Notre Dame went into Monday's game against Duke ranked as the nation's No. 1 team for the first time this season.
It looked very much the part while dismantling one of the nation's better teams. The Fighting Irish cruised to a 64-49 win at home against the No. 11 Blue Devils to open their reign as the nation's top team in convincing fashion.
Duke put a fight through the first half as Taina Mair's 11 points helped keep Duke within a single possession as Notre Dame took a 29-27 lead into the break. But the tone of the game shifted dramatically after halftime.
Notre Dame opened the second half with a 17-1 run to seize control of the game. Duke didn't score its first field goal of the half until Jadyn Donovan secured a layup with 4:04 remaining in the third quarter. By then, it was too late for Duke. The bucket cut Notre Dame's lead to 46-31, and the Fighting Irish never let the Blue Devils back into the game.
It added up to a dominant effort by Notre Dame to secure its 17th consecutive win. The Irish lost back-to-back games to TCU and Utah on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30 and haven't lost since. Their résumé now includes wins over then No. 2 UConn, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Texas, No. 17 North Carolina, No. 17 Georgia Tech, No. 21 Cal and now No. 11 Duke.
Notre Dame move to No. 1 in the AP poll on Monday following previously undefeated UCLA's loss to rival USC last Thursday. It wasn't a unanimous selection (16 votes) as No. 2 Texas (8) and No. 3 UCLA (6) also received first-place votes. But the Irish made a strong case on Monday that they belonged at the top as they now eye securing the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
That will likely take some more work from the Irish, who were ranked No. 4 behind No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 South Carolina and No. 3 Texas in the NCAA's first early bracket reveal on Sunday.
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