THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9603020406
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
She averaged four points more per game than her nearest pursuer.
She was among the CIAA's leaders in field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage and steals.
Her coach says selection of the CIAA Player of the Year award should have been easy. But when the award was announced this week, Norfolk State's LaTina Bullock was left to wonder what more she could have done.
Obviously, 25.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and a conference-best 248 trips to the foul line for the team with the league's best record were not enough. League coaches chose Virginia State's Doris Moncrief, a sophomore playing for a team that finished 16-9, Player of the Year.
``Aggravated?'' Bullock said. ``Yeah, you could say I was upset.
``From what I hear, people just don't like Norfolk State. They're jealous of us because we have a better program. I still feel the best player should get the award, no matter what.''
Bullock, a 5-foot-11 junior forward, has taken her frustrations out on the opposition this week.
In Tuesday's quarterfinals of the CIAA Tournament at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum, Bullock scored 39 points in a 94-87 victory over St. Augustine's.
Friday afternoon, she scored a team-high 21 points as the Spartanettes (27-1) beat Winston-Salem State 73-71.
``And she was in the locker room afterward, crying,'' Norfolk State coach James Sweat said. ``She thought she had a bad game.''
In comparison to her previous five outings, she did. Bullock had averaged 38 points over that five-game run, including a team single-game record 51 points two weeks ago against Elizabeth City State.
She's done it with bruises all over her body, the result of her rugged style under the basket.
When she takes the court tonight (6 p.m., WVBT) in the final against Shaw (24-3), Bullock will sport a wrapped right thumb. The ring and middle fingers on her left hand will be taped together, and the limp from a bruised heel is tough to camouflage.
``And my back aches, and I've got floor burns and scratches all over my legs,'' Bullock said. ``But it doesn't slow me down, and I'm sure I'll have more of the same after (tonight).''
Tonight, Bullock and the Spartanettes get a chance to avenge their only loss of the season.
Bullock remembers the 77-61 loss six weeks ago in Raleigh all too well. She was 2 of 18 from the field as the Spartanettes shot 21.1 percent as a team.
``We've been preparing for Shaw for awhile,'' Bullock said. ``We figured we might meet them in the final.''
More than just the team has been looking forward to a rematch with Shaw. The headline on the Spartanettes' postseason media packet reads: ``Looking for Revenge.''
Sweat would like nothing better than for Bullock to have a big night against the Bears, not only to win, but also to show detractors that they made a big mistake in shunning her.
``I don't want to get fined for saying it, but there's no doubt about it,'' Sweat said. ``She should have been Player of the Year. Statistics don't lie and our record doesn't lie.''
That's all Sweat will say. The Spartanettes must play in the CIAA again next year before a pending move to the Division I ranks goes into effect.
Bullock will be back. And maybe, if she averages 30 points a game and the Spartanettes are unbeaten, the rest of the league's coaches will have no choice but to name her Player of the Year.
But she can't think that far ahead.
``I just want another championship ring,'' Bullock said. ``And it'll fit over my finger, jammed or not.'' ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/The Virginian-Pilot
``From what I hear, people just don't like Norfolk State. They're
jealous of us,'' says LaTina Bullock, right, the CIAA's leading
scorer.
by CNB