Conference

Men's Tournament Game Recaps

NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament - 1st Round
March 3, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #1
#5 Wagner 88, #4 Long Island 83
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, NJ --  Sophomore Jermaine Hall (Dublin, GA/Dublin) scored 28 points and freshman point guard Courtney Pritchard (Southampton, NY/Southampton) added 16 to lead Wagner to an 88-83 come-from-behind victory over Long Island in opening-round action at the Northeast Conference Tournament.

The Seahawks, who trailed much of the game, also got 15 points (five three-pointes) from junior Jeff Klauder (Turnersville, NJ/Washington Township) and eight points from sophomore  Dedrick Dye (Clinton, TN/Clinton).

Dye’s three-pointer with 1:25 to play put the Seahawks ahead, 81-77.  Long Island’s Ray Rivera (Bronx, NY/Stevenson) pulled LIU within two points, 82-80, with one minute to play.  The Blackbirds then forced a Wagner turnover, but sophomore Antawn Dobie (Corona, NY/Monsignor Clancy) missed on two free throws.  Wagner made six-of-six free throws in the game’s final 20 seconds to clinch the victory.

“Jermaine has proven that he is our best player.  Teams are just doing a better job on him,” said Wagner head coach Dereck Whittenburg, who saw his post player score 18 of his game-high 28 points in the second half.  “I just told him to be patient. I think our guys did a better job of getting him the ball in the second half.”

Dobie (23) and Rivera (20) combined for 43 points to lead Long Island.  Rivera also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, matching his career high.  Sophomore Maurice Yearwood (Brooklyn, NY/BrooklynTech) added 19 points for the Blackbirds.

Long Island opened the second half with a 9-2 run and a three-pointer by Rivera put the Blackbirds ahead, 46-37, with 16:14 to play.  A Rivera putback with 13:25 to play extended LIU’s lead to double figures, 53-42.

Pritchard would lead the Seahawks, back, however.  Trailing 59-48, Wagner mounted a 15-4 run and a three-pointer by Pritchard tied the game at 63-63, with 8:56 to play.  The rookie point guard scored eight of his team’s points during the rally.

Dye gave Wagner its first lead of the second half, drilling a three-pointer from the top of the circle to put the Seahawks ahead, 72-70, with 4:45 to go.  A lay-in by Hall extended the Wagner lead to five, 78-73, two minutes later.

Pat Farabaugh, NEC Game Correspondent

NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament - 1st Round
March 3, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #2
#2 Monmouth 71, #7 Fairleigh Dickinson 59
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, NJ --- Monmouth (19-9) led from wire to wire and won a first-round Northeast Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament game for the first time in four years advancing to tomorrow’s (Sunday, March 4) semifinal round game of this year’s event with a 71-59 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson (13-15). The Hawks move on to the semifinals to play either defending league champion Central Connecticut State or UMBC.

NEC player of the year Rahsaan Johnson (Jr.; Washington, D.C.) topped all scorers with 20 points and had a game-high eight assists. Gerry Crosby (Sr.; Twinsburg, Ohio) added 19 points for the Hawks. For FDU, Matt Hammond (Jr.; Burlington, N.J.) and James Felton (Jr.; Jersey City, N.J.) each scored 13 points to lead the way.

Monmouth, which led 40-23 at halftime, raced to an 8-0 lead just three minutes into the game before Fairleigh Dickinson called a 30-second timeout. The Hawks, switching between a matchup zone and man-to-man defenses, limited the touches in the offensive end by FDU all-conference center Chris Ekwe (Sr.; Douala, Cameroon) who would finish the opening period with just four points. Ekwe came into the game averaging 16 points per game. He finished the game with seven. Crosby had 12 first-half points, thereby recording his team-leading 27^th double digit scoring game of the year, and Russ Anderson (So.; Chester, N.Y.) 11.  The latter would finish the game with 16 points.

“We wanted to come in and get a victory because the first game of the tournament is always the toughest,” said Anderson.

