Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9503020009
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The fifth-seeded Royals pounced on the No.1 Maroons early, just as Roanoke had done to Lynchburg the day before.
But unlike the Hornets, Roanoke came up with an antidote Friday and ousted Eastern Mennonite 55-52.
The Maroons advanced to today's championship game and will face No.7 seed Emory & Henry, a 73-70 winner over No.3 Guilford, at 2 p.m. at the Salem Civic Center.
Keri Bontrager scored six of her team-high 16 points in the opening 10 minutes of the game when Eastern Mennonite (13-12) took an 18-5 lead.
Roanoke (21-5), which missed seven of its first 10 free-throw attempts and went seven minutes between its first two field goals, shot 22 percent in the first half.
``We were very slow getting started and Eastern Mennonite was ready to go,'' said Susan Dunagan, Roanoke's coach. ``They were a very inspired basketball team and we were lucky to pull it out.'' After a jumper by Laurie Miller put the Royals up 22-11 with 5 minutes, 23 seconds left in the half, the Maroons went on a 15-3 run and took a 26-25 lead into halftime.
Susan Brown helped spark the run with consecutive running jumpers, her only points of the day. The senior guard also contributed a team-high nine rebounds and six assists.
The score remained close in the second half and was tied at 38 with 12:07 left. But Marcee Hufton, a graduate of William Byrd High School, put the Maroons up for good with a 3-pointer from the right side to make it 41-38 with 11:47 to play.
Freshman Jessica Ficarro came off the bench to lead the Maroons with a career-high 11 points. She also made a key defensive play with 6:04 left in the game by drawing a foul from EMU's Miller on the baseline.
It was the fifth foul for Miller, who averages 11.8 points for the Royals and is second in the nation in blocked shots with a 5.3 per-game average.
Miller set an all-division record this season against Emory & Henry with 18 blocked shots. She had seven in EMU's first-round victory over Virginia Wesleyan to go along with 27 points.
``I faked up and she just happened to be there,'' Ficarro said. ``I knew she had four [fouls], but ... I was just going for the easy basket.''
Dunagan used Ficarro as part of a three-guard lineup designed to help the Maroons keep up with EMU's speedy backcourt. The resulting up-tempo play led to 19 fouls for each team and the game was stopped three times for players left writhing on the floor.
One player injured in the second half was Roanoke senior center Crystal Wilson, who leads the Maroons in scoring (16.9 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg). Wilson injured her left ankle and returned briefly. Dunagan said she thought Wilson would be able to play today against Emory & Henry.
The championship winner will earn an automatic bid to the Division III national tournament. Despite Roanoke's 21-5 record, Dunagan indicated the Maroons would be on the bubble for an at-large bid if they lost today.
``I don't want to come out and say if we don't win we won't go, but it would be tough,'' said Dunagan, who is seeking her fifth straight ODAC title and 10th overall.
Emory & Henry 73, Guilford 70: The Wasps continued their upset run by beating the Quakers in the other semifinal.
E&H, which knocked off No.2 Randolph-Macon in the first round, will play No.1 Roanoke for the title today at 2 p.m.
Laura Haynes, the ODAC's player and freshman of the year, scored a tournament-record 41 points and had 19 rebounds for Guilford (20-6), which led by 10 points in the first half.
The Wasps (14-12) rallied and took a 37-36 lead with 17:48 left in the game on consecutive baskets by Angie Simpkins, a freshman guard from Christiansburg.
E&H led by as many as seven points in the second half before Haynes scored 17 in a 20-10 run that gave the Quakers a 68-65 lead.
The Wasps came back to make it 71-70 on a pair of free throws by Sallie Lefler with 38 seconds remaining. After a Guilford timeout, Haynes missed underneath, then fouled Trayce Steele.
Steele, a freshman forward, sank both free throws to give E&H a 73-70 lead with 15 seconds left. Guilford, needing a 3-pointer to send the game to overtime, missed on two attempts in the closing seconds.
Lefler finished with 20 points, Katie Brann had 17, Steele 12 and Simpkins 10 for E&H.
The Wasps are making their first championship appearance since 1988, when they beat Bridgewater. Their only other showing was in 1984, when they lost to Roanoke.
EASTERN MENNONITE (52)
B.Miller 3-9 3-6 9, Haskins 3-9 0-1 7, Zook 0-1 1-2 1, L.Miller 3-8 1-2 7, Bontrager 7-20 1-3 16, Teresita Grant 0-3 5-6 5, Teresa Grant 1-4 0-0 3, Kaufman 0-3 2-3 2, Brockington 1-3 0-0 2, Bender 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-60 13-23 52.
ROANOKE (55)
Malkin 4-8 0-0 8, Brown 2-7 0-0 4, Hufton 2-6 1-2 7, Wilson 1-10 4-8 6, Boyd 1-7 8-8 10, Athey 2-9 0-0 4, Ficarro 4-9 2-4 11, McCallum 1-5 1-4 3, Kennedy 1-3 0-2 2. Totals 18-64 16-28 55.
Halftime-26-25, Roanoke. Three-point goals-Eastern Mennonite 3-9 (Haskins 1-4, Zook 0-1, Bontrager 1-2, Teresita Grant 0-1, Teresa Grant 0-1), Roanoke 3-6 (Hufton 2-5, Ficarro 1-1). Rebounds-Eastern Mennonite 52 (B.Miller 12), Roanoke 49 (Brown 9). Assists-Eastern Mennonite 6 (B.Miller 3), Roanoke 14 (Brown 6). Fouled out-L.Miller, Boyd. Total fouls-Eastern Mennonite 19, Roanoke 19. A-275.
EMORY & HENRY (73)
Lefler 6-17 7-8 20, Simpkins 4-13 1-3 10, Greene 2-3 3-4 7, Brann 6-14 2-2 17, Shomaker 2-10 0-2 4, Steele 3-5 6-7 12, Mumpower 0-2 0-0 0, Martin 0-3 3-4 3, Painter 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-68 22-28 73.
GUILFORD (70)
Schott 1-5 2-2 4, Luce 1-4 2-2 4, Preimats 5-13 1-2 11, Nixon 2-10 0-1, Haynes 14-24 13-20 41, Hughes 2-7 0-0 4, Crute 0-1 0-0 0, Deal 1-2 0-0 2, Parker 0-0 0-0 0, St. Clair 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 18-27 70.
Halftime-34-33, Guilford. Three-point goals-Emory & Henry 5-16 (Lefler 1-2, Simpkins 1-4, Brann 3-9, Mumpower 0-1), Guilford 0-8 (Schott 0-1, Preimats 0-1, Nixon 0-3, Hughes 0-3). Rebounds-Emory & Henry 43 (Lefler 9, Steele 9), Guilford 53 (Haynes 19). Assists-Emory & Henry 12 (Simpkins 3, Brann 3), Guilford 13 (Nixon 4). Fouled out-Greene, Luce. Total fouls-Emory & Henry 19, Guilford 23. A-300.
by CNB