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.