WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Ashley Barlow sure likes playing in Mackey Arena.

Her coach, Muffet McGraw, may like it better now, too.

Barlow had 20 points, a career-high 12 rebounds, four steals, three assists and the backbreaking three-point play to lead Notre Dame past SMU 75-62 in their NCAA tournament opener Sunday. It was only Notre Dame's second win ever on Purdue's home court — both coming this season — after eight straight losses dating to 1985. They even lost a first-round game here two years ago, the only time in 12 years they failed to reach the second round.

Barlow, a sophomore, was too young to know the difference and was relentless on defense and the glass.

"I don't know what it is," she said after nearly matching her 22-point performance from earlier this season at Purdue. "I think it's because my family is so close."

Whatever the explanation, Notre Dame (24-8), the fifth seed in the Oklahoma City regional, is off to the second round where it plays fourth-seeded Oklahoma on Tuesday. The Sooners held off Illinois State 69-61 earlier Sunday.

The surprise wasn't that the Irish won. It was how they did it.

They overcame 40.6 percent shooting from the floor with a 49-26 advantage on the glass, pulling down nearly as many offensive rebounds (24) as defensive. Barlow had five offensive rebounds. Teammates Lindsay Schrader and Charel Allen each had six.

"I think Ashley Barlow was the player of the game," McGraw said. "She was excellent in both halves. She just had an outstanding game."

SMU (24-9), the Conference USA tournament champs, rallied several times but eventually wore down inside. Janielle Dodds and Jillian Samuels each had 15 points to lead the 12th-seeded Mustangs, but it wasn't enough to extend their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2000 to a second game.

If the Mustangs needed an explanation for what went wrong, all they had to do was look at the rebounding stats.

"They flat outmuscled us, they flat outhustled us," SMU coach Rhonda Rompola said. "They deserved to win today. They flat outplayed us."

It was never more obvious than in the game's decisive flurry. With Notre Dame leading 61-57 with 2:29 to go, Allen scored on a putback, drew a foul, then missed the free throw. Barlow grabbed the rebound, drew another foul and made the free throw to complete the five-point play.

That made it 66-57, and the Mustangs never challenged again.

The other problem for SMU was a sluggish start.

Notre Dame used a 17-2 spurt to build a 25-8 lead midway through the first half.

But with two Notre Dame starters, center Erica Williamson and guard Tulyah Gaines, in foul trouble, the Mustangs rallied. Dodds' interior play and Samuels' 3-point shooting spree allowed SMU to close the half on a 13-4 run to pull to 36-32.

At halftime, it was the rebounding numbers and the start that concerned the Mustangs.

"It's not like we laid down and let them run all over us," said Dodds, the Conference USA tourney MVP. "We just didn't come out and play like we're capable of playing.

That changed in the second half.

The Mustangs closed to 40-39 with 17:43 to go, then watched the Irish rebuild their lead.

Again SMU rallied. This time Brittany Gilliam scored four points in a 6-0 run, tying the score at 57 with 4:40 left. Gilliam even had a chance to give SMU its first lead since 2-0 after a steal on Notre Dame's next possession. The problem: She was called for charging as she drove in for the layup.

After that, SMU wasn't the same.

"If we had converted, it would have put us up by two and we would have some momentum," Rompola said. "But we had a couple of turnovers after that and then we got that panicked look and that's how we played the rest of the game."

Notre Dame took advantage, delivering the knockout punch with Allen's putback and Barlow's three-point play to turn a 61-57 contest into a 66-57 lead.

It was all the Irish needed.

Freshman Becca Bruszewski scored a career-high 16 points and Allen finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

"Our defense, finally, came up big for us," McGraw said.