March 19, 2000

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NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship – Second Round
2-Notre Dame (26-4) vs. 7-George Washington (26-5)
March 19, 2000 – 6:35 p.m.
Joyce Center – Notre Dame, IN
FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 95, George Washington 60

• Tonight marks the second meeting between the Irish and the Colonials. The only other time these teams played was in the 1997 East Regional championship game in Columbia, S.C. with Notre Dame earning a 62-52.
• This is the first time in history the Joyce Center has been the host to a second round women’s NCAA tournament game
• The Irish have not taken on an Atlantic 10 foe since their ’97 meeting with the Colonials. Overall, Notre Dame is on a four-game win streak over A-10 teams dating back to 1995.
• The Irish enter tonight with a 2-2 record in second round games with their two trips to the Sweet Sixteen coming in 1997 and ’98. GW is 2-5 in second round games with its two Sweet Sixteen appearances coming in 1995 and ’97.
• Entering tonight, only one number seven seed has defeated a second seed since the tournament field was expanded to 64 teams in 1994. In ’95, N.C. State knocked off second-seeded Penn State in the second round in the Midwest regional.
• George Washington’s Joe McKeown won his 250th game at GW on Friday. He comes into tonight with a perfect 4-0 record in games following his milestone victories (50th, 100th, 150th, 200th) with the Colonials.

Game Notes

• After Elisa Aguilar’s three-point goal at 16:14 in the first half to give George Washington its largest lead of the game at 8-5, the Colonials hit a dry spell as they went the next 7:55 without scoring. During that stretch, the Irish scored 14 unanswered points, opening up a 19-8 lead. The next GW field goal was a Marlo Egleston layup following a steal with 6:33 left in the half, ending a 9:41 field goal drought in which Notre Dame went on a 19-2 run.
• The end of the first half was marked by a long-range shootout between GW’s Marlo Egleston and Notre Dame’s Niele Ivey. In a three minute span (4:51 to 1:58) Egleston made three treys for GW while Ivey answered with a pair for the Irish.
• The Irish outscored George Washington 10-2 in the last two minutes of the first half to open up a 43-25 advantage, their largest of the game to that point.
• In the first half, Notre Dame had a 10-0 advantage in second chance points.
• In the second half, the Irish hit a field goal drought after Julie Henderson’s layup at 17:12 to give Notre Dame its biggest lead of the game to that point (50-28). The Irish went 5:07 before Alicia Ratay hit a three-pointer, stopping an 11-4 GW run. Ratay’s triple began an 11-0 ND run during a 3:39 Colonial scoreless streak.
• After a Notre Dame timeout with 12:05 remaining in the game, the Irish went on an 18-5 run to put the game away.

Individual Notes

• Julie Henderson’s 14 points today marked a season high and matched her career high originally set against St. John’s in ’97-’98. She also had 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
• Kelly Siemon’s 14 rebounds today matched her career high originally set against Boston College earlier this season.
• Niele Ivey’s 23 points marked a season high, bettering her 22 points against Syracuse.

Team Notes

• Notre Dame improves to 10-6 in the NCAA tournament while GW drops to 11-8.
• Notre Dame’s 95 points are the most in an NCAA tournament game by an Irish team, bettering the previous high of 93 points against Memphis in the first round in 1997. It was also the second most of the season (99 vs. North Carolina) and marked the most points given up by GW this season.
• The 35-point victory by the Irish is the biggest margin in a tournament game, topping the 31 point win over Memphis in the 1997 first round by the Final Four-bound Irish.
• Notre Dame’s 57 rebounds are the most in an NCAA tournament game as well, bettering the 53 rebounds against GW in 1997. The +28 rebound differential was also the best in a tourney game by the Irish. The previous mark was +19 in the ’97 GW game.
• Today marks the second time in school history that the Irish have placed five players in double figures in a tournament game. It also happened in the first round of the 1997 tournament in a victory over Memphis when Beth Morgan, Katryna Gaither, Molly Peirick, Jeannine Augustin, and Rosanne Bohman all hit double figures for Notre Dame.
• George Washington shot 28.3% from the field, marking the worst shooting effort of the season for the Colonials. It was also the worst shooting effort by a Notre Dame opponent in the tournament. The previous low was 30.7% by Alabama in 1997. GW shot only 31% against the Irish in 1997.
• Notre Dame’s 33 free throws made are the second most in a Mideast second round game. Western Kentucky made 38 against Oregon State in 1995. The 45 free throws attempted were also second to Western Kentucky’s 48 in that game. They are also the most free throws made and attempted by an Irish team in the tournament. Plus, GW’s 30 personal fouls matched the third-highest total in a Mideast second round game. The highest is 33 by Oregon State in that game.
• The Irish win their 23rd straight game in the Joyce Center, which extends the school record. The last time Notre Dame lost at home was a 106-81 loss to Connecticut in December of 1998.
• The Irish improve to 5-0 in Sunday games this season while GW loses for the first time in nine tries on Sunday.
• GW’s eight-game win streak over non-conference foes is snapped.
• The Colonials drop to 0-6 in second round NCAA games played on the road. Also, GW drops to 0-4 in games against second seeds in the NCAA tournament.
• Notre Dame improves to 25-1 when leading at halftime this season. Also, the Irish improve to 12-1 when they have four or more players in double figures.
• Notre Dame is now 23-0 when the opponent shoots worse than 40% and 19-0 when the Irish make more free throws than the opponent does.
• Notre Dame improves to 4-1 in green jerseys this season. The Irish wore green for victories over North Carolina and Liberty in the Wachovia Women’s Invitational Tournament in Richmond this past December. In the following game, Notre Dame dropped a road contest to Purdue in the green jerseys. They did not bring the green out again until St. Patrick’s Day, when they defeated San Diego in first round action.