Feb. 25, 1997
Morgan, Gaither Power 16th-Ranked Irish
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Senior Beth Morgan scored 18 of her game-high 24points in the second half as 16th-ranked Notre Dame defeated West Virginia 80-67at the WVU Coliseum on Tuesday night.
Notre Dame, 25-5 overall and 17-1 in Big East Conference play, led by just onepoint at the half but outscored the Mountaineers 10-2 to open the second half.West Virginia, 18-11 overall and 11-7 in conference, never got closer than sevenpoints the rest of the way.
The Irish benefited from a 47-35 rebound advantage and held West Virginia tojust 28.6 percent field goal shooting after intermission.
Morgan connected on 7-of-8 shots inside the arc while adding sevenrebounds and four assists. Senior Katryna Gaither had 21 points and a game-high16 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season and the 36th of her career.
Senior Rosanne Bohman scored 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds and juniorMollie Peirick added 11 points and a team-high six assists for the Irish.
West Virginia had three players in double figures, led by forward MariaTchobanova’s 18 points and 11 rebounds. Tchobanova scored 14 of her 18 points inthe first half.
Notre Dame has locked up the No. 3 seed in the Big East Conference Tournament inStorrs, Conn. on March 1-4. The Irish will play the final game on Sunday, March2 against the winner of the game between the No. 6 and No. 11 seeds. Thetournament seeding will be announced on Thursday.
NOTRE DAME (80) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tpMorgan 31 8-15 7-8 2-7 4 3 24Bohman 37 6-11 3-5 4-7 2 3 15Gaither 35 10-19 1-3 3-16 0 2 21Peirick 35 4-10 2-2 2-3 6 3 11Augustin 27 0-3 2-2 2-2 7 1 2Mcmillen 25 2-6 2-2 0-4 0 0 7Henderson 6 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 1 0Jordan 4 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 0_______________________________________________TOTALS 200 30-66 17-22 14-40 20 14 80_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.455, FT-.773. 3-Point Goals:3-13, .231 (Morgan 1-7, Peirick 1-3, Mcmillen1-3). Team rebounds: 7. Blocked shots: None.Turnovers: 20 (Augustin 5, Morgan 4, Bohman 3,Gaither 3, Henderson 2, Jordan, Mcmillen,Peirick). Steals: 13 (Augustin 4, Gaither 3,Peirick 3, Morgan 2, Bohman).WEST VIRGINIA (67) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tpAmmons 24 0-6 0-0 1-3 1 3 0Tchobanov 34 6-14 6-7 6-11 2 3 18Opstaele 33 5-9 0-0 0-5 4 4 10Ronay 27 2-6 0-0 0-1 2 4 6Hargis 39 6-17 4-8 3-7 8 3 17Burbridge 21 3-7 0-0 0-1 1 0 9Beard 10 2-3 0-0 0-2 1 1 4Lambert 9 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 0 3Barboza 3 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0_______________________________________________TOTALS 200 25-65 10-15 10-32 19 19 67_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.385, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:7-24, .292 (Ammons 0-3, Tchobanov 0-1, Opstaele0-1, Ronay 2-5, Hargis 1-5, Burbridge 3-6,Lambert 1-3). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 6(Tchobanov 4, Opstaele 2). Turnovers: 21 (Hargis6, Ronay 5, Opstaele 4, Tchobanov 4, Ammons 2).Steals: 9 (Tchobanov 4, Ammons 2, Hargis 2,Burbridge).__________________________________Notre Dame 43 37 - 80West Virginia 42 25 - 67__________________________________Technical fouls: None. A: 1,239. Officials:Dennis Demayo, Tom Salerno, Dave Stewart.