UC Women Pull Away for First-Ever NCAA Win
March 12, 2005

By Dan Scott
For the Saturday Gazette-Mail

ANDERSON, S.C. — It’s funny how a little taste of success makes a team hungry.
 
Friday’s 79-57 win over Clarion in the Women’s Division II East Regional was the first-ever NCAA tournament victory for the University of Charleston. And playing in an Anderson (S.C.) College gym that reminds her of home, Golden Eagles coach Sherry Winn hopes the next victory isn’t too long in coming.

“It feels good. It’s nice to be a pioneer,” Winn said. “But we want to do more. Once you take that first step you want to take the second. Then the third.”

A second step would be a victory in the region semifinals at 6 p.m. today against California, Pa., who beat Wheeling Jesuit 78-68.

But despite a 35-point win over Clarion back in November, Friday’s initial step wasn’t as easy as the final score indicated. A thin, weary Clarion team took several UC haymakers before finally succumbing to the pressure.

Already without top reserve Jessica Albanese (mononucleosis), the visitors from Northwestern Pennsylvania suffered a huge blow midway through the first half when leading scorer and rebounder Heather Cigich (17.4, 10.0) reinjured an ankle she first hurt during Clarion’s conference tournament.

Though she tried to come back, Cigich played just 11 minutes Friday and score just six points.

“Once you reinjure an ankle like that there’s no coming back,” said Clarion coach Margaret Parsons. “She tried, but she just couldn’t come back." 

Starting point guard Melba Melton also missed time in the first half with a foot injury. She came back after just over three minutes on the bench, but played the rest of the game with a noticeable limp.

Yet for a long while, UC (27-4) couldn’t take advantage.

An early nine-point first half lead turned into a two-point deficit, 25-23, at the 3:38 mark. The Golden Eagles ultimately led by four at the break, 36-32.
 
Even after opening the second half with a 22-7 run to take a seemingly safe 58-39 lead, UC allowed Clarion to score nine straight points to close the gap to 58-48 with 8:41 left in the game.

Eventually, Charleston’s depth proved to be too much.

UC outscored Clarion 22-9 the rest of the way to secure the victory. Courtney Thomas and Lisa Lee, who led UC with 20 and 19 points, respectively, combined for nine of the 22 to help close out matters.

“We learned a great lesson last week against Glenville State in our conference tournament,” Winn said. “We found out what happens when you don’t move the ball and just stand around watching one person operate. Today we moved the ball well and played good team offense.”

It started on the perimeter, where the Golden Eagles connected on eight 3-point attempts, their second-highest total of the season. That help from the perimeter — combined with the absence of the 6-foot-1 Cigich in the middle of the Clarion defense — helped open up the inside down the stretch.

Charleston’s last five field goals — all coming in the final 11:10 of the game — were layups.

“During warmups our guards were hitting all their shots,” said Lee. “Then they shot well in the game, too. When they do that, it makes it easier on the players in the post.”

Clarion (23-7) was led in scoring by Amelia Harris with 19 and Tiffany Peacock with 11.

Laura Kinsler scored 15 points for UC, hitting 3-of-4 shots from 3-point country.

Briefly

• Friday was the 30th time in 31 games that Lee has scored 12 or more points.
• Clarion came into the game with the fourth-highest field goal percentage (47.4) in the country, tops in the East Region. Friday, UC’s defense held Clarion to just 34.8 (23-of-66) percent shooting.
• UC won the rebound battle across the board, 50-43, 16-13 offensively.
• The Golden Eagles had 14 turnovers, compared to 18 for Clarion.