SYRACUSE (AP) -- Ashley Barlow swished a 3-pointer with 34.2 seconds left, and No. 3 Notre Dame held off Syracuse 74-73 on Saturday.

After the Irish's Lindsay Schrader missed the front end of a 1-and-1, a held ball gave Syracuse a final possession with less than a second left. Tasha Harris' inbounds pass to Kayla Alexander in the lane was deflected away and the Irish escaped with a win.

Juanita Ward's three-point play had given the Orange a 73-71 lead with a minute left, but Barlow got open on the wing and saved Notre Dame (19-1, 6-1 Big East), which has beaten Syracuse (16-5, 3-5) 22 times in 23 meetings.

Freshman guard Skylar Diggins matched her season high with 21 points, Barlow had a season-high 19 points, and Brittany Mallory 11.

Ward led Syracuse with 16 points, Erica Morrow had 14, Vionca Murray 12 and Nicole Michael 11 before fouling out in the final minute.

The Irish survived despite being outrebounded 49-34 and shooting just 25 percent in the second half (7 of 28) after building a 16-point lead in the opening minutes of the game.

Syracuse repeatedly drove the ball inside in the second half and outscored the Irish 38-20 in the paint. But the Orange's weaknesses - 25 turnovers - and 14 missed free throws did them in.

Syracuse began the second half with a 21-5 spurt to erase a 14-point halftime deficit and make it a game as the Irish went cold, hitting just 4 of their first 18 shots of the period.

Tyler Ash's fast-break layup had the Orange within 53-47 at 16:35, and three straight points by Morrow tied it at 58 with 11:03 left.

Michael's floater in the lane gave the Orange their first lead since the opening 2 minutes of the game, but Diggins tied it with a jumper in the lane and sank a free throw to put the Irish back in front.

It was tight the rest of the way, with Notre Dame barely holding the lead. Mallory's 3 gave the Irish a 68-63 with 5:56 left, and after Murray's follow moved Syracuse within 68-67 just over a minute later, Harris fouled Mallory while she was shooting a 3 and she sank all three free throws to boost the Irish lead to 71-67 with 3:15 to go.

Diggins had 13 points, five assists, no turnovers and three steals in the first 8:03 of play to lead the Irish to their big early lead.

Ward had five points, Troya Berry converted a three-point play and Harris swished a 3 from the right corner to key a 16-6 Syracuse spurt.

Barlow scored eight points to stop the Orange in their tracks as Notre Dame finished the half with a 17-8 surge. Her four-point play with 8.4 seconds left gave Notre Dame a 53-39 lead at the break.

Syracuse has lost eight close conference games the past two seasons. Four of its league losses this year were by three points or less, and last season the Orange had six Big East games decided by two points or less and won just two of them.

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