November 20, 1996

Notre Dame Upsets N.C. State, 64-53

Irish record their second win in the last three games over a Top-10 opponent

RUSTON, LA — Katryna Gaither scored a game-high 24 points andgrabbed 10 rebounds and Rosanna Bohman added 15 points and five reboundsto lead 14th-ranked Notre Dame to a 64-53 victory over eighth-rankedNorth Carolina State in the consolation game of the Preseason Women’sNational Invitation Tournament.

Gaither registered her second double-double of the season and went overthe 20-point mark for the fourth straight game. She was 11-of-17 fromthe field as the Irish had their best shooting performance of the seasonas they connected on 56.5 percent of their shots for the game, includinga 12-for-18 performance in the second half (66.7 percent).

While the Irish had their best shooting perfromance from the field, itwas defense that was the difference in the game as Notre Dame held NorthCarolina State to just 32.2 percent for the game and forced 22 Wolfpackturnovers.

Notre Dame jumped out to an early 13-8 lead in the first half, but NorthCarolina State outscored the Irish 13-3 over the next five minutes totake a 21-16 lead with 6:15 left to play before intermission. NorthCarolina State’s run was highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers byJenner Howard, who led all Wolfpack scorers in the first half with 11points, but was held scoreless in the second half.

The Irish then went on a 15-4 run to close out the first half as NotreDame built a six-point lead at the half (31-25) and held Notre CarolinaState to just eight field goals as the Wolfpack were just 8-of-27 fromthe field (29.6).

Notre Dame extended its lead to eight points on a Gaither layup alongthe baseline with 16:12 left in the contest, but saw its lead quicklydiminish when North Carolina State went on a 10-0 run to take a 39-37lead on a Katie Smrcka-Duffy three-pointer.

Bohman’s hook shot tied the score at 39-39 with 12:22 left to play inthe contest and ignited an Irish rally as Notre Dame jumped out to a54-45 lead in the 15-6 run. Sheila McMillen, who came off the bench toscore seven points, had five points for the Irish during the run.

The Irish iced the victory with their free throw shooting as Notre Damehit 9-of-11 in the second and finished the evening 12-for-15.

Notre Dame’s Jeannine Augustin finished with 10 points and four assistsin the game.

Notre Dame, now 3-1 on the season, has played three ranked opponents(all in the Associated Press Top-10) and has come away with impressivevictories over sixth-ranked Iowa and eighth-ranked Notre Carolina State.The Irish lost in the semifinals of the WNIT to second-ranked Tennessee.

The Wolfpack, now 2-2 on the year, were led by Smrcka-Duffy’s 17 points.Also in double figures was Jennifer Howard, who had 13.

“We really tightened up our defense in this game,” Irish head coachMuffet McGraw said. “This was our best offensive shooting performance ofthe season as we had struggled somewhat in the first three games.Katryna had another outstanding game and has played exceptional in ourfirst four outings.

“We upset two ranked teams this week, so we feel pretty good about thestart to our season. We just need to go back home and work on ouroffense.”

The Irish return to action this Saturday when they travel to BowlingGreen to face the Falcons in a 1:30 p.m. tipoff.

NOTRE DAME 64, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 53

NOTRE DAME (64)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpMorgan          25   1-5   4-4   0-1  6  1    6Bohman          35   7-8   1-2   1-5  1  4   15Gaither         38 11-17   2-2  3-10  1  3   24Peirick         17   0-2   0-0   1-1  3  0    0Augustin        27   3-6   4-4   0-1  4  4   10Mcmillen        18   3-3   1-3   0-0  1  1    7Ivey            27   0-2   0-0   0-2  3  0    0Henderson        2   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  1    0Hutchinson       6   1-3   0-0   0-0  0  2    2Braendly         5   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  1    0_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 26-46 12-15  5-22 19 17   64_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.565, FT-.800. 3-Point Goals:0-1, .000 (Morgan 0-1). Team rebounds: 7. Blockedshots: 3 (Gaither 2, Peirick). Turnovers: 24(Augustin 4, Bohman 4, Ivey 4, Morgan 4, Peirick4, Braendly 2, Gaither, Mcmillen). Steals: 12(Gaither 4, Augustin 2, Peirick 2, Bohman, Ivey,Mcmillen, Morgan).NO. CAROLINA ST (53)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpSmrcka-duffy    37  5-14   4-4   1-2  1  2   17Melvin          31   2-7   3-7   2-7  0  5    7Webb            34  4-13   0-0  9-10  1  5    8Jones           25   1-7   0-2   3-4  1  3    2Howard          40  4-10   2-2   0-1  3  0   13Mclendon        10   1-1   0-0   0-2  0  0    2Shepard         20   2-5   0-3   2-5  2  1    4Poteat           2   0-2   0-0   0-0  1  1    0Williams         1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 19-59  9-18 17-31  9 18   53_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.322, FT-.500. 3-Point Goals:6-22, .273 (Smrcka-duffy 3-9, Melvin 0-1, Webb0-2, Jones 0-1, Howard 3-9). Team rebounds: 4.Blocked shots: 1 (Webb). Turnovers: 22 (Webb 6,Melvin 5, Smrcka-duffy 3, Howard 2, Mclendon 2,Jones, Poteat, Shepard, Williams). Steals: 8(Howard 3, Melvin 2, Webb 2, Smrcka-duffy).__________________________________Notre Dame         31   33  -   64No Carolina St     25   28  -   53__________________________________Technical fouls: None. Officials: ScottYarbrough, Angie Sansevero, Mark Zentz.