January 9, 1997
McMillen Leads Notre Dame To Convincing Win Over West Virginia
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Sheila McMillen scored a career-high 24 points to leadfive Notre Dame players in double figures as the Irish (12-4, 4-0 in the BigEast) exploded for 62 second-half points en route to a 103-58 win over WestVirginia at the Joyce Center.
The win snapped West Virginia’s six-game winning streak as Notre Dame scored over100 points for the first time since Dec. 21, 1990 in a 109-56 win overMarquette.
West Virginia, which entered the game ranked 12th nationally in scoring offense(81.0 ppg.), was held to just five field goals in the second half and went nearly10 minutes in the second half without a field goal. Leading 48-44 with 17:13 left toplay in the contest, Notre Dame used a 32-7 run to pull away from theMountaineers, who dropped to 12-4, 5-1 in the Big East.
The Irish shot 53.9 percent for the game and outrebounded West Virginia 42-30. Notre Dame committed a season-low nine turnovers in the contest and had 27 assists(which tied a season high), while forcing 21 Mountaineer turnovers.
Beth Morgan registered her third double-double of the season as she scored 22points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Leading scorer Katryna Gaither had 16points, while Mollie Peirick added 13 points, grabbed four rebounds and dishedoff a game-high seven assists. Jeannine Augustin scored a career-best 12 pointsin the win.
West Virginia was led by Maria Tchobanova who had 18 points, while MonicaBurbridge added 14.
Notre Dame returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 12 when it travels toVillanova for a 2 p.m. contest.
WEST VIRGINIA (58) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tpTchobanov 30 5-8 6-10 1-8 0 2 18Barboza 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0Opstaele 27 1-5 2-2 2-5 2 0 4Ammons 31 2-4 0-0 0-1 4 2 5Hargis 21 2-8 4-4 0-1 3 3 8Beard 8 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 0Lambert 14 1-4 2-2 0-0 0 0 4Ronay 16 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3Burbridge 37 4-13 4-4 2-6 0 3 14Mccoy 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0Wells 8 0-1 2-2 2-4 0 0 2_______________________________________________TOTALS 200 16-49 20-24 7-25 10 14 58_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.327, FT-.833. 3-Point Goals:6-18, .333 (Tchobanov 2-3, Ammons 1-3, Hargis0-2, Lambert 0-2, Ronay 1-2, Burbridge 2-6). Teamrebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 3 (Opstaele 2,Mccoy). Turnovers: 21 (Ammons 5, Tchobanov 4,Hargis 3, Beard 2, Lambert 2, Ronay 2, Barboza,Burbridge, Wells). Steals: 1 (Tchobanov).NOTRE DAME (103) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tpMorgan 22 9-20 1-1 2-10 4 0 22Bohman 23 3-3 0-0 0-2 3 1 6Gaither 24 7-11 2-2 1-6 2 2 16Peirick 30 5-12 0-0 2-4 7 3 13Augustin 18 4-5 4-4 1-2 4 3 12Jordan 17 0-3 0-0 0-1 1 1 0Mcmillen 33 9-14 2-2 3-6 4 1 24Henderson 14 3-5 2-3 3-3 1 2 8Hutchinson 19 1-3 0-0 1-5 1 3 2_______________________________________________TOTALS 200 41-76 11-12 13-39 27 16 103_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.539, FT-.917. 3-Point Goals:10-18, .556 (Morgan 3-6, Peirick 3-3, Mcmillen4-8, Hutchinson 0-1). Team rebounds: 3. Blockedshots: 2 (Bohman, Gaither). Turnovers: 9 (Peirick3, Augustin 2, Bohman, Gaither, Hutchinson,Morgan). Steals: 13 (Henderson 3, Augustin 2,Hutchinson 2, Morgan 2, Gaither, Jordan,Mcmillen, Peirick).__________________________________West Virginia 35 23 - 58Notre Dame 41 62 - 103__________________________________Technical fouls: None. A: 310. Officials: BryanEnterline, Ray Bomeli, Ric Foxen.