Mar. 22, 1997

Sixth-seed Irish Advance to Elite Eight

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Senior Beth Morgan poured in a career-high 36 points as sixthseed Notre Dame upset second-seeded Alabama, 87-71, in the EastRegion semifinal in the NCAA Women’s Tournament at Columbia,South Carolina.

The Fighting Irish (30-6) held Alabama scoreless for nearly sixminutes of the second half and advanced to the regional finalfor the first time school history. They will meet anothernewcomer — George Washington — on Monday for the right to goto the Final Four in Cincinnati.

Morgan scored 22 points in the second half to rally Notre Damefrom a 41-32 deficit. She shot 13-of-22 from the floor –including — 6-of-10 from three-point range, en route to atournament high for points.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling right now,” said Morgan. “Our teamstayed strong for 40 minutes. This is definitely the highlightof my career.”

Alabama broke a 22-22 tie with 6:35 left in the first half on athree-pointer from Shalonda Enis that triggered a 19-10 run toclose the half. Enis had eight points during the charge, whileDominique Canty added four.

Morgan hit three straight shots from beyond the arc to pull theIrish into a 51-51 tie with 12:09 left. Three points fromTausha Mills restored a 54-51 lead for the Crimson Tide with11:17 left.

Sheila McMillen’s three-pointer gave Notre Dame its first leadof the game at 58-56 with 9:27 left. They proceeded to put awaythe game, ripping off 17 consecutive points and holding Alabamascoreless for six minutes. Enis finally broke the drought withtwo free throws with four minutes to play. Notre Dame held theTide to 25 percent (9-of-35) shooting in the second half.

“We played well, I thought the key was our defense,” said NotreDame coach Muffet McGraw. “That was the best 15 minutes we haveplayed all year. I think once we got into the flow we knew whatwe were going to do.”

Katryna Gaither was the only other Notre Dame player in doublefigures with 26 points. Morgan also pulled down 13 rebounds.

Notre Dame, which finished second to top-ranked Connecticut inthe Big East Conference, won for the first time in four meetingsagainst Alabama.

Enis led the Tide with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Cantyadded 19 points. Alabama (25-7) has been knocked out in theregional semifinals three straight years.

“I’m real disappointed for basketball team,” Tide coach RickMoody said. “I’m proud of our season and I want to congratulateNotre Dame. They took the game away from us. They shot the ballvery well and played an unbelievable second half.”

NOTRE DAME (87)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpBohman          33   3-5   0-2   1-5  2  3    6Morgan          36 13-22   4-4  0-13  2  1   36Gaither         39 10-15   6-9   4-9  0  3   26Peirick         28   0-2   5-6   1-4 11  3    5Augustin        27   3-6   0-2   0-3  1  4    6Mcmillen        21   2-2   0-0   0-6  1  3    6Grady            1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0Henderson        7   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  1    0Hutchinson       8   1-2   0-0   0-1  1  1    2_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 32-54 15-23  6-42 18 19   87_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.593, FT-.652. 3-Point Goals:8-12, .667 (Morgan 6-10, Mcmillen 2-2). Teamrebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 1 (Bohman).Turnovers: 23 (Augustin 6, Bohman 5, Morgan 5,Mcmillen 3, Peirick 2, Gaither). Steals: 4(Augustin, Bohman, Henderson, Peirick).ALABAMA (71)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpEnis            33  9-18   3-3  1-10  2  3   26Canty           35  7-16   5-8   5-7  3  4   19Watkins         24   1-8   3-4   2-7  0  4    5Monteith        22   1-6   0-0   1-2  2  2    2Ezell           25   1-7   1-2   0-0  6  0    4L Jones          9   1-1   4-4   2-2  0  1    6Mills           16   1-4   1-2   1-3  0  4    3Duncan          12   1-7   1-2   1-3  0  4    3Teeple           1   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    0Baragry         21   1-7   0-0   0-1  3  4    3Crosslin         1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0Holtzclaw        1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 23-75 18-25 13-35 16 27   71_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.307, FT-.720. 3-Point Goals:7-27, .259 (Enis 5-8, Canty 0-1, Monteith 0-4,Ezell 1-7, Duncan 0-3, Baragry 1-4). Teamrebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 1 (Monteith).Turnovers: 12 (Canty 4, Ezell 2, L Jones 2,Duncan, Enis, Mills, Watkins). Steals: 13 (Canty3, Ezell 3, Baragry 2, Monteith 2, Duncan, LJones, Mills).__________________________________Notre Dame         32   55  -   87Alabama            41   30  -   71__________________________________Technical fouls: None.  A: 4,011. Officials: RayBomeli, Teresa Dahlem, John Palermo.