Notre Dame's Lindsay Allen, right, reaches in on Duke's Ka'lia Johnson, left, during the second half of the NCAA college basketball championship game in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday, March 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton) (The Associated Press)
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Duke struggled to hold onto the ball. It struggled at the line, and its top scorer had a rough night.
No wonder the 10th-ranked Blue Devils headed home from the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament empty-handed.
No. 2 Notre Dame beat Duke 69-53 on Sunday in the ACC title game for the Blue Devils' third double-digit loss this season to the league newcomer.
Haley Peters had 18 points and Elizabeth Williams finished with 17 points and a season-best 16 rebounds for the second-seeded Blue Devils (27-6).
They shot 44 percent but were just 3 of 12 from the free-throw line and had 20 turnovers that Notre Dame turned into 23 points.
Leading scorer Tricia Liston — who averages nearly 18 points — was held to four on 2-of-11 shooting while being hounded by tournament MVP Jewell Loyd.
Duke lost an ACC title game for the first time since 2009 — coach Joanne P. McCallie's second season. The Blue Devils have won the tournament three times since then, including last year.
"There's no limit to what we can do. We just have to own up on some things," McCallie said. "The turnovers cannot happen. ... I don't think this is a team that wants to be patted on the back. I think this is a team that is a good team, a great team that wants to be even better. And that's going to come with a little bit of self-reflection."
Loyd scored 18 of her 26 points in the second half and Kayla McBride finished with 25.
"I thought Jewell and Kayla McBride were just unstoppable," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said.
The top-seeded Fighting Irish (32-0) — last year's Big East champions — claimed their second consecutive conference tournament crown and extended the best start in school history with their third victory over the Blue Devils in five weeks.
Duke's best chance to claw back into the game came when Ka'lia Johnson went to the line with her team down 10 with 2:23 left.
But she missed the front end of a one-and-one, McBride followed with two free throws, and after a turnover, Loyd hit a fast-break layup to put Notre Dame up 65-51 and send the Irish on their way to their seventh tournament title in their third different league.
They won what's now known as the Horizon League six times before beating Connecticut in an epic Big East final last March on their way out of that conference.
The Irish and top-ranked Huskies are the last remaining unbeatens this year, and McGraw promised that there's no way her team will look too far ahead in the NCAA bracket to a possible renewal of that rivalry.
"I don't think they'll put us against each other in the first round," McGraw deadpanned, "so I think we'll be pretty focused on our opponent — whoever that turns out to be."
Ultimately, the two Blue Devils most capable of keeping up with Loyd — guards Chelsea Gray and Alexis Jones — were on the bench with season-ending knee injuries.
Loyd, who averaged 19 points in the two previous wins over Duke, had a hand in six of the nine baskets during a 19-4 run early in the second half that put Notre Dame in control.
"I don't think there's any question that Jewell's the best athlete we've ever had," McGraw said. "She does everything."
She hit two 3s and knocked down a jumper from the free-throw line before her quick pass set up McBride's jumper in the lane that put the Irish up 38-32 and drew a timeout from Duke with 16:19 left.
Loyd also had a highlight-reel layup off a half-court pass from Lindsay Allen, and her three-point play with 12:05 left pushed the lead to 49-36.
Duke pulled within eight with just under 9 minutes left before Michaela Mabrey swished a deep 3-pointer that restored Notre Dame's double-figure lead.
The Irish became the first school to go 19-0 through ACC regular-season and tournament play since Duke in 2001-02 and 2002-03, and all but two of their games were decided by double figures.
That included three one-sided wins over the league's preseason favorite, Duke.
Notre Dame won the previous two by a combined 32 points, including a 21-point drubbing on Feb. 2 that marked Duke's first ACC loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 2008 and an 11-point defeat in South Bend two weeks ago.
___
Follow Joedy McCreary on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joedyap
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.