HOUSTON (AP) – In one of the most bizarre scenarios imaginable at a major sporting event, top-ranked Notre Dame and Louisiana-Lafayette switched venues in the middle of their game due to a power outage.
Even with the switch in venue and the delay, the Irish were too much for the Ragin’ Cajuns, winning 91-51 in a game that took nearly four hours to complete Tuesday night.
The teams were playing at the Campbell Center when a power outage caused a long delay in the second quarter. After calling around to local schools, the rest of the contest was played at Rice University, about 30 minutes away from the original venue. The teams bused over to Rice and picked up where they left off after a 2-hour, 35-minute delay. Notre Dame led 38-17 with 2:38 left in the second quarter.
Houston native Brianna Turner had 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Irish, who resumed the game in front of about 30 friends and family in a nearly empty arena.
The game was stopped when the lights in the arena shut off and a couple flashes of light could be seen behind loading dock doors in the corner of the arena. Emergency lights came on in the arena soon after. Both teams were sent to the locker rooms with several pops and flashes heard and seen intermittently.