Jan. 21, 1997

Irish Down Scarlet Knights, Improve to 8-0 in the Big East

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Beth Morgan scored 26 points, leading threeIrish players in double figures as Notre Dame posted a 76-61 victoryover Rutgers. The win was the sixth straight for Notre Dame, whichimproved to 16-4 on the season and 8-0 in the Big East.

Katryna Gaither and Rosanne Bohman were the other two players in doublefigures with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Notre Dame jumped out to an early 12-point lead (16-4) when Morgan, whoscored 20 first-half points, converted a three-point play after beingfouled with 14:43 left to play. The Scarlet Knights cut the Notre Damelead to four, 25-21, when Martin scored a layup and was fouled byBohman. After the teams exchanged baskets, Rutgers got as close asthree points (27-24) with 5:12 left in the half when Usha Gilmore naileda 10-footer from the left baseline.

Notre Dame closed the first half by going on a 14-5 run, which gave theIrish a 41-29 halftime advantage.

Notre Dame led by as many as 30 points in the second half.

Rutgers, which fell to 5-12 and 3-6 in the Big East, outscored NotreDame 21-6 in the final seven minutes of the contest. The ScarletKnights were led in scoring by Susan Blauser’s 17 points. Gilmore had13 points, while Tomora Young and Jennifer Clemente each chipped in with 10.

Notre Dame was outrebounded in the game 42-33, but had only 14turnovers.

Jeannine Augustin tied her personal best with 10 assists and also had acareer-high six steals.

RUTGERS (61)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpMartin          20   1-2   0-1   1-5  2  2    2Lillard         17   1-2   1-2   4-5  0  2    3Blauser         26  6-10   5-6   2-4  1  3   17Hartmann         7   0-2   0-0   0-0  0  1    0Somogyi         34  2-10   1-1   2-3  4  0    6Young           26  4-13   1-2   1-3  7  3   10Gilmore         35  6-17   0-1   2-8  4  2   13Honeycutt       12   0-3   0-0   2-3  0  0    0Clemente        23   4-6   2-3   2-4  2  2   10_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 24-65 10-16 16-35 20 15   61_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.369, FT-.625. 3-Point Goals:3-16, .188 (Lillard 0-1, Somogyi 1-5, Young 1-6,Gilmore 1-4). Team rebounds: 7. Blocked shots: 1(Young). Turnovers: 17 (Lillard 4, Clemente 3,Young 3, Blauser 2, Gilmore 2, Hartmann 2,Martin). Steals: 7 (Young 4, Gilmore 2, Lillard).NOTRE DAME (76)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpMorgan          30  9-18   5-7   1-3  1  2   26Bohman          24   6-8   1-1   4-7  4  3   13Gaither         28   6-9   2-2   2-7  0  0   14Peirick         26   2-8   0-0   1-7  6  4    5Augustin        36   2-7   0-0   0-2 10  2    4Jordan           6   0-2   0-2   1-1  0  1    0Mcmillen        20   2-3   4-4   0-2  1  2    9Henderson       16   1-1   3-3   1-1  0  1    5Hutchinson      14   0-1   0-0   0-2  0  1    0_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 28-57 15-19 10-32 22 16   76_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.491, FT-.789. 3-Point Goals:5-19, .263 (Morgan 3-8, Peirick 1-7, Augustin0-2, Mcmillen 1-1, Hutchinson 0-1). Teamrebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 7 (Peirick 3, Gaither2, Henderson, Hutchinson). Turnovers: 14(Mcmillen 4, Augustin 3, Hutchinson 2, Morgan 2,Peirick 2, Gaither). Steals: 11 (Augustin 6,Gaither 4, Mcmillen).__________________________________Rutgers            29   32  -   61Notre Dame         41   35  -   76__________________________________Technical fouls: None.  A: 590. Officials: KeithFisher, Greg Smith, John Whitson.