Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 10, 1991 TAG: 9103100308
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN SMALLWOOD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
One victory from the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Final Four, the Lady Maroons' season ended with a 67-51 loss to Washington (Mo.) College on Saturday night at the Bast Center.
In a physical game that featured 35 fouls, Washington (24-5) maintained its composure in the second half while Roanoke (28-2) unraveled.
The Bears, ranked 15th in the nation, applied a tough man-to-man defense that disrupted Roanoke's offensive sets. The Lady Maroons, ranked eighth, shot just 25 percent (8-for-32) in the second half and were outscored 37-21 in the decisive second half.
"It was extremely physical," said Roanoke coach Susan Dunagan. "They were putting bodies on us, leaning on us and bumping us as we tried to cut. Their aggression on defense took us totally out of our offense. It was difficult for us to get any shots off because they were always in our face."
After staving off an early Roanoke attempt to break open the game and rallying to a 30-30 score at halftime, Washington carried its momentum into the second half.
Roanoke immediately turned over the ball to the start the final 20 minutes, and the Bears took their first lead of the game when forward Michele Lewis put in a transition layup at 19:34.
The Maroons failed to score on four more possessions, and another Lewis basket forced Dunagan to call a timeout. The Lady Maroons were struggling but trailed just 34-30. Dunagan pleaded with them to find their flow.
It didn't happen.
The Maroons failed on two more possessions, and Karen Hermann, who scored a game-high 19 points, put Washington up 36-30 by sinking a 12-footer.
Donna Cogar, who led Roanoke with 16 points, finally halted the Lady Maroons' drought by driving for a layup at 15:42. However, it was only a brief respite.
For the next six minutes, Roanoke's only offense was a free throw from Jennifer Jones and a jumper from Kristie Jones. Lewis hit six points during that span, and the Bears pushed the lead to 46-37.
Over the next several minutes, Roanoke missed numerous chances to cut into the lead. And as each shot bounced off the rim, the Maroons' frustration grew. More than 15 minutes into the second half, they had missed 15 shots, committed six turnovers and scored nine points.
Dunagan tried all the moves that had carried Roanoke to its best record ever and had the Maroons on a 26-game winning streak. She even added a new wrinkle by getting a technical foul to try and fire up her team.
"Nothing worked tonight," she said. "We just stopped doing some of the smart things we had been doing. We just couldn't execute tonight."
Defensively, the Maroons, who ranked third in the nation in field-goal percentage defense by allowing their opponents to average just 32.2 percent, let Washington make 12 of 24 shots in the second half. Eight of those field goals were layups.
"We just worked the ball a lot better in the second half," said Lewis, who scored 15 of her 18 after halftime. "We were looking for the seal to the inside. We saw the inside game was there."
The Bears also beat Roanoke in rebounding. The Maroons entered the game with a rebound margin of 12.7 a game, but Washington outrebounded Roanoke 46-32 Saturday.
It was a disappointing ending for Karen Jenkins, Roanoke's only senior. The Old Dominion Athletic Conference player of the year from Vinton scored three points on 1-for-10 shooting with five rebounds.
"I hated that it ended like this," Jenkins said, "but we can be proud of what we accomplished in representing the ODAC and Roanoke College basketball."
see microfilm for box score
by CNB