ND SPLITS 2A SECTIONAL GAMES; LADY 'DOGS TURN BACK TWIN RIVERS

Deana McCormick was the question.

Twin Rivers had no answer.

McCormick, Notre Dame's 6-foot center, scored a career-high 25 points and pulled down 14 rebounds as the No. 1 ranked Lady Bulldogs (25-3) steamrolled Twin Rivers (25-4) 75-49 in a state sectional game at Cape Central's Tiger Fieldhouse Wednesday night.

The Lady Bulldogs will get an anticipated rematch with John Burroughs, a 64-32 winner over West County. Burroughs has knocked Notre Dame out of the playoffs the last two years.

Going into Wednesday night's game, Twin Rivers coach Jeff Walk was concerned about Notre Dame's height, especially McCormick.

But McCormick, using a variety of moves and shooting from either hand, scored early and often against Twin Rivers center Rachel Baker. McCormick scored Notre Dame's first six points and had 16 by halftime.

"We saw them on tape," McCormick said. "And we saw that they didn't front and that they didn't help very well so we knew it was going to be there."

Said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim, "We knew they couldn't stay with Deana one-on-one."

Twin Rivers stayed with Notre Dame for the first half. The Lady Bulldogs owned just a 32-26 lead at halftime.

But Notre Dame outscored Twin Rivers 19-7 in the third quarter and 43-23 in the second half.

The Lady Bulldogs held a 35-29 lead when they started their big run at the 6:08 mark of the third quarter. Notre Dame scored 14 unanswered points in a four-minute span, making eight of their 12 shots and forcing five turnovers.

"I think we got back better on our press," said McCormick. "They burned us a few times in the first half but in the second half we pushed the ball real hard and they kind of got tired at the end."

Twin Rivers' fatigue was a result of Notre Dame establishing the pace.

"They're a half-court team and we like to run," said Grim. "We controlled the tempo. They kept up with us in the first half, but I didn't think they could stay with us the whole game."

Notre Dame, as usual, benefited from a balanced attack. Courtney Vickery and Lisa Millham both scored 12 and Ashley Millham posted 11. Vickery led Notre Dame with six assists, while Lisa Millham had four.

Both teams played a sharp first quarter as Notre Dame led 20-19 after the first eight minutes. Notre Dame made eight of its 14 shots and Twin Rivers scored on eight of its 12 attempts. Eleven first-half turnovers hindered the Lady Royals but they made 10 of their 20 shots to stay within striking distance. Twin Rivers turned the ball over 20 times total.

The Lady Royals couldn't keep up their hot shooting in the second half while Notre Dame picked up where it left off. Twin Rivers made only one of its nine shots in the third quarter and Notre Dame extended its lead to 51-33 going into the fourth quarter.

Lisa Millham converted a four-point play at the beginning of the fourth quarter and Notre Dame led 67-37 with 4:11 to go.

Notre Dame will take on John Burroughs at 8:15 p.m. at Park Hills High School for the right to advance to the Final Four.