Just two left standing
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
After losses by five black college Div. I teams in the NCAA and NIT Tournaments (See TOURNEY RECAPS), CIAA men's basketball champion Virginia Union and women's champion Shaw are all that's left to carry the black college banner in national basketball tournaments.
VUU and Shaw, both hosting their NCAA Div. II South Atlantic Region tournaments, came away as repeat winners last week to earn spots in the national quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. Elite Eight play began for both men and women on Wednesday.
NCAA DIV. II ELITE EIGHTS MEN'S Wednesday, March 22 (all times EST) Thursday, March 23 (CSTV) Saturday, March 25 WOMEN'S Wednesday, March 22 (all times EST) Thursday, March 23 (ESPNU) Saturday, March 25 |
Jacques Curtis's Shaw Lady Bears (29-4), looking to advance beyond the national quarterfinals for the first time in its history, took on North Central Region champion St. Cloud (Minn.) State (28-4) Wednesday at 12 noon CST at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs, Arkansas, site of this year's Elite Eight. A win Wednesday would have put the Lady Bears into Thursday's 7 p.m. semifinal vs. the winner of Wednesday's Emporia State/American International game. The semifinals were to be carried live on ESPNU.
The women's championship game is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. and will be carried live on ESPN2.
Dave Robbins' Panthers (28-3), the defending men's national champion, began their quest for a repeat Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. vs. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (25-7) at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass., site of this year's men's Elite Eight. If the Panthers won on Wednesday they played live on CSTV in the 6 p.m. national semifinal on Thursday vs. the Montevallo/Seattle Pacific winner.
The men's Div. II championship game will be carried live on CBS Saturday, March 25 at 1 p.m.
Shaw
The Lady Bears got passage to Hot Springs Monday via one of Shaw graduate Willie Gary's two private 'Wings of Justice' jets. They're hoping the ride on the Florida attorney's luxury plane won't spoil them for the tough task ahead. The Lady Bears made it to the national quarterfinals last year but lost to Central Arkansas, 87-73.
Like Shaw, St. Cloud State under head coach Dr. Lori Ulfert is returning to the Elite Eight after falling in last year's quarterfinals to Merrimac, 79-78. The Huskies finished second in the regular season North Central Conference race and were defeated by Augustana in the semifinals of the league's tournament. Entering the North Central Regional as a No. 3 seed, they knocked off Augustana, Concordia and national power and No. 2-ranked North Dakota to earn a repeat trip to the Elite Eight.
The Huskies, who lead the nation in scoring at 83.6 points per game, are led by junior all-America forward Erika Quigley who averages 22.5 points, sixth best in the nation, and 12.3 rebounds per game, fourth best nationally. Quigley is also among the nation's leaders at 3.1 blocks per game. Three other Huskies score in double figures _ senior forward Sascha Hansen (15.3 ppg.), junior point guard Shannon Francis (13.0 ppg) and sophomore forward Kayla Rengel (12.2 ppg.).
Shaw, sporting a 26-game winning streak that began after getting its full compliment of players in mid-December, has a guard-oriented attack led by CIAA Player of the Year, point guard Nastassia Boucicault (15.5 ppg.). Fellow guards Chanae Early (13.7 ppg.) and Region MVP Carletta Harrell (12.0 ppg.) are the other double-figure scorers.
The key to the game could be whether Curtis can get the Huskies to play at a pace more to the Lady Bears' liking.
"They play a lot of man-to-man but most teams haven't been willing to do that against us," said Curtis Tuesday from Hot Springs. "Newberry played man-to-man all year but they went zone (in the Regionals). We want to see if we can speed them up and see how their legs hold up in the second half.
Virginia Union
Dave Robbins ran his record to 8-0 in Regional finals with last Tuesday's 76-73 win over Georgia College and State in Richmond. Three times his Panthers have gone on to win national titles including last year's 63-58 triumph over Bryant College. Robbins and the Panthers also won national crowns in 1980 and 1992 making him the only coach with national titles in three decades and only the third with three D2 crowns overall.
In SIU-Edwardsville, Robbins and the Panthers will be facing a team that is a near mirror image. They rely on a patient half-court offense that averages 70.2 points per game and a zone defense.
SIU-Edwardsville coach Marty Simmons is leading the Cougars to their first NCAA appearance in 16 years. SIU-E finished third in the West Division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference with a 14-5 record and bowed out in the conference tournament semifinals to Quincy. They entered the Great Lakes Regional as a No. 7 seed and knocked off Grand Valley State, Quincy and No. 4 seed Southern Indiana, 64-60 in overtime to take the regional title.
The Cougars, who give up just 60.7 points per game, 11th best in the nation, are led by Ty Johnson (12.8 ppg.), J. B. Jones (11.3 ppg.), Mike Hardiek (10.6 ppg.) and Ryan Belcher (10.3 ppg.).
Virginia Union, who gives up 58.8 points per game (fourth best nationally) while scoring at a 77.3 clip, returns key senior swingmen Duan Crockett (16.9 ppg.) and Darius Hargrove (17.3 ppg.) from last year's championship team. Hargrove was the CIAA player of the year while Crockett took home the CIAA Tournament's most valuable player trophy. Frontcourters Chris Greene (11.4 ppg.) and Brad Byerson (12.3 ppg.) give the Panthers four players averaging double-figure scoring. Greene was the MVP of the South Atlantic Regional.
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