Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 16, 1994 TAG: 9403160075
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Carol Alfano used to be Joe Ciampi's good-luck charm.
It started during one NCAA women's basketball Final Four in the late 1980s, when a hug and a handshake from Alfano preceded a victory by a Ciampi-coached Auburn team.
Alfano said Ciampi was perturbed once when she didn't make it.
"That's a superstitious Italian," Alfano said.
Alfano, however, has gone from hugging Ciampi for luck in three Final Fours to trying to cut short his attempt at a fourth.
Alfano's Virginia Tech Hokies meet Ciampi's Tigers at 7 tonight in an NCAA East Regional first-round game at Cassell Coliseum, where Metro Conference tournament champion Tech (24-5) seeks its first postseason victory in its 17-year existence.
The winner plays the Connecticut-Brown winner; the game is 2 p.m. Sunday at Storrs, Conn., if UConn, the East Region's top seed, wins as expected.
At-large selection Auburn (19-9), the ninth seed, is making its 11th NCAA appearance in 13 years, but tonight is its first first-round game since 1985 and its first non-regional road game since 1982.
The Tigers reached three straight Final Fours, from 1988-90, playing for and losing the national championship each year.
The Hokies are without that tradition but have a flag to bear. Tech's athletic program was slapped twice in the past week - first being shunned for full membership in the Big East Conference, then when it's men's basketball team was ignored by the National Invitation Tournament.
With Tech's football bowl victory almost three months old, only the women's basketball team can soothe the chapped pride of the Tech family and Hokies fans.
"In the past couple days, I've had people come up to me in class that I don't even know and say, `We think it's great. We're going to come watch you,' " Tech forward Christi Osborne said.
Added Sue Logsdon, the team's only senior: "There is a real buzz around the school. With what happened to the guys, a lot more focus has been put on the fact that we're hosting a game."
As of Tuesday afternoon, Tech had sold close to 1,000 tickets at $5 each. Alfano and the players were hoping for between 3,000 and 4,000 to show up at 9,971-capacity Cassell, where the highest home-game attendance this year was 1,876.
Only three of Tech's 13 home games drew more than 761 fans. Still, the Hokies have won 25 in a row at Cassell.
"That would be an unbelievable feeling," Logsdon said, trying to imagine 4,000 rooters in Cassell for a women's game.
"It'd just be wild," Osborne said.
The Hokies, conversely, can't be tame against Auburn's Southeastern Conference-leading defense, which held opponents to 35.6 percent field-goal shooting (fourth-best nationally) and 58.7 points per game (18th nationally).
Alfano calls Ciampi the "guru" of the matchup zone defense. Ciampi, who has 408 victories as a head coach in 15 years at Auburn and two at Army, modifies that slightly.
"That's an image," he said, noting that the Tigers do play other defenses. "We can change defenses more times than you can change your offense."
Tech has made 45.5 percent of its field goals (tied for best in the Metro) and is shooting a league-leading 35.9 percent from 3-point range.
Center Jenny Root and Osborne each average 14 points per game. Logsdon averages 9.7.
"They share the ball," Ciampi said. "They're very, very patient - probably the most patient team I've seen this year offensively."
Alfano raves about Auburn's rebounding, and Ciampi calls the matchup zone a "rebounding defense." Auburn outrebounds its opponents 44-37, but will be missing senior guard A.D. Hillsman, who was suspended for one game for fighting in the SEC tournament, then tore ligaments in a knee last week in practice.
Hillman averaged 6.7 rebounds per game. Ciampi said she also was Auburn's best perimeter defender.
Tech will be without reserve point guard Terri Garland, whose dislocated shoulder will keep her out of her second straight game. Starter Lisa Leftwich played 40 minutes in the Metro final against Southern Mississippi, but got extra breaks because of television timeouts.
Alfano said radio timeouts today might help her keep Leftwich, who has 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in her past two games, on the court.
While Alfano and the Hokies are in their first NCAA Tournament, Ciampi can relate tournament experience to Auburn's players.
"We understand how to prepare at this time of year," he said.
Tech, meanwhile, may be teetering on an emotional fence.
"You get caught up in trying to be real relaxed, but at the same time, we've played so many games out on this floor, we have to go into it real loose and just have fun," Logsdon said, then reflected on Tech's postseason beginnings. "I just think it's kind of cool.
by CNB