Notre Dame girls basketball team romps past Rebels

~ The Bulldogs forced 41 turnovers in a 74-26 victory

The Notre Dame girls basketball team scored the first 10 points of the game, forced 30 turnovers in the first half and received big contributions from multiple Bulldogs.

The Notre Dame Rebels from St. Louis were in over their heads.

The Bulldogs (11-11) routed the Rebels 74-26 on Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame Regional High School.

"We came out with a lot of intensity today," Bulldogs senior Brooke Bohnert said. "That's what we've really been working on at practice is to push them to the side on our press and to really work on for them to turn it over so we can get some fast breaks."

The Bulldogs harassed the Rebels the entire game.

Notre Dame forced 14 turnovers in the first quarter, added 16 more in the second and finished with 41 forced turnovers for the contest.

"Coming off 21 days where we had seven games in St. Louis versus a lot of those schools, if nothing else we picked up our intensity a little bit," Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said. "I think the girls came out today and ‘energy' has been our key word this week, and we showed energy on offense and defense tonight."

The Bulldogs received strong offensive and defensive performances from Shelby Buessink and Annie Siebert -- a pair of sophomores.

Buessink, a 5-foot-6 guard, netted 12 points. Ten of her points came at the free-throw line.

"I thought I drove nice," Buessink said. "And there were openings so I took the opportunity."

Siebert, a 5-5 guard, added 18 points on 8 of 11 shooting.

"Karsen [Powers] is hurt now, so they all have to step up," Peters said. "And I thought Annie stepped in and did a good job for us today.

"I've always said -- and I say this very humbly and wholeheartedly -- we don't have that one franchise player. We're a better team when we have three or four players in double figures."

Bohnert was playing her first home game since reaching the 1,000-point milestone in a 45-37 win at Winfield on January 26. The forward had 22 points in that road win.

"It's just really exciting," Bohnert said. "I didn't even know I was close to being a part of that."

Bohnert used an array of mid-range jumpers to score a game-high 20 points.

"She stepped up as a leader tonight," Peters said. "We're at the point now where we have to play smarter. Instead of driving it in all the time she's going to take the little eight to 10-foot jump shot, and when she's open she's confident. The girls know she can hit, and she did, and that's what we needed."

Notre Dame erased any doubt of the outcome during the first quarter, taking a 21-5 lead.

The Bulldogs repeatedly converted turnovers into layups, expanding the lead to 38-13 by halftime.

"It's 90 percent [of our offense]," Peters said about the turnovers. "We're a better team when we're running and we're scoring baskets in transition and wearing the other team down. The turnovers are a big help, and the layups are a bigger help."

The Bulldogs connected on 15 of 20 shots in the second half to extend the lead.

Notre Dame (STL) 5 8 8 5 -- 26

Notre Dame 21 17 25 11 -- 74

NOTRE DAME ST. LOUIS (26) -- Emily Nickels 1, Taylor Gasperoni 3, Ashley Chastonay 4, Patsy Sodemann 2, Jenny Cosmas 2, Sarah Meyer 1, Kristina Eason 8, Kelcie Littleton 1. FG 7. FT 7-10. F 14. (3-pointers: Gasperoni. Fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (74) -- Miranda Fowler 5, Annie Siebert 18, Kaitlin Welter 2, Summer Burger 9, Shelby Buessink 12, Madison Huckstep 2, Brooke Bohnert 20, Taylor Feeney 4. FG 30. FT 12-16. F 10.