NOTRE DAME — Hot-shooting Notre Dame was too much for visiting Montana in the opening round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Friday night.

The No. 1-seeded Fighting Irish shot 62 percent from the floor (33-of-53) on their way to an easy 77-43 victory over the Lady Griz.

Notre Dame (32-2) advance to face DePaul (xx-x) in the second round at the Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center at 9 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.

Montana (24-9) led briefly 4-2 before Notre Dame went on to outscore the Lady Griz 41-20 in the opening half.

The Fighting Irish were 18-of-30 in the first half, while Montana was just 11-of-31.

“I was really pleased with the way we came out,” Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. “I thought Jewell (Loyd) got us going and I thought we looked poised. After having two weeks off I was a little worried about the execution and how sharp we would look. I thought all three freshmen really played well and overall it was just a great win for the whole team. It was a real team effort and I thought everybody really contributed.”

Loyd, who is a finalist for the national player of the year, finished with 18 points and four assists.

Brianna Turner added 12 points and four rebounds, while Taya Reimer, Lindsay Allen and Michaela Mabrey all scored nine points.

Freshman center Kathryn Westbeld finished with eight points, 10 rebounds and four steals off the bench.

“Well, they obviously have a balanced team and a deep team, even though (Jewell) Loyd is a force,” Montana coach Robin Selvig said. “They just pass it so well. She (Loyd) was hurting us on the same stuff we were getting hurt on, that we didn’t adjust to. I’m just really impressed with them, and I was when I was watching film. You watch some teams and they’re going to pressure the heck out of you, something stands out.

“These guys just do everything well, nothing too out of the ordinary except that they’re a great shooting team. I’m extremely impressed with them. Our chance was to come in and do about the opposite of what we did, which was get sloppy. About three weeks ago, I had a great 3-point shooting team and we can’t seem to make one now. We would have needed to do that tonight. We would have needed to be hot. We could have hung around if we did that, it just didn’t happen. I love that Notre Dame team. They pass it, they share it, and they play hard on defense. They run great stuff, they’re just a great basketball team.”

Not a single Lady Griz reached double figures Friday night.

Kayleigh Valley finished with nine points, while Maggie Rickman, McCalle Feller and Kellie Rubel each had eight points.