Dec. 3, 1999
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Ninth-ranked North Carolina and No. 11 Notre Dame meet for the first time ever in the opening round of the Wachovia Women’s Invitational Tournament in Richmond, Va., on Saturday.
The Tar Heels (4-1) lost their season opener to No. 5 UCLA but have since won four straight, including a 92-79 victory over ACC rival Maryland on Thursday night in the conference opener for both teams.
LaQuanda Barksdale scored 22 points and Nikki Teasley added 18 in the high-scoring affair. North Carolina set season highs with 92 points scored and 79 allowed.
“I think we played pretty well,” North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “But we beat them by outscoring them.”
North Carolina hopes to continue its offensive roll as they take on a Notre Dame squad coming off an outstanding defensive performance in its last game.
Notre Dame (2-1) routed intrastate rival Butler 77-57 Wednesday night, holding the Bulldogs to 27 percent shooting and outrebounding Butler 49-35.
Notre Dame, which didn’t make the top 10 of the AP Top 25 this week for the first time since last Nov. 16, got 16 points from freshman Alicia Ratay and 14 points and seven blocked shots from Ruth Riley.
Richmond and Liberty will meet in the tournament’s other first-round matchup.