Women's Basketball

UC Women Victorious in Noisy Glenville Gym
January 27, 2006

Courtesy of The Charleston Gazette

Lisa Lee and Courtney Thomas each scored 20 points to lead the University of Charleston to a 85-77 West Virginia Conference women’s win Thursday over previously unbeaten Glenville State in Glenville.

Lee, a former Capital High School standout, led the Golden Eagles in rebounds (nine), assists (four), steals (three) and blocked shots (two). Laura Kinsler contributed 16 points, Mandy Ebel added 12 points, all coming on 3-pointers, and Rachel Pike added 10 points.

The win pushed UC into first place in the WVC standings, passing Glenville.

"It was a great game. The fans were loud, and it was packed," UC coach Sherry Winn said, referring to the 1,200 in attendance. "They got up on us right away by 10 points. Then Mandy Ebel came in and hit a couple of back-to-back 3s, and that brought us back."

Winn took an unusual step in preparing for the Pioneers.

"We practiced with simulated crowd noise, and that helped us out because it was so loud," she said. "It was the first time we did that."

Rachel Redick poured in 30 points for the Pioneers, with Casey Taylor and Liz Bowers scoring 10 apiece for Glenville State. Sloppy play hurt the Pioneers, who had 18 turnovers compared to UC’s season-low nine.

Glenville’s low-post threat, 6-foot-6 senior center Denae Dobbins, was held to eight points on 3-of-12 shooting.

Winn said it took a team effort to stop Dobbins. "We tried to be physical against her, and I thought we did a good job,’’ Winn said.

Also with the win, UC (17-1, 9-0) appears likely to move from No. 2 spot in the NCAA Division II East Region, again passing Glenville State (15-1, 6-1).