After intermission, Monmouth steadily built its lead to as many as 25 points, 56-31 with 9:28 to play. The Knights’ didn’t give up, however, and chipped the deficit to 10 with 1:31 left with a 26-11 run. But that was as close as Fairleigh Dickinson would get.

“I thought our defense was fabulous, especially during the first 10 minutes of the game,” said Monmouth head coach Dave Calloway. “We withstood their press in the first five minutes of the second half and played with confidence.”

Marty Galosi, NEC Game Correspondent

NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament - 1st Round
March 3, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #3
#3 UMBC 59, #6 Central Connecticut State 44
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, NJ -- UMBC (18-10), which had been eliminated from the Northeast Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament by Central Connecticut State (14-14) each of the last two years, turned the tables on the defending NEC champions in this the 2001 edition with a 59-44 quarterfinal round victory. The win advances the Retrievers to tomorrow’s (Sunday, March 4) semifinal game against second-seeded Monmouth at 6:45 p.m.

On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded St. Francis (N.Y.) opens play in the tournament after receiving a first-round bye to the semifinals against No. 5 Wagner at noon Sunday.

UMBC went on a decisive 14-0 run early in the second half to open a 48-31 lead with 12:39 remaining. From that point forward, the closest the Blue Devils would get would be 13 points.

The Retrievers held the Blue Devils to their lowest point total of the season while forcing 25 CCSU turnovers. At the same time, UMBC shot just 25.4 percent from the field for the game.

“We were able to extend our defense tonight,” said UMBC head coach Tom Sullivan. “And because of the injuries to their backcourt, they weren’t able to break us down. I tried to keep throwing new people at them, because what I wanted to do was fatigue them.”

Despite misfiring on 30 of 40 field goal attempts in the first half, UMBC still led 32-27 at the break. The Retrievers came into the game No.1 in the NEC in field goal percentage at .464. Guard Terence Ward (Sr.; Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) scored 16 of the Retrievers’ 32 points in the first half. He finished with a game-high 22 points and was his squad’s only player to score in double figures. Center Corsley Edwards (Jr.; Baltimore, Md.) topped CCSU with 16 points.

“It’s refreshing to beat them,” said Ward, “because the last two years they knocked us out (of the tournament). We were anxious before the game, but once we got settled to the rhythm of our game, we started taking better shots.”

UMBC would not take its first lead in the game until Ward’s three-point field goal with 1:43 left in the opening half pushed the Retrievers in front 28-26. That gave the Retrievers the lead for keeps.

Marty Galosi, NEC Game Correspondent

NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament - Semifinals
March 4, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #4
#1 St. Francis (NY) 72, #5 Wagner 65
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, NJ – Senior forward Richy Dominguez continued his dominance of Wagner with 24 points and reserve guard Jason Morgan hit three consecutive three-point goals down the stretch as the top-seeded St. Francis College of New York defeated the #5-seeded Seahawks, 72-65, in the Northeast Conference semi-final match-up.

St. Francis (18-10), a charter member of the Northeast Conference (1981-82), has never played in a championship game. They will meet the winner of #2 Monmouth and #3 UMBC in the title game on Monday at 9:30 p.m. Wagner finishes the season at 16-13.

“For us, this is tremendous, because it is the furthest we have ever gone,” said St. Francis Head Coach Ron Ganulin. ”We try to play the same way as Wagner, as it’s a war every time.”

The Terriers led 55-53 with 5:51 remaining when Morgan, scoreless to that point, went to work. He hit one trifecta, then after a Wagner free throw, buried two more to put St.Francis ahead, 64-54, with 4:23 to play.

Wagner made one final run, as they outscored the Terriers, 9-2, capped by a Jermaine Hall steal and dunk to cut their deficit to 66-63 with 1:48 remaining. The Seahawks regained possession on a Steven Howard miss, but Hall turned the ball over underneath and center Herberth Reyes scored on a put-back of a Dominguez miss with 38.4 seconds left to put the Terriers ahead by five.

