Buch, Fritz lead Trojans over ND

Nicole Buch scored a career-high 32 points, Sam Fritz grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and the host Fairfield Trojans crushed Burlington Notre Dame on Thursday, 74-52.

?I had my adrenaline going tonight,? Buch said. ?I knew we were facing a very good team ? and that got me fired up.?

Buch was on fire right from the start. She scored 12 points in the first five minutes of play ? three of her field goals off Fritz assists ? Fairfield led 20-6 and, essentially, the contest was over.

Oh, they kept playing. Those are the rules.

But Notre Dame, even with a tremendous height advantage ? the Nikes have four kids over 6-feet tall ? could never get closer to the Trojans than 13 points.

?Honestly,? said Buch, ?after awhile, we didn?t feel threatened by them. But they are good shooters so you still have to keep it going.?

And Buch kept going.

She had 14 points after one quarter, 23 at halftime and 30 heading into the final frame.

All the while, the Trojans led 23-10 after one quarter, 45-28 at the break and 60-42 heading into the final period.

Buch had four treys in the contest. And when Notre Dame tried to guard her beyond the arc, Buch flew by defenders ? getting to the tin for eight field goals. She canned all four of her free-throw attempts.

?Nicole,? said teammate Kylie Kurtz, ?was really on fire.?

Notre Dame (13-4) is notorious for tossing an assertive full-court press wire to wire. But the Nike brass gave up on that idea against the Trojans early in the second half ? pressing Buch proved to be a waste of time and energy. Buch is too smooth to get rattled.

?I don?t even know how to describe Nicole?s abilities anymore,? Fritz said. ?She?s just great.?

And so is Fritz.

Standing 5-foot-8, competing against opponents on Tuesday as tall as 6-2, Fritz was the game?s most effective rebounder.

?Sam holds her ground,? Kurtz said. ?She?s not a tall girl but she uses good technique. She gets in there and never stops fighting for the ball ? and it pays off.?

Besides her domination on the glass, Fritz scored 19 points and made two steals.

?And,? said Buch, ?how about her passing? Sam was finding people, she was making big assists.?

Indeed, Fritz had a game-high six assists.

Kurtz scored 15 points, had two assists and two steals.

?Kylie helps us so much,? Buch said. ?She?s so tough on defense, plays great on offense and she never stops encouraging all of us. Her talking to us tonight was a big help.?

Also coming up big for Fairfield was Mikaela Lunsford. Standing just 5-foot-8, Lunsford made life miserable for Notre Dame?s 6-2 post and its other 6-foot forwards. Simply put, Lunsford would not let the Nikes get clear looks inside to their bigs ? and Lunsford made a game-high four steals.

Also for the No. 14-ranked Trojans (12-4), Kara Jeffrey scored four points, grabbed four boards, dished two assists and made two steals, Brooke McLain had three boards and two points and Brynna Bowman had a steal and rebound.

?This was a good win,? Kurtz said.

?Nicole and Sam were on. We came out strong ? and never let them come back and get us.?