Friday, March 10, 2000
Notre Dame keeps streak alive
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer contributor
COVINGTON — For a moment, Notre Dame senior guard Emily Farrell acted as if her Pandas had lost Thursday's Ninth Region first-round game against Dixie Heights.
Farrell's 13 points led her team to a 51-36 victory at Holmes, and it gave Notre Dame a rematch against Highlands in the semifinals at 8 p.m. on Monday.
“I'm pleased with the win, but I'm not pleased with the way we played,” Farrell said. “We stepped it up the second half, but we didn't play a solid game.”
Notre Dame coach Cheryl Darpel said her team frequently forgot the fundamentals of defense, but Farrell had another theory.
“I think we were looking too much forward,” Farrell said. “Highlands beat us by 10 last time. We only scored 12 points the second half.”
Notre Dame (23-7) won its 12th straight game, but despite the score, Thursday's win didn't start easily.
Farrell's five points led a 9-0 run to start the game, but the Pandas went more than two minutes without a point.
Dixie Heights (5-23) took advantage. Julieanne Lingelbach's four points and two points by Julie Farley closed the Notre Dame lead to 9-6 with 1:03 left in the first quarter.
The second quarter started pretty much like the first. Notre Dame senior guard Mia Bradford's two free throws gave the Pandas a 13-6 lead, but Notre Dame went scoreless for most of the next two minutes, while Dixie hung around at 13-9 thanks to a Cassie Shondel bucket and Shannon Sommers free throw with 6:31 left in the half.
But Notre Dame's full-court press finally took effect, and it was the last time Dixie Heights was anywhere close the rest of the night.
Junior guard Shelby Howard started with a 3-pointer, followed by two Panda steals Bradford and junior forward Holly Kreyling each made field goals.
Howard's 3-pointer and sophomore center Lynne Fischesser's 3-point play completed the 13-0 run, and Notre Dame had a 26-9 lead with 2:05 to go in the half.
“When you play bad, there's usually a reason,” Dixie Heights coach Jeff Wright said. “Notre Dame's a tremendous team. They come in waves. It seemed like there were seven people instead of five.”
Dixie didn't score again until Sommers' field goal with 1:55 left, and the Colonels were shut out the final 1:30.
DIXIE HEIGHTS (36) — Beale 2 8 12, Douglas 1 0 2, Shondel 1 0 2, Lingelbach 2 4 9, Sommers 3 1 7, Farley 1 1 3, Bellinger 0 1 1. Totals: 10 15 36.
NOTRE DAME (51) — Farrell 4 2 13, Zembrodt 1 1 3, Howard 3 0 9, Hanser 3 1 7, 1 3 5, Bradford 2 3 7, Fischesser 3 1 7. Totals: 17 11 51.
Dixie Heights ....... 6 7 6 17—36
Notre Dame ....... 11 17 13 10—51
3-point goals: DH-Lingelbach. ND-Farrell 3, Howard 3. Records: DH 5-23, ND 22-7.
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