Dominguez, an NEC First Team selection,  averaged 25.7 ppg in three victories over Wagner this season. Another NEC First Team honoree, guard Steven Howard, had 16 points and point guard Greg Nunn added eight assists. St. Francis has now defeated the Seahawks seven straight times. 

Hall, who burned LIU with 28 points in Wagner’s quarter-final triumph over the Blackbirds, and shooting guard Dedrick Dye had 21 points each to lead Wagner. Dye scored 16 of his points in the first half, as the Seahawks built a 13-point lead. His second three-point goal of the half gave Wagner a 16-13 lead with 12:05 remaining in the half. Dye capped a 16-3 run to put his team ahead 31-18 at the 7:42 mark with his fourth three-point goal in four attempts. But three-pointers by Terriers Howard,  Nunn, and Dominguez helped trim their deficit to 37-33 at intermission.

Wagner hit five of its first ten three-point attempts, but then managed to convert on just one of 15 over the final 27 minutes.

Greg Fox, NEC Game Correspondent

NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament - Semifinals
March 4, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #5
#2 Monmouth 67, #3 UMBC 54
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, NJ – The Monmouth University Hawks took on UMBC in semi-final action in the Northeast Conference Tournament and came away victorious, posting a 67-54 win over the Retrievers.  The win puts Monmouth in Monday night’s NEC Championship game against St. Francis (NY), a 72-65 winner over Wagner College, earlier today. 

Monmouth, now 20-9 on the season, took a 39-30 lead into the half, behind Rahsaan Johnson and Gerry Crosby.  The first eight minutes of the game saw four lead changes and two ties, but at 10:08, Russ Anderson’s lay-up put the Hawks ahead 15-14.  Monmouth would extend the lead to 11 at 2:15 on a three-pointer by Johnson.

In the second half, UMBC was able to cut the lead to seven on a couple of occasions, but the Hawks held the Retrievers back, behind Johnson’s double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds.  Johnson also handed out seven assists on the evening.  Crosby added 22 points and five rebounds.

UMBC was led by Terence Ward’s 19 points and Ronald Yate’s 12.  Will McClurkin grabbed 12 rebounds for the Retrievers.

Monmouth will face St. Francis with the right to go the NCAA Tournament on the line.  Tip-off is set for 9:30 with national television coverage on ESPN2.

Chris Tobin, NEC Game Correspondent

NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament - Championship
March 5, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #6
#2 Monmouth 67, #1 St. Francis (NY) 64
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, NJ - Monmouth University came from 20 points down with 14 minutes remaining to captured their second Northeast Conference men’s basketball championship with a 67-64 victory over #1 St. Francis (NY), Monday night at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ.  The Terriers made only one of 17 shots in the final 14 minutes.   Junior Steve Bridgemohan (North Brunswick, NJ) led the champions with 16 points and eight rebounds.  St. Francis senior Steven Howard (Watertown, NY) added a game-high 22 points in the loss.

Two years removed from a season-opening 19-game losing streak, Monmouth improves to 21-9 on the year and will advance to the NCAA Tournament.  St. Francis finishes the season at 18-11.

St. Francis built the largest lead of the game - 20 points - seven minutes into the second half.  Steven Howard propelled the Terriers with nine points including two three-point baskets.  Monmouth went on a 24-5 run over the next 12 minutes until they took the lead, 62-61, with 2:07 remaining on a Gerry Crosby (Twinsburg, OH) three-pointer from the right side.  Bridgemohan had eight points during the span and Cameron Milton (Philadelphia, PA) added six.

“The kids didn’t quit,” added fourth-year Monmouth head coach Dave Calloway who participated in his sixth NEC Championship game with the Hawks as either a player or coach.  He played in two during his playing days at Monmouth (1988, 1990) and participated in three as an assistant (1994, 1996, 1997).  “These guys used heart and effort in the comeback.  They deserve all the credit in making the plays.  They did great.

