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.