Women's Basketball
Lee’s Block Gives Eagles a Lift in Win Over Glenville
March 14, 2006
By Mitch Vingle
Sports Editor, The Charleston Gazette
All of a sudden, it just hit the University of Charleston’s Courtney Thomas.
Lisa Lee’s block, that is, of Glenville’s Lauren Strong.
"It hit me in the face,’’ Thomas said.
The play woke up Thomas. It showed Lee was awake. And it jarred the host Golden Eagles, who went on to a 68-58 victory over Glenville in the NCAA Division II East regional on Monday.
Before a boisterous crowd of 2,169, many from Glenville, Lee put on a show at steamy Eddie King Gym — landing UC a spot in the Division II Elite Eight at Hot Springs, Ark.
The Golden Eagles, who set both a school and West Virginia Conference mark with their 31st win, will play Grand Valley State (30-3) at 8 p.m. on March 22 at the Summit Arena.
"It’s exciting,’’ said Lee, who finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. "Last year we got a dose of [the Elite Eight]. That will help us this year.’’
Last season, UC lost in the Elite Eight to eventual champion Washburn 73-60.
"This [UC] team is an experienced team that thinks it can win,’’ said Glenville coach Steve Harold, whose team finished 30-3. "They don’t panic. Lisa Lee makes them special.’’
And Glenville’s Denae Dobbins, a former player at James Madison University, made Monday’s game special. Dobbins, a 6-foot-6 center, was the game’s leading scorer with 26 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks.
Actually, the game started as a standoff. Between the fans. (Glenville brought a strong contingent.) Between the teams. And between Dobbins and Lee.
Charleston held the lead for much of the first half until Glenville guard Casey Taylor started a run on a short jumper. Rachel Redick stole the ball and called timeout at 7:17 before she was tied up.
Glenville then started feeding the ball to Dobbins. Two inside buckets from the senior from Glenville gave the Pioneers a 21-19 lead.
Lee had a drive and a pair of free throws, but the hosts were down 25-23 at the half. The teams combined for 21 turnovers in the first half. UC shot but 25.8 percent. Glenville had 16 points in the paint to UC’s six.
As for the two teams’ stars? Dobbins had 10 points. Lee had 10 points.
"At halftime I was just sitting there thinking how intense I wasn’t,’’ Lee said.
That soon changed. Dobbins opened the second half giving Glenville a 27-23 lead on a hook shot.
After a UC missed shot, Strong grabbed the ball and drove the length of the court. Seemingly out of nowhere, Lee appeared with a hard shot block.
"I was like, ‘OK, [Lee] is ready to play defense now,’’’ UC’s Thomas said with a smile. "It was a huge swing for us. It was a huge swing to my face too, but it really sparked us.’’
Lee did a little of everything. She split the lane. She hit jumpers. She stole the ball. She poked it away. She drew fouls. She even threw a baseball pass that resulted in a pair of Thomas free throws to make the score 52-44 with 6:39 left in the game.
"I can tell by the shooting percentages [35.9 for UC; 37.1 for Glenville] that both teams were fatigued,’’ said UC coach Sherry Winn. "There was the heat and playing games close together.
"I guess Lisa just had a lot of rest from the last game and was able to spark us.’’
Lee fouled out late in UC’s 90-88 overtime thriller against Wheeling Jesuit in Saturday’s semifinals.
On Monday, UC kept control after Lee’s spark. When Thomas hit a trey from the left corner with 18:29 remaining, the Golden Eagles gained a 28-27 lead. They were never headed. The last time Glenville was within nine was at the 6:41 mark in the second half at 52-44.
"Disappointing,’’ Harold said. "We played well in the first half. But 45 points [in the second half] was too many. Offensively, we got out of rhythm. We had some extended periods when we forgot No. 44 [Dobbins] was on the floor. [UC] had no answer for her.’’
In three meetings, though, Glenville had no answer for UC. The region’s top seed and No. 3 nationally ranked Eagles won at Glenville 85-77 and at the Charleston Civic Center March 4 81-59 in the West Virginia Conference championship.
"They say teams can’t beat you three times,’’ Harold said. "They did.’’
Thomas had 19 points and Mandy Ebel added 11 to complement Lee’s effort for UC. Taylor had 11 to go with Dobbins’ 26 points.
Lee was named tournament most valuable player. The rest of the all-tournament team consisted of Sarah Setcavage of Wheeling Jesuit, Thomas of UC and Redick and Dobbins of Glenville.