Notre Dame girls basketball team silences Central in fourth quarter

Central maneuvered into a favorable position early in the fourth quarter Tuesday.

The Tigers started the period on a 6-2 spurt to cut Notre Dame's lead to two points, and Bulldogs senior Brooke Bohnert picked up her fourth personal foul during the run. The game seemed to be coming together for the Tigers at the Show Me Center.

The grim outlook kickstarted the Bulldogs.

Notre Dame only allowed one more point -- a Kadie Orenstein free throw with 9 seconds left -- to earn the 53-39 win.

"I think what changed is our defensive intensity," Notre Dame senior Summer Burger said. "I think denying the ball in really helped. Our transitions baskets, we were getting the ball and looking up the floor. That was helping a lot to get the lead."

Central’s Chelsea Vinson shoots over Notre Dame’s Halle Lynch during the second quarter Tuesday at the Show Me Center. Notre Dame won 53-39.

Bohnert led the charge with back-to-back baskets to push the Bulldogs' lead to 44-38 with 4 minutes, 13 second left.

Notre Dame's defense forced the Tigers (11-7) into six turnovers and they shot 3 of 13 (23 percent) from the field in the fourth quarter.

"They just put on a heavier press up top and we couldn't get the ball in against the press, which caused some turnovers," Central junior Chelsea Vinson said.

Notre Dame tightened its grip on the contest by grabbing five offensive rebounds during a two-minute span later in the fourth quarter to silence the Tigers.

"Our positioning was not there," Central coach Sherri Shirrell said. "We didn't block out on a couple rebounds and they got rebounds off of their free throws."

Central’s Chelsea Vinson loses her grip on the ball as she is guarded by Notre Dame’s Brooke Bohnert, left, and Summer Burger during the second quarter.

The teams traded the lead six times in the first half and entered halftime tied at 24-24.

Central turned over the ball 14 times in the first half, but it never let Notre Dame gain any breathing room. Part of that was because the Bulldogs only shot 32 percent (9 of 28) in the first half.

"Coming into this game, we knew they were going to be a really good team," Burger said. "With the way we've been playing, we knew it wasn't going to be easy."

Shelby Beussink's basket with 1:02 left in the third quarter pushed the Bulldogs' lead to eight points, their biggest to that point. But Central clawed back within two before Notre Dame's 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to seal it.

"We were finally just playing our game," Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said. "We told the girls you've got to start making things happen. You cannot just take what they give you. You have to actually initiate the offense, initiate the defense."

Central's defense bottled up the Bulldogs for much of the game. The Tigers focused on clogging near the basket to force Notre Dame to shoot from outside.

"If they were going to beat us, they were going to beat us from the outside, not the inside," Shirrell said. "Our defense has been getting better throughout the season."

Notre Dame (10-11) responded to the strategy by working the ball around the perimeter. Bohnert said the Bulldogs didn't like the alternative.

"Whenever we would drive in, we wouldn't get the shots we wanted," she said. "So we were looking for higher-percentage shots. Maybe going in and getting swatted wasn't a good choice."

Central's defense only allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 30 percent (20 of 60).

Bohnert led the Bulldogs with 12 points, while Apple Thomas and Vinson paced the Tigers with 10 points apiece.

Notre Dame 11 13 14 15 -- 53

Central 10 14 8 7 -- 39

NOTRE DAME (53) -- Shelby Beussink 11, Brooke Bohnert 12, Summer Burger 11, Miranda Fowler 7, Madison Huckstep 2, Karsen Powers 4, Annie Siebert 4, Kaitlin Welter 2. FG 20, FT 13-23, F 14. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

CENTRAL (39) -- Alayah Cooper-Johnson 7, Bailey Kratochvil 2, Tori Scheller 7, Kadie Orenstein 1, Katie Williams 2, Apple Thomas 10, Chelsea Vinson 10. FG 18, FT 3-9, F 18. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)