Mar. 28, 1997

Notre Dame Falls in Final Four

CINCINNATI — All-American Chamique Holdsclaw poured in 31 points to leaddefending champion Tennessee into its seventh title game with an80-66 victory over Notre Dame in the national semifinals of theNCAA Women’s Tournament at Cincinnati.

The Lady Vols (28-10) go for their fifth national championshipSunday against Old Dominion.

Holdsclaw also played a major defensive role in shutting downNotre Dame star Beth Morgan. Morgan missed her first six shotsand finished with 18 points on 6-of-21 shooting from the floor.

Tenneesee led at halftime, 29-28, and stretched the advantage to37-30 in the opening minutes of the second half. The FightingIrish narrowed the gap to 45-43 on a three-pointer by Morganwith 10:45 to play, but were unable to get any closer.

Kyra Elzy added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Lady Volsand Abby Conklin had 11 points, including three three-pointers.

Katryna Gaither had 28 points and 13 rebounds to pace Notre Dame(31-7), which was making its first-ever Final Four appearance.

The Irish committed 23 turnovers and were outrebounded, 43-34.

NOTRE DAME (66)

fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tpMorgan 35 6-21 2-4 1-3 2 3 18Bohman 36 2-4 2-2 2-4 3 2 6Gaither 37 10-15 8-8 4-13 1 4 28Peirick 34 3-8 0-0 1-5 4 3 7Augustin 25 1-3 0-0 0-1 4 3 2Mcmillen 26 1-5 0-0 0-0 0 3 3Henderson 5 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 0 2Hutchinson 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0_______________________________________________TOTALS 200 24-57 12-14 9-28 15 18 66_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.421, FT-.857. 3-Point Goals: 6-16, .375 (Morgan 4-8, Peirick 1-4, Mcmillen 1-4). Team rebounds: 6. Blocked shots: 1 (Peirick). Turnovers: 23 (Peirick 7, Augustin 5, Gaither 4, Bohman 3, Morgan 3, Henderson).Steals: 8 (Morgan 4, Augustin 2, Peirick 2).

TENNESSEE (80)

fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tpHoldsclaw 36 13-25 5-6 2-5 3 2 31Conklin 17 4-5 0-0 1-3 0 3 11Thompson 36 3-4 0-1 6-9 0 4 6Elzy 26 4-10 6-8 2-9 1 2 14Jolly 36 1-10 4-4 0-4 9 1 6Butts 5 1-3 0-0 1-1 0 2 2Johnson 28 3-7 0-2 3-7 0 3 6Greene 10 1-7 0-0 2-2 0 0 3Laxton 5 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0 0Stephens 1 0-0 1-2 1-1 0 0 1_______________________________________________TOTALS 200 30-71 16-23 19-42 13 17 80_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.423, FT-.696. 3-Point Goals: 4-11, .364 (Holdsclaw 0-1, Conklin 3-4, Jolly 0-2, Greene 1-4). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 3 (Holdsclaw 2, Johnson). Turnovers: 12 (Elzy 2, Holdsclaw 2, Jolly 2, Laxton 2, Butts, Greene, Johnson, Thompson). Steals: 15 (Elzy 5,Holdsclaw 4, Johnson 2, Jolly 2, Laxton,Thompson).__________________________________Notre Dame 28 38 – 66Tennessee 29 51 – 80__________________________________Technical fouls: None. A: 16,714. Officials: John Morningstar, Scott Yarbrough, Judy Schneider.