Women's Basketball
Charleston Wins Battle of Region's Top Teams
January 27, 2006
By Michael Dailey
Sportswriter, Charleston Daily Mail
The NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament is still more than a month away.
But the matchup between the University of Charleston and Glenville State here Wednesday provided everyone with a taste of tourney atmosphere.
The Pioneers' pep band blared on one end of Jesse R. Lilly Gymnasium as 1,600 fans gathered to form a boisterous, standing-room-only crowd to watch unbeaten and sixth-ranked Glenville State battle the once-beaten and seventh-ranked Golden Eagles in a West Virginia Conference game with national implications.
The play on the court was playoff caliber as well, as the two D-II heavyweights traded leads, bumps and bruises in a physical, but well-played, game.
In the end, however, Charleston's balanced scoring and hawkish defense proved to be the difference in a thrilling 85-77 come-from-behind win over the Pioneers.
Lisa Lee and Courtney Thomas each scored 20 points, while Laura Kinsler added 16 as the Golden Eagles (17-1, 9-0 WVC) overcame a nine-point, first-half deficit to win in a gymnasium that nearly is impossible for a visiting team to win in.
For Glenville (15-1, 6-1), the home loss was just the second in its last 78 games, which covers a span of six years.
"It was a great atmosphere for the regular season," said UC Coach Sherry Winn. "Of course, they were undefeated and they hardly ever lose on their home court.
"What a tremendous atmosphere. You just can't beat this atmosphere, with people screaming and yelling. The players couldn't hear me and they were standing just five feet away. It was great.
"The great thing for us is we had a group of fans come from Charleston. They were loud and they helped us against their tremendous fans. That was a huge motivator for our athletes."
About 100 Golden Eagle fans made the 90-minute trip.
For Lee, a senior forward who also led the Eagles in rebounding (9), assists (4), blocks (2) and steals (3), the win was especially sweet given the Pioneers' gaudy home record.
"My sophomore year was the last time I was here and they put it on us," said Lee, a former Capital High star.
"I couldn't feel any better than to come to Glenville and win. Especially to come back and win with the crowd going against you.
"It was awesome. We played so well together. That's the only way we were able to come back. We needed to play well together to win and we were able to do that."
Another key for the Golden Eagles was the play of junior forward Rachel Pike and senior center Mandy Ebel.
Ebel provided 12 points and five rebounds off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range, while Pike chipped in with 10 points and four boards.
"If they're going to leave me open, I'm going to take my shot," said Ebel. "My shot has been off a little lately, but I've been working on it.
"Coach Winn has confidence in me shooting out there. She told me to take all the shots I wanted out there if I was going to make them.
"I don't know why they left me so open."
That question also was dogging Pioneer Coach Steven Harold.
"Ebel was no surprise," said Harold. "She can shoot threes, especially when nobody is guarding her. In all the years I've coached, that's the most disappointed I've been in our defensive effort.
"It's not disappointing to lose to a good team, it's disappointing the way we lost the game. Our team was not physical tonight and our team did not eliminate second-chance points.
"We're a team that gives up 65 points or less as our goal and we gave up 85 tonight. We gave up 12 second-chance points on four Ebel threes in the first half.
"That's the ballgame. It's irritating, it's frustrating and I'm about sick of it. My team will get their a to work tomorrow or they can go home."
In contrast, Winn was happy with the Golden Eagles' defensive effort, especially that of Pike and Ebel on Glenville center Denae Dobbins.
Dobbins, a 6-foot-6 senior who entered the game with a 15.9-point scoring average, tallied just eight points against the Golden Eagles.
Glenville's Rachel Redick led all scorers with 30 points, while Dobbins led the way with 10 rebounds.
"I thought, defensively, we did a superb job of defending Dobbins in the low block," said Winn. "She's a great player and such a dominant player with her size and agility at our level.
"I thought Rachel and Mandy just did a great job defending her and we disrupted her enough to make their other players work hard to get open all evening."