INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ashley Barlow's cheering section of about 200 fans had to wait awhile to get excited.

The Notre Dame guard returned to her hometown of Indianapolis for the first time as a college player, and she didn't score until the second half Friday night. Fortunately, her teammates shot better than her, as the No. 17 Irish defeated IUPUI 67-44.

Barlow's first points, on a bucket with 16:33 to play, sparked a loud cheer. Her fans held up light green signs that read "Go Ashley."

"That was nice," she said. "That's all I needed to do was get a couple of points."

Her cheering section likely expected more. She had scored 22 points against Purdue and 19 against Valparaiso in Notre Dame's previous two games, but finished with four points, six rebounds and three assists.

"I think it was kind of hard for Ashley coming home," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. "She was trying so hard to do everything. I thought she played well, but not as well as she normally does."

Charel Allen had 12 points and five steals, Devereaux Peters had 11 points and four blocks and Tulyah Gaines tied a career high with nine assists for the Irish (10-1).

Jernisha Cann led IUPUI with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Julia Whitted added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Jaguars (3-9), who have lost six straight.

Notre Dame forced 28 turnovers in IUPUI's second-ever home game against a ranked opponent.

That's the most turnovers I've ever had a team have in my 20 years of coaching," IUPUI coach Shann Hart said.

The first half was close throughout before Notre Dame finally asserted itself with a 9-0 run that gave the Irish a 34-27 halftime lead. IUPUI shot 50 percent in the first half, but committed 15 turnovers.

McGraw said her team wasn't ready to play after a nine-day layoff.

"We've always struggled coming out of finals," she said. "Everybody's trying to get it together, looking a little rusty. We really kept our poise. That little run at the end of the first half helped us. I think that gave us a lot of momentum."

Hart said her team gave up control of the game late in the first half.

"We talked about how we needed to keep being the aggressors and attack the basket, and not be so worried about breaking the press with the pass," she said.

The Irish opened the second half on an 8-0 run to push the lead to 42-27. The Irish buckled down on defense and held the Jaguars to 24 percent shooting after the break.

"I think we picked up our intensity, and they weren't getting as easy shots as they were in the first half," Barlow said.

Notre Dame's biggest lead was 28 points in the second half.

"We'd all love to be going home on break with a win," Hart said. "One of the positives was, we were able to see we could play with a top 25 team. That's something to build on."