Huge second half lifts No. 4 Notre Dame over No. 7 Duke
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Natalie Novosel's jumper as time expired 54 victory over No. 7 Duke in the Junkanoo Jam Freeport Division championship game.
Novosel finished with 15 points and Skylar Diggins scored a game-high 19 for Notre Dame (5-1), which trailed 36-20 at the half.
Elizabeth Williams paced Duke (4-1) with 16 points and 13 rebounds while Chelsea Gray scored 11 points for the Blue Devils.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After being held to just 23 percent shooting in the first half, Notre Dame came out on fire in the second.
Duke's Haley Peters opened the second half with a layup to extend the Blue Devils' lead to 38-20, but for the next 10 minutes it was all Notre Dame as the Irish ran off a 21-3 spurt to knot the game at 41 with 9:24 left in regulation.
Duke missed five shots and turned the ball over seven times in that span.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Neither team would lead by more than four points for the remainder of the game and Duke took a three-point lead into the final 1:35 of regulation.
Diggins then missed a three but got her own rebound, leading a missed trey by Kayla McBride and another by Diggins as Notre Dame kept getting offensive rebounds.
McBride was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws to bring the Irish within 54-52 with 53 seconds to go.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Diggins layup then tied the game and after Duke's Shay Selby failed to find the bottom of the net, Novosel banked a shot in from the foul line as the buzzer sounded to cap the comeback.