SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Jewell Loyd scored 34 points, Lindsay Allen added 15 and No. 6 Notre Dame made 58 percent of its shots to beat fifth-ranked Tennessee 88-77 Monday night, ending an 11-game winning streak for the Lady Vols.
The Fighting Irish (17-2) beat the Lady Vols for the fifth straight after losing the first 20-games in the series. It's only the second time in 10 tries Tennessee (15-3) has lost at Notre Dame.
Just like in the other five losses to the Irish, the Lady Vols were hurt by Notre Dame's best player. Loyd made 13 of 23 shots, hitting big shots every time the Irish needed one. Tennessee cut the lead to 42-41 early in the second half on a layup by Isabelle Harrison and cut it again to 46-44 on a rebound basket by Graves. The Irish responded with a 6-0 spurt on a rebound by Allen, a basket inside by Briana Turner and a backdoor layup by Loyd to extend the lead to eight points.
When Ariel Massengale hit a 3-pointer, Loyd responded with a three-point play. The Irish eventually used a 9-3 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer by Loyd and an alley-oop layup by Brianna Turner on a pass from Allen to open a 66-52 lead.
Tennessee narrowed the lead 80-74 on a layup by Bashaara Graves with 56 seconds left, but couldn't get any closer. Graves led Tennessee with 22 points and Cierra Burdick added 15
The Lady Vols outrebounded the Irish 18-13 in the first half, but the Irish outrebounded them 23-16 in the second half and finished with a 36-34 edge on the boards. Taya Reimer led the Irish with 10 rebounds and added nine points. Turner scored 13 as the Irish scored the most points the Lady Vols have allowed this season.
Isabelle Harrison had 12 points for Tennessee and Massengale added 11 as the Lady Vols shot 43 percent.
TIP-INS
Tennessee: Tennessee's five straight losses to Notre Dame have all been by 10 points or more. ... It was the third straight road game for the Volunteers and the fourth in five games. ... The Volunteers had held opponents to 53 points or fewer in 13 of 17 games. ... After playing at Tennessee two straight seasons, the Lady Vols are scheduled to play in South Bend again next year.
Notre Dame: The victory was Muffet McGraw's 900th game as Notre Dame's coach. Her record is 680-220, a winning percentage of 75.6. ... Notre Dame players wore "We Back Pat" T-shirts before the game in support of the Pat Summitt Foundation, an initiative focused on recognizing the fight against Alzheimer's disease. Summitt coached Tennessee for 38 seasons before stepping down in April 2012 one year after announcing she had early-onset Alzheimer's. Tennessee players wore similar shirts.
UP NEXT
Tennessee: Hosts LSU on Thursday.
Notre Dame: Hosts Georgia Tech on Thursday.