Hutchinson Has Concerns About Fighting Irish

Barring a stretch drive nothing short of the ‘78 New York Yankees, Kari Hutchinson and the University of Notre Dame women’s basketball team will not be back in the Final Four this March.

“It’s kinda a shock,” said Hutchinson, a 6-foot reserve forward/center from Spokane who led St. George’s to a State B title in 1994.

“Sometimes I don’t think our team has jelled yet. I feel like we’re very inconsistent in that sense. That’s a sign of a young team. Last year, I felt like we jelled every night.”

Last year’s team - the first among the Fighting Irish to qualify into the NCAA tournament semifinal round - featured four seniors. Its two stars, Beth Morgan and Katryna Gaithers, have gone on to play in the ABL. Hutchinson and starting guard Mollie Peirick are the only seniors on this year’s team.

Notre Dame heads into this weekend’s Big East Conference tournament with an 11-6 league record, 17-8 overall.

Hutchinson has played in every game this season (three starts), averaging 3.6 points on 45.8 percent shooting in 15.8 minutes of playing time. Her career best came against Villanova when she scored 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

The consensus around the Notre Dame campus is that in order to be considered for an NCAA tournament at-large bid, the Irish need to make it into the March 3 Big East championship game.

No. 2 Connecticut, Rutgers and Villanova have been the best in the East this season.

“Connecticut sounds really scary, but they’re beatable - especially now that Nykesha (Sales) is out,” Hutchinson said.

Sales, an All-America guard, ruptured her Achilles’ tendon in last Saturday’s game against Notre Dame. She made a brief arranged appearance Tuesday, but is out for the rest of the season. She is leading the conference in scoring (22.6) and shooting (57.9).

Tuesday night she was allowed to score against Villanova and those two points (2,177th and 2,178th) moved her past Kerry Bascom into first place on the school’s career scoring list.

In a deal arranged by the coaches, Sales, who was wearing a large brace from her foot to just under her knee, was allowed to score off the game’s opening tap when Villanova lined all five of its players in its offensive end of the floor.

Big week for the Vandals

Here’s what’s up as the University of Idaho begins its final week of the regular season. Idaho (13-13, 8-4) and Nevada (16-8, 8-4) are one game behind first-place Boise State (15-9, 9-3) in the Big West Conference Eastern Division. If all three tie for first, Idaho would win the tie-breaker because they would have the best record against fourth-place North Texas. That would give the Vandals the No. 1 Eastern Division seed at next week’s conference tournament in Reno, Nev.

With this in mind, Idaho’s final home game Saturday at 7 p.m. against Boise State is shaping up to a Gem State showdown. However, first up is Long Beach State on Thursday at 7 p.m. Despite the 49ers’ 6-18, 3-10 record, the game probably won’t be a day at the beach.

After losing to the Western Division top-ranked UC Santa Barbara 87-67 on Feb. 8, Long Beach came back on Feb. 15 and lost to the Gauchos 88-83.

Looking for Santa Claus at Santa Clara

They didn’t reach its regular-season goal of a fourth-place finish in the West Coast Conference, but a strong showing at this week’s conference tournament could leave the Bulldogs on a high. Seventh-place Gonzaga (11-15) plays second-place Pepperdine (20-9) in a first-rounder Thursday at noon at Santa Clara University.

The Bulldogs lost to the Waves twice this season, 79-59 on the road and 84-81 in OT at Martin Centre.

“We cannot allow any one aspect to beat us,” Gonzaga coach Kellee Barney said. “If we don’t allow them to eat us alive inside, we’ll be all right.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: AREA LEADERS Scoring Player, school FG-FGA FT-FTA 3pt Avg. Shelley Massingale, CCS 167-369 119-159 15 17.3 Alli Nieman, UI 146-304 112-157 7 16.4 Tammy Goyne, NIC 129-276 66-90 38 14.6 Andrea Sherer, Whit. 141-292 65-135 2 14.5 Alana Carlander, CCS 142-340 57-93 59 14.3 Yvonne Kunze, WSU 137-254 61-99 1 14.0 Kelli Johnson, UI 120-297 56-142 56 13.2 Kelli Pilkington, CCS 147-324 61-102 24 12.8 Susan Woolf, UI 96-267 51-159 51 12.7 Alke Dietel, WSU 113-248 48-65 28 12.6 Tracy Ford, EWU 104-289 53-61 31 12.2 Becki Huddle, NIC 85-230 107-147 17 12.3 Lydia Ledgerwood, GU 107-258 76-101 8 11.5 Tricia Lamb, WSU 81-182 45-70 26 9.7 Sandy Gere, GU 80-220 41-56 30 9.6 Rebounding Pilkington, CCS, 9.2 (257); Juli Carlson, EWU, 7.9 (197); Sherer, Whit., 7.3 (174); Nieman, UI, 7.2 (181); Kunze, WSU, 6.9 (165). Assists Goyne, NIC, 4.7 (118); Emily Stuenkel, Whit., 4.3 (68); Woolf, UI, 4.0 (104); Lisa Bocook, CCS, 4.0 (80). Kathryn Gussett, UI, 3.9 (101). Steals Goyne, NIC, 3.6 (91); Bocook, CCS, 3.2 (63); Gussett; UI, 2.2 (54); Gere, GU, 2.0 (48); Johnson, UI, 1.8 (46).

Schedule Thursday: Gonzaga vs. Pepperdine at West Coast Conference tournament, (first round) at Santa Clara, noon; Big Bend CC vs. CSS at Region III playoffs (first round) at SFCC, 5 p.m.; Idaho State at Eastern Washington, 7 p.m.; Long Beach State at Idaho, 7 p.m. Friday: WSU at UCLA, 7:30 p.m. Saturday: WSU at USC, 2 p.m.; NIC at Ricks College, 5:30 p.m.; BSU at Idaho, 7 p.m.

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN - Women’s basketball notebook