In the first half, St. Francis went on a 16-7 run in the final eight minutes and held a 41-26 halftime lead.  Senior Richy Dominguez (Choco, Colombia) scored 11 points in the half while Jason Morgan (Willingsboro, NJ) pumped in 10, including two three-pointers.  Monmouth committed 13 turnovers in the period which led to the St. Francis (NY)’s 15-point advantage.  The Terriers shot 50 percent from the field (16-32), while the Hawks hit 44 percent.

Dominguez ended his collegiate career with 17 points and 11 rebounds.  Senior Rahsaan Johnson (Washington, DC) added 14 points and eight rebounds and was named tournament Most Valuable Player.  In three games during the tourney, Johnson averaged 19 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists. 

“When the engine shuts off it’s tough to turn it back on,” commented 10^th-year St. Francis head coach Ron Ganulin.  “We felt the momentum change. Something just happened, and I don’t know why."

In addition to Johnson, the all-tournament team consisted of Howard, Dominguez, Crosby and Wagner’s Jermaine Hall (Dublin, GA).

Bob Balut, NEC Correspondent

Women's Tournament Game Recaps

NEC Women’s Basketball Tournament - 1st Round
March 3, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #1
#4 UMBC vs. #5 Sacred Heart
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, NJ -- Sacred Heart (15-13), in just its second season of NCAA Division I play, advanced to the semifinal round game of the 2001 Northeast Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament with a 69-54 quarterfinal victory over UMBC (13-15). SHU now takes on top-seeded Mount St. Mary’s on Sunday, March 4 at 2:15 p.m.

The victory was SHU’s season-high third straight and its fifth in the last seven.

Brooke Kelly (So.; Medford, N.J.) scored a game-high 17 points (12 in the second half) and had seven rebounds to lead Sacred Heart, while sophomore Tara Brady (Wescosville, Pa.) scored 12 of her 16 points off the bench in the first half. For the Retrievers, three players scored in double figures led by Sheila Johnson (Jr.; Upper Marlboro, Md.) who had 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

“We executed our game plan very well,” said Sacred Heart head coach Ed Swanson. “We wanted to hurt them inside with layups and foul shots. Defensively, we disrupted their offense and made them settle for pull up jump shots.”

The Pioneers led by as many as 13 points in the first half and took a 33-23 advantage into the locker room at intermission. Sacred Heart took the lead for good with 12:49 left in the opening 20 minutes. Early in the second half, the Retrievers cut the lead to four, 36-32, but SHU built the advantage back up to double digits when, with one second left on the shot clock, Ashley Kohl (Fr.; Palmyra, Pa.) buried a three-point field goal from the left wing to give the Pioneers a 57-46 lead with 6:27 left. UMBC would never get the deficit under double digits from that point forward.

“Defense was the key to this game,” said Kelly. “Everytime they made a run at us, we responded.”

Said Retriever head coach Jennifer Bednarek, “We lost this game because we sent them to the free throw line way too many times. We hit open shots when we played Sacred Heart in the regular season, and today we didn’t.”

For the game, Sacred Heart converted 31 of 35 foul shots (.886) to UMBC’s 2 of 4. UMBC was 0 for 12 from three-point range. The 31 free throws made as well as the 88.6 percentage at the stripe both were SHU school records.

Marty Galosi, NEC Game Correspondent

NEC Women’s Basketball Tournament - 1st Round
March 3, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #2
#2 Quinnipiac 81, #7 Fairleigh Dickinson 73
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, NJ - Senior Kim Misiaszek (OldLyme, CT/Old Lyme) scored 25 points and four other Quinnipiac players scored in double figures to lead the Braves (16-12) to an 81-73 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson (11-17) in opening-round action at the Northeast Conference Tournament.

