MARCH 9, 2002
BOB ZIADIE
MARYMOUNT WOMEN ADVANCES TO "FINAL
FOUR" WITH
67-64 WIN OVER KING'S
SALISBURY, MD -- Candice Brown scored 15 of her 20
points in the second half
and Marymount University held off a late rally to post a 67-64 victory
over King's College in the NCAA Division
III Atlantic/Mid-Atlantic Sectional Championships
title game Saturday at Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD.
With the win, Marymount, the second seed in the
Atlantic Region, improved to 24-6
and advanced to the Division III "Final Four" for the first time
in school history. Kingšs, the
second seed from the Mid-Atlantic Region, concluded
its season with a school-record 25-4 mark after advancing to the
"Elite
Eight" for the first time ever.
With King's ahead 37-36 early in the second half,
Brown ignited the Saints by
scoring four of her teamšs next six
points to put the Marymount ahead 40-37 with
15:20 remaining. After the teams traded baskets, King's knotted the
score at 41-41 on a bucket by Carissa
Ryan with 14:26 left. With the game tied
at 43-43, Marymount put together a crucial 11-1 run as Jodie Knotts hit
a three-point bucket and short jumper,
while Gen Schmidt drained another three-pointer
to put the Saints ahead 54-44 with 8:45 left.
King's would answer with a 9-2 spurt keyed by a
three-pointer by Lauren Bonanni,
and consecutive buckets by Fran Monte, Nikki Kingston, and Heather
Roback to draw within 56-53 with 3:49
left. Brown would then get fouled and made
both charity tosses to put the Saints ahead 58-53 with 3:15 left.
King's closed
to within 62-59 on a jumper by Roback with 1:57 left but Brown
answered with a driving lay-up at the
2:15 mark to up the Marymount lead to 64-59.
Roback would then score on a put-back but Tiffini
Varrasse stole the inbound pass
to score and was fouled on the play, converting the free throw to tie
the score at 64-64 with 0:51 left. Brown
would again draw a foul and made one
of two attempts to put the Saints on top 65-64 with 0:40 remaining on
the clock.
Kingšs would miss scoring chances with two consecutive turnovers, the
second with 0:28 left and were forced to
foul. From there, Brown canned two charity
tosses with 0:27 left to put Marymount ahead 67-64.
Needing a three-pointer to tie, Kingston's shot
bounced off the rim and Brown
snared the rebound and was fouled. The
Saint senior missed the front end of a
one-and-one giving the Lady Monarchs one last chance. But Jennie Orellišs
three-point attempt from the top of the
key caromed off the front of the rim as the
Saints held on for the victory and a
trip to the national semi-finals.
King's began the game with a 6-0 spurt as Kingston
scored four points followed
by a bucket by Ryan. Brown and Katie Jarvis would follow with
baskets for Marymount before Kingston
hit a jumper and Varrasse added a three-pointer
to give King's a 11-3 lead with 15:15 remaining in the half.
Marymount would then go on a 7-0 spurt on a basket
by Brown, a three-pointer by
Schmidt, and a bucket by Jarvis to close to within 11-10 at 10:58.
Kingston put the Lady Monarchs ahead
13-10 with a jumper but the MAC Freedom most
valuable player, picked up a critical second foul with 10:22 left in
the half
and went to the bench for the remainder of the opening stanza.
Orelli would later give King's a 22-16 lead
with a three-pointer at the 7:13 mark,
but Marymount answered with a 16-7 run to close out the half. Ashley
Courter hit a bucket and a three-pointer
to bring the Saints to within 22-21 with
6:38 left. The Marymount junior would then hit another three-pointer to
tie the score at 26-26 with 3:18 left in
the half.
Marymount would then take its first lead of the half
at 28-26 when Jarvis scored
with 2:20 remaining and the Saints extended the advantage on a basket
by Annetta Benjamin at 1:49. Varrasse
would hit a three-pointer with 0:48 left
to bring the Lady Monarchs to within 30-29 but Christine Lingenfelder
scored at the buzzer to send the Saints
into the locker room with a 32-29 lead.
Brown, who had a game-high 11 rebounds, was joined
in double-figures by Jarvis
(13), Knotts (10), and Courter (10). The Saints, who avenged an
early-season 60-56 loss at the hands of
Kingšs, held a 41-31 rebounding advantage,
including four on the offensive glass. Marymount also enjoyed a
23-7 advantage in free-throw attempts,
converting 14, compared to five for King's.
Ryan led the Lady Monarchs with 14 points
while Kingston netted 12 and Varrasse
added 11.
Jarvis was named the most valuable player of the
Atlantic/Mid-Atlantic Sectional
Championships while teammates Brown and Knotts were named to the
all-tournament team. Ryan and Kingston
were named from King's.
Marymount moves on to the NCAA Division III
"Final Four" which will take place
Friday and Saturday at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre
Haute, IN.
BOX
SCORE
