Mar. 17, 1997

Sixth-seed Irish Upset Third-Seeded Texas, Advance to Sweet 16

AUSTIN, Texas – Beth Morgan and Katryna Gaither scored 29 points apiece assixth-seeded Notre Dame outlasted third-seeded and host Texas,86-83 in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Tournament EastRegion at Austin.

The Fighting Irish (29-6), who are advancing to the Sweet 16 forthe first time in school history, will play second-seededAlabama in the regional semifinals in Columbia, South Carolinaon Saturday. Rosanne Bohman was the only other player in doublefigures for Notre Dame, finishing with 16 points on 8-of-8shooting from the field.

Danielle Viglione scored 19 points and Vanessa Wallace added 11points and 13 assists for Texas (22-8), which shot 66 percentfrom the field in the second half but was outscored 23-10 at thefoul line.

Notre Dame led 58-51 with 14:20 to play, but Texas stormed backinto the game on an 11-2 run, giving the Longhorns a 62-60 leadwith 9:37 left. The Irish then regained the lead and Morganiced the victory with five free throws in the final minute.

The Fighting Irish made 14-of-21 from the field in the secondhalf and held a 34-27 rebounding edge. Morgan made 14-of-18free throws.

NOTRE DAME (86)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpMorgan          36  6-16 14-18   2-6  5  2   29Bohman          31   8-8   0-0   3-5  0  2   16Gaither         40 11-19   7-7  6-11  2  2   29Peirick         31   0-2   2-2   0-4  8  3    2Augustin        21   1-1   0-0   0-1  2  3    2Mcmillen        30   2-6   0-0   0-3  0  2    6Henderson        7   1-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    2Hutchinson       4   0-0   0-0   1-2  0  2    0_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 29-53 23-27 12-32 17 16   86_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.547, FT-.852. 3-Point Goals:5-12, .417 (Morgan 3-6, Peirick 0-2, Mcmillen2-4). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 1(Gaither). Turnovers: 12 (Morgan 4, Augustin 3,Gaither 3, Mcmillen, Peirick). Steals: 6(Augustin 2, Morgan 2, Gaither, Mcmillen).TEXAS (83)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpA Smith         35  7-12   0-0   2-5  1  2   14Wallace         26   4-9   3-6   0-2 13  4   11Jackson         17   3-5   0-0   1-1  0  4    6Viglione        40  6-13   2-2   1-5  1  1   19Hasenmyer       19   2-5   3-4   0-1  2  1    7Ogletree        22   4-8   0-0   0-0  3  2    8E Brown         15   1-3   0-0   2-2  2  3    2Lummus           1   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0Littleton       14   7-8   0-0   3-5  0  3   14Bailey          11   0-1   2-2   1-4  0  0    2_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 34-65 10-14 10-25 22 20   83_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.523, FT-.714. 3-Point Goals:5-11, .455 (Wallace 0-1, Viglione 5-9, Lummus0-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 4(Littleton 3, Jackson). Turnovers: 9 (Wallace 4,A Smith 2, E Brown 2, Littleton). Steals: 7 (ASmith 2, Bailey, Hasenmyer, Littleton, Ogletree,Viglione).__________________________________Notre Dame         42   44  -   86Texas              40   43  -   83__________________________________Technical fouls: None. Officials: Sally Bell,