Misiaszek finished the afternoon seven-for-17 from the floor and 11-for-12 from the free throw line.  Freshman Ashlee Kelly (Pittsburgh, PA/Mount Lebanon), 17 points, sophomore Kara Cassidy (West Chester, PA/Cardinal O’Hara), 14 points, freshman Sara Esidore (Portland, CT/Portland), 13 points, and senior Colleen Klopp (Southington, CT/Southington), 12 points, were also in double figures for Quinnipiac. 

Freshman Natallia Marchanka (Rechitsa, Belarus/Republic School of Olympic Reserve) led all scorers with 33 points.  The All-NEC Rookie selection made 11-of-16 shots from the field, including a five-for-nine effort from three-point range.  Marchanka also posted game-highs in assists (nine) and steals (five).

Seniors Tommica Woods (Fairfax, VA/Fairfax), 11 points, and Melanie Prol (Sparta, NJ/Sparta), 10, were also in double figures for the Knights.

Quinnipiac trailed 41-37 at the half, before opening the second half with a 27-11 run.  A free throw by Kelly pushed the Braves’ lead to 12, 64-52, with 7:12 to play. Esidore scored five points in the game-turning run.

“I thought we relaxed a little bit in the second half,” said Quinnipiac coach Tricia Sacca-Fabbri.  “The pressure of being a number two seed was evident in the first half.”

Marchanka would keep the Knights in the game, however, scoring 18 of her team’s final 23 points.

“I am not ready to go home yet,” said Misiaszek.  “I won’t be ready to go home until after we win on Monday. There was no way we were going to lose this game today.”

Quinnipiac finished the game 23-for-28 (82.1 percent) from the free throw line and shot 53.8 percent (14-for-26) from the field in the second half.  The Braves outrebounded the Knights, 38-34.  Kelly and Misiaszek each grabbed eight rebounds for Quinnipiac.

Pat Farabaugh, NEC Game Correspondent

NEC Women’s Basketball Tournament - 1st Round
March 3, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #3
#3 Long Island 77, #6 Wagner 66
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, NJ --- Kim Mac Millan (Toms River, NJ) tossed in 14 of her team high 25 points in the second half as the Long Island University women’s basketball team got past the Seahawks of Wagner College, 77-66, in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast Conference Tournament.  The third-seeded Blackbirds will meet the second-seeded Braves of Quinnipiac on Sunday at 4:30 pm in one semifinal.  Quinnipiac defeated Fairleigh Dickinson earlier in the day.

The Blackbirds opened up an early 14-point advantage (21-7) as freshman center Jessica Brookes (Ocean City, NJ) tallied seven of her 15 points.  The Seahawks then went on a 14-4 surge to close the gap to four points (25-21), but LIU was able to go into the locker room up 41-27.

LIU held the big lead for much of the second stanza, but First Team All-Conference forward Tamika Dudley (Woodbridge, VA) picked up her fourth foul with just over 13:00 left to play.  Seahawk center Meredith Kerns (Harrisburg, PA) then took over, scoring 14 of her game high 32 points to bring Wagner to within four points (70-66) with 33 seconds remaining.  The Blackbirds drilled 7-of-8 from the foul line to put the game away.

Kerns, who also grabbed 12 rebounds for the Seahawks (13-15), was supported by freshman Carrie Walker (Gibsonia, PA) who recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.  Sophomore Toni Roker (Baldwin, NY) chipped in with 13 points.

For LIU (14-14), Dudley added 13 points and five rebounds despite her foul problems.  Point guard Angelika Stec (Stalowa, Poland) contributed 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

The major difference in the contest came from downtown where the Blackbirds nailed eight of their 14 attempts.  The Seahawks connected on only 1-of-11 from beyond the arc.

“I am proud of the way we followed our game plan, said LIU head coach Tony Bozzella.  “We adjusted our press early in the game and disrupted their rhythm.  I thought that was a key to the game.  At the second radio timeout (of the first half), I asked Kim (Mac Millan) what we should run because she hadn’t scored yet.  She responded, ‘we’re fine, it will come,’  and her patience paid off.”

