Mar. 4, 1997

No. 1 Connecticut Downs Irish for Big East Title

STORRS, Conn. — Carla Berube and Kara Wolters scored 21 and 20points respectively as top-ranked Connecticut defeated 13th-rankedNotre Dame 86-77 in the championship game of the Big East ConferenceTournament on Tuesday night.

Berube connected on 9-of-13 shots from the field and added sevenrebounds for the Huskies, who improved to 30-0 on the season. Woltershit on 8-of-11 shots from the floor and added six rebounds forConnecticut.

Senior Beth Morgan was the leading scorer for Notre Dame (27-6) with 30 points and six rebounds.

The game was tied at 15 when Connecticut went on a 17-3 run midwaythrough the first half. Berube scored seven of her 13 first halfpoints in the four-and-a-half minute stretch where the Huskies built a14-point advantage. Connecticut, which shot 57.6 percent from thefloor, led 49-36 at the half. For the game, Connecticut shot 52.5percent while holding the Irish to 38.1 percent from the field.

Connecticut opened the second half where it left off, making four ofits first five field goals to spark an 8-2 run and pushing the lead to19 points. Twice the Irish cut the lead to 12, but were able to get nocloser until the game’s final minute.

Notre Dame senior Katryna Gaither recorded her third consecutivedouble-double against the Huskies with 12 points and 14 rebounds.Rosanne Bohman had 11 points, while Shelia McMillen came off the benchto score 10.

Both teams will be awaiting the announcement of the NCAA Tournamentfield on Sunday night. The first and second rounds will be playedMarch 14-17 with the top 16 teams, four in each region, serving ashosts for the first two rounds.

NOTRE DAME (77)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpMorgan          37 12-31   5-6   2-6  2  2   30Bohman          29  5-11   1-2   4-6  2  2   11Gaither         36  6-19   0-0 11-14  0  3   12Peirick         28   2-7   0-0   1-3  3  3    4Augustin        22   1-5   2-2   1-2  3  5    4Mcmillen        32   3-8   2-4   0-3  0  3   10Grady            1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0Henderson       15   3-3   0-0   4-9  0  3    6_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 32-84 10-14 23-43 10 21   77_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.381, FT-.714. 3-Point Goals:3-18, .167 (Morgan 1-8, Peirick 0-3, Augustin0-1, Mcmillen 2-6). Team rebounds: 2. Blockedshots: 1 (Augustin). Turnovers: 17 (Morgan 4,Peirick 4, Augustin 3, Bohman 3, Henderson 2,Mcmillen). Steals: 14 (Augustin 3, Gaither 3,Morgan 3, Mcmillen 2, Peirick 2, Bohman).CONNECTICUT (86)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpSales           30  4-10   2-4   2-4  5  2   10Berube          26  9-13   2-2   3-7  2  0   21Wolters         34  8-11   4-6   0-6  2  1   20Duran           27   3-6   0-0   2-3  0  3    8Williams        35   1-7   2-6   1-3  6  3    4Arnold           1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0Rose             4   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0Hansmeyer        1   1-1   0-0   0-1  0  0    2Gaine            1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0Ralph           21   5-8   4-4   4-8  2  1   14Sauer           18   1-4   5-7   2-7  0  1    7Northway         2   0-0   0-0   0-0  1  0    0_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 32-61 19-29 14-39 18 11   86_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.525, FT-.655. 3-Point Goals:3-9, .333 (Sales 0-2, Berube 1-2, Duran 2-3,Williams 0-1, Rose 0-1). Team rebounds: 5.Blocked shots: 6 (Wolters 5, Sauer). Turnovers:23 (Sales 7, Williams 5, Wolters 4, Rose 2, Sauer2, Duran, Northway, Ralph). Steals: 15 (Sales 6,Williams 5, Duran, Ralph, Sauer, Wolters).__________________________________Notre Dame         36   41  -   77Connecticut        49   37  -   86__________________________________Technical fouls: None.  A: 10,027. Officials:Sally Bell, Dee Kanter, Larry Diwitt.