FLORIDA MEMORIAL WINS:

The 3rd seed Florida Memorial Lady Lions edged out the 1st seed St. Thomas Bobcats by a score of 61-59 to capture the Sun Conference Tournament Championship and an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Saturday at Edward Waters College.

The Sun Conference Player of the Year, Kiesha Alexander, led the Lady Lions with 19 points and 11 rebounds while playing in all 40 minutes of the championship game. Alexander finished the tournament recording a double-double in all three tournament games, the only player to achieve such a feat.

Florida Memorial will next travel to the NAIA National Tournament in Point Lookout, Michigan.

SCOTT, WVSU TAKE WVIAC AWARDS:

WVIAC men's basketball coaches have selected West Virginia State senior guard Ted Scott as the league's 2008-09 Player of the Year. West Virginia State head coach Bryan Poore was recognized by his peers as the WVIAC Coach of the Year after leading the Yellow Jackets to the regular season title.

Scott, the 2006-07 WVIAC Player of the Year, bounced back from a serious knee injury that caused him to miss last season. His 23.5 points per game rank second in the WVIAC and among the top five nationally in Division II.  The Columbus, Ohio native tallied more than 30 points on five occasions this season as the Jackets have rolled to a 23-4 overall record entering this week's WVIAC Tournament.

The 6-1 guard is shooting just over 50 percent on the season.  He also contributes 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for the WVIAC regular season champions.  Scott's 2,301 career points rank him second all-time in the rich history of West Virginia State basketball.

"It's rewarding to see him come back to full strength after the knee injury and surgery," said Poore of his star pupil. "His hard work deserves a lot of credit and a lot of credit goes to the rest of our players.  The year off helped Ted in some ways.  He sees the game better. We told him that he didn't have score 28 points per game for us to succeed this year.  He's really done a great job in making his team better.

Joining Scott on the All-WVIAC first team was teammate Ricky Jackson, a 6-6 forward who averaged 17.2 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets.

TRAMBLE OUT AT CENTRAL STATE:

Central State Athletic Director Kellen B. Winslow has announced that Patricia Tramble has been released as the Lady Marauders head women's basketball coach. "We thank Coach Pat for her years of service and dedication to CSU Women's Basketball." Winslow said, "As we continue to move forward in the revitalization of CSU Athletics, I thought it best to make this move at this juncture of our growth."

Tramble, a 1986 alum, was promoted to head coach when Theresa Check gave up her coaching duties in 2001 to concentrate on her duties as AD. Check had served in both roles since 1998 and Tramble was her top assistant. Tramble took on the additional duties of Senior Woman Administrator in 2004.

In her seven years as head coach Tramble's Lady Marauders had posted a record of 152-68. This year's squad finished 16-7.

SWAC INDOOR TRACK CHAMPS:

The 2009 Southwestern Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships concluded Sunday with the Alabama State women and Grambling State men garnering the 2009 Indoor Track and Field Champions.

The Lady Hornets of Alabama State tallied 144 points during the two-day competition. They were led by Kristin Hart, who accumulated 16 individual points and won the women's outstanding field performer award.

Grambling State registered 162.50 team points for the weekend.  Darwin Price led the way for the Tigers as he recorded 30 individual points while being named the men's outstanding track performer.

Other awards given out on Sunday included the women's outstanding track performer, which went to Jackline Chumo of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.  Alabama State's Kameral Kendrick received the men's outstanding field performer honors.

© 2009 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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