Greg Fox, NEC Game Correspondent

NEC Women’s Basketball Tournament - Semifinals
March 4, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #4
#1 Mount St. Mary's 50, #5 Sacred Heart 45
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, N.J. – Senior Kia Williams (Springdale, MD), the Northeast Conference Player of the Year, registered game highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds in leading top-seeded Mount St. Mary’s to a 50-45 victory over fifth-seeded Sacred Heart in the semifinal round of the NEC Women’s Basketball Tournament Sunday at Sovereign Bank Arena.  The Mountaineers will face the winner of Sunday’s second semifinal between Quinnipiac and Long Island in Monday’s final.

A three-pointer by Abby Crotty (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) with 15:19 to play gave the Pioneers (15-14) their biggest lead of the second half at 32-27 after holding a 25-22 edge at the break.  The Mountaineers (15-13), who had suffered their lowest first-half scoring output of the year, then rattled off 18 of the next 23 points.  Williams had nine of those, capping the run with a pair of free throws to put the Mount up, 45-37, with 7:08 to play.

SHU’s Leslie Newhard (Northampton, Pa.), who had 14 first-half points, scored four points in a row to pull the Pioneers back to within 45-41 with 4:55 to play.  The Mount pushed its lead back to six for the final time on an Andrea Bogart (Endwell, N.Y.) free throw with 3:04 left, but Newhard stretched her season high to 24 with a three-point play with 2:09 left.  In the next two minutes, the Pioneers forced a pair of Mount turnovers but could not score again.  Free throws by Mount freshman Adrienne Harris (Richmond, Va.) closed the accounting with seven seconds remaining as the Mount held on for the win.

In the first half, the Mount started slow as the Pioneers took a quick 6-0 lead.  The Mount answered with nine in a row, then Newhard went on a personal 8-0 run to put SHU up, 14-9.  The Mount scored 10 straight, followed by nine straight from the Pioneers.  The seesaw first half ended with Sacred Heart on top, 25-22.

Mountaineer head coach Vanessa Blair was pleased with her team’s determination.  “We had a pretty rough start, but we battled back and our pressure turned this game around,” she said of a Mount squad that forced 24 Pioneers turnovers.  “These girls (the Mountaineers) like up-tempo.  We have horses who like to run.  My biggest concern was being off eight days, but I knew if we stuck to our game plan, we would do well.”

Newhard was the lone Pioneer in double figures with 24 points, while Heather Coonradt (Interlaken, N.Y.) pulled in eight boards.  Williams’ effort was complemented by 12 from Harris.  The win marked 10 consecutive seasons that the Mountaineers have won their opening game in the NEC Tournament, and gives the Mount its first appearance in the final since 1996.

The game was the lowest-scoring contest in the history of the Northeast Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Eric Kloiber, NEC Game Correspondent

NEC Women’s Basketball Tournament - Semifinals
March 4, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #5
#3 Long Island 80, #2 Quinnipiac 74 (Overtime)
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, N.J. – Tamika Dudley (Woodbridge, VA) tallied three of her career-high 31 points in overtime as #3 seed Long Island University overcame a 16-point first half deficit to defeat #3 seed Quinnipiac, 80-74, in the semifinal round of the NEC Tournament.  The Blackbirds, who had never gotten past the semifinal round, will play top-seeded Mount St. Mary’s in the championship game on Monday night at 5:00 pm.

After a slow start, Quinnipiac exploded on a 30-11 run to take a commanding 34-18 lead.  Senior Colleen Klopp (Southington, CT) tossed in nine of her team high 24 points in the spurt. 

From that point, the Blackbirds seized control of the contest, outscoring the Braves 31-9 to grab a 49-43 lead with 9:24 left to play.  Dudley and sophomore Kim Mac Millan (Toms River, NJ) combined for 17 points in the run.  Mac Millan, the NEC’s leading scorer, struggled from the field the entire game, but dropped in five important points in the extra session and finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.

