Mar. 24, 1997

Notre Dame Advances to Final Four

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Katryna Gaither scored 14 of her 25 pointsin the first half and pulled down 15 rebounds to lead sixth-seededNotre Dame to a 62-52 win over fifth-seed George Washington in theEast Regional final at Columbia, South Carolina.

The win earned the Fighting Irish (31-6) their first Final Four berth in school history. Notre Dame will meet the Midwest Region winner between Tennessee and Big East Conference rival Connecticut in Cincinnati next Saturday. It will be the first Final Four trip for Notre Dame basketball since the men’s team made it in 1979.

Gaither’s first-half spree enabled the Irish to take a 32-25halftime lead.

Lisa Cermigano’s three-point basket gave George Washington itsonly lead of the game, 39-38 with 11:31 left. Notre Dameregained the advantage after a steal and a basket by BethMorgan.

Noelia Gomez had 15 points and six rebounds before fouling outwithh 5:33 left for the Colonials (28-6). Tajama Abraham added 15 points.

NOTRE DAME (62)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpBohman          31   3-8   2-3   2-6  4  3    8Gaither         36 10-18   5-8  6-16  1  2   25Peirick         25   0-4   0-0   3-9  5  4    0Augustin        30   2-4   2-3   1-6  3  2    7Morgan          36  5-10   4-5   0-6  0  1   15Mcmillen        28   3-7   0-0   0-4  2  0    7Henderson        8   0-3   0-0   0-2  0  3    0Hutchinson       6   0-1   0-0   1-1  0  0    0_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 23-55 13-19 13-50 15 15   62_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.418, FT-.684. 3-Point Goals:3-9, .333 (Peirick 0-1, Augustin 1-1, Morgan 1-4,Mcmillen 1-3). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 3(Peirick 2, Bohman). Turnovers: 24 (Augustin 7,Bohman 6, Mcmillen 4, Morgan 3, Gaither 2,Henderson, Peirick). Steals: 8 (Morgan 4,Augustin 2, Bohman, Peirick).GEO WASHINGTON (52)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpCermignano      38  3-13   0-0   2-5  4  2    9Gomez           34  7-13   1-2   2-6  2  5   15Abraham         36  7-19   1-3  3-12  0  4   15Myers           23   2-7   0-0   1-2  4  5    4Mccrea          35   1-7   0-3   0-1  7  1    2Egleston        25  2-11   0-0   2-3  1  1    6Mcglynn          2   0-0   1-2   1-1  0  1    1Deas             7   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 22-70  3-10 11-30 18 19   52_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.314, FT-.300. 3-Point Goals:5-22, .227 (Cermignano 3-11, Myers 0-1, Mccrea0-1, Egleston 2-9). Team rebounds: 4. Blockedshots: 6 (Abraham 6). Turnovers: 13 (Mccrea 5,Gomez 4, Deas, Egleston, Myers). Steals: 12(Mccrea 5, Abraham 2, Myers 2, Cermignano, Deas,Gomez).__________________________________Notre Dame         32   30  -   62Geo Washington     25   27  -   52__________________________________Technical fouls: None.  A: 2,678. Officials:Dennis Demayo, Melissa Barlow.