so that was good for us."

While the offense started hot, the defense stole the show for the Bulldogs.

Notre Dame forced nine turnovers in the first quarter and seven more in the second. The defense helped spark a 16-0 run that spanned nearly eight minutes.

"We were guarding the ball really well tonight," Powers said. "We were deflecting passes and getting there in time to steal it."

Fowler and Powers buried back-to-back treys during the second quarter to push the lead to 24-7.

Notre Dame took a 37-9 lead into halftime.

"We know we have to keep pushing," Fowler said. "We can't just pace ourselves because you never know when a couple shots can get them back in the game."

Fowler, a junior, scored 13 of her game-high 16 points during the first half with an array of long shots, layups and free throws.

"That's the Miranda Fowler that I know we're going to need to have," Peters said. "She's been a good shooter. But this is kind of a breakout game for her. This is one of the better shooting games I've seen her have."

Notre Dame guard Summer Burger scored nine of her 13 points during the second half, while Huckstep and Powers added 10 points apiece.

Notre Dame 18 19 11 8 -- 56

Perryville 7 2 5 9 -- 23

NOTRE DAME (56) -- Shelby Buessink 2, Brooke Bohnert 2, Summer Burger 13, Miranda Fowler 16, Madison Huckstep 10, Karsen Powers 10, Annie Siebert 4. FG 22. F 10. FT 6-10. (3-pointers: Fowler 4, Powers 2, Huckstep 2. Fouled out: none.)

PERRYVILLE (23) -- Natalie Gremaud 6, Morgan Mueller 2, Courtney Borden 5, Kaycee Erzfeld 2, Allison Moldenhauer 3, Cheyenne Davis 2, Desiree Brown 3. FG 8. F 12. FT 6-11. (3-pointers: Borden. Fouled out: none.)