“I knew I had to start taking it aggressively,” said Dudley.  “Our main focus was to dig in, chip away and come back hard and we were able to do that.”

Trailing by three points (63-30) with under 20 seconds remaining in regulation, Braves’ sophomore Megan Rooney (Guilford, CT) converted consecutive free throws to send the game to overtime.

LIU jumped out to a quick 74-69 advantage in overtime, capped by a Mac Millan three-pointer.  Klopp answered with a bomb of her own, but the Blackbirds iced the game at the foul line, connecting on all four of their attempts in the final 1:03.

Both teams were without key players down the stretch.  Braves forward Ashlee Kelly (Pittsburgh, PA) went down hard on her left elbow late in regulation and did not return.  LIU starting point guard Angelika Stec (Stalowa, Poland) fouled out with 1:53 to go in regulation.  Reserve guard Sonrisa Garcia (Pojoaque, NM) played the final seven minutes at the point and drilled 5-of-6 from the foul line.

Quinnipiac finishes the season with an overall mark of 16-13.  LIU heads into its first-ever championship game appearance with a ledger of 15-14.

“These young ladies came here to win a championship,” said LIU first year head coach Tony Bozzella.  “We have a long time to rest after tomorrow.”

Greg Fox, NEC Game Correspondent

NEC Women’s Basketball Tournament - Championship
March 5, 2001 - Sovereign Bank Arena - Trenton, NJ

Game #6
#3 Long Island 70, #1 Mount St. Mary's 61
Click Here For Boxscore

Trenton, NJ - Angelika Stec (Stalowa, Poland) registered a career-high 21 points, grabbed    nine rebounds and handed out three assists as Long Island University captured its first ever Northeast Conference (NEC) championship with a 70-61 win over top-seeded Mount St. Mary’s.  LIU came in as the #3 seed and will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Four of the five LIU starters tallied double-digits in points.  Tournament MVP Tamika Dudley (Woodbridge, VA) recorded her thirteenth career double-double of the season with 14 points and twelve rebounds while freshman Jessica Brookes (Ocean City, NJ) tallied her first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.  Sophomore Kim Mac Millan (Toms River, NJ) scored 13 points and swiped four steals for the victors.  Mac Millan hit two three-pointers in the game to increase her consecutive-game streak with at least one three-pointer to 43 straight.

The Blackbirds overcame a seven-point Mount lead midway through the first half to hold a slim 35-32 lead at halftime.  LIU upped the lead to eight points, 41-33, on a Stec jumper with 16:19 left in the game.  Mount St. Mary’s would not go away as they trimmed the lead to two points, 41-39, on a Kia Williams (Springdale, MD) jumper with 14:02 left.  LIU went on an 11-6 run over the next six minutes highlighted by five points and two rebounds by Brookes to make the score 52-45 with 8:48 left.  Mt. St. Mary’s would get no closer as LIU outrebounded the Mount 31-18 in the second half. 

“Jess has been a tremendous force in our machine,” said LIU head coach Tony Bozzella.  “Today she was a tremendous force on the boards.  Her offensive rebounds and put backs were a big key in the game.”

Long Island outshot the Mountaineers 48% - 38% in the tight first half but after intermission LIU made 41% of their field goals to Mount’s 30%.

“I knew if we got a couple of shots to fall, we would have a great shot to win,” added Bozzella.  “Our defensive pressure was key in the second half because we forced the Mount to shoot the ball from the outside.”

Williams finished her final game in a Mount uniform with 20 points and fellow senior Deanna Butters (Old Bridge, NJ) threw in fifteen.  Mt. St. Mary’s ends their season with a 15-14 overall record.  Junior guard Kiana Fobbs (Upper Marlboro, MD) handed out a 11 assists.

Ben Shove, NEC Correspondent

Men's All-Tournament Team

Women's All-Tournament Team