By CURT RALLO South Bend Tribune Staff Writer WSBT-TV

7:54 p.m. EST, February 6, 2012
Priority No. 1 in Monday's practice for the Notre Dame women's
basketball team was post defense after the Irish allowed not one but
two DePaul post players to reach career highs.

Irish coach Muffet McGraw will find out quickly just how well her team
responded to Monday's amped-up practice that focused on protecting the
paint.

No. 2 Notre Dame (23-1 overall, 10-0 Big East) travels to take on a
Syracuse team that, like DePaul, boasts two posts who can wound the
Irish inside. Notre Dame rides a 20-game winning streak into the game.
Syracuse enters the game with a 15-9 record overall, 4-6 in the Big
East. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Notre Dame beat DePaul on Sunday, 90-70, but Blue Demon bigs Jasmine
Perry scored 24 points and Katherine Harry scored 20 points. The
combined 44 points, and the fact that the Irish gave up 20 points more
than their season average (49.6) didn't sit well with McGraw.

"Hopefully, we're not going to give up 70 points against Syracuse,
because I was really disappointed in the defense," McGraw said. "Both
of DePaul's posts had career highs. We weren't able to stop them.
We've been double-teaming the post, giving them some help. DePaul is a