February 19, 1999

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP)– Having already wrapped up a first-round bye in the Big East tournament, the ninth-ranked Fighting Irish try to fine-tune their game when they visit the Mountaineers on Saturday.

After having their season-high 11-game winning streak snapped with a 20-point loss to then-No. 9 Rutgers last weekend, the Fighting Irish (21-3, 13-3 Big East) rebounded nicely on Wednesday night, beating Syracuse, 82-60.

By winning, the Irish clinched a first-round bye going into next week’s Big East tournament and trail only Rutgers and Connecticut in the conference standings.

Sheila McMillen scored 20 points and was 6-for-14 from 3-point range to break the single-season school record for 3-pointers set by Beth Morgan, who had 71.

McMillen broke the record on her third 3-pointer of the contest and now trails Morgan’s career record of 231 3-pointers by only five.

Niele Ivey tallied 17 points and Ruth Riley added 16 for an Irish squad that was playing without second-leading scorer Danielle Green, who has a sprained shoulder.

The Mountaineers (10-14, 5-11) have had a week off to mull over their consecutive road losses to Syracuse and Villanova.

West Virginia actually led 29-27 at halftime against Villanova last Saturday, but allowed the Wildcats to go on a 10-0 run en route to a 65-60 victory.

Senior Maria Tchobanova scored 11 points and had 12 rebounds in the losing effort, racking up her ninth double-double of the season.

After Notre Dame, the Mountaineers wrap up the season by hosting Rutgers on Tuesday.

West Virginia has been a much better team at home this season, compiling an 8-4 record at home, while going a dismal 2-10 on the road.