UC to Open East Region Play Today
March 11, 2005

By Jeff Rider
Staff writer, The Charleston Gazette 

Sherry Winn calls it “concern mixed with optimism.”

Sure, the University of Charleston squandered a golden opportunity to play host to the NCAA Division II East Regional, courtesy of a 21-point loss to Glenville State in last week’s West Virginia Conference tournament.

But the way the UC coach looks at things, it’s just one more mountain to climb.
 
“I think we’ve had opportunities this year to get through other issues,” said Winn, whose third-seeded Golden Eagles play No. 6 Clarion at 1 p.m. today at Anderson, S.C. “It gives us confidence that we can get through whatever’s in front of us.

“They’re resilient and they believe that adversity brings opportunity. We had a really hard, intense workout [after the WVC tournament loss]. I wanted to let them know that I haven’t given up on them.”

UC’s resiliency will be tested today against Clarion (23-6), which owns victories over tourney participants California (Pa.) and Millersville (Pa.). Winn said that Charleston’s 35-point victory over Clarion in November doesn’t guarantee another lopsided win for UC.

 Clarion is led by 6-1 senior forward Heather Cigich, who averaged a double-double during the regular season with 17.4 points and 10.0 rebounds.

The winner of today’s game will meet the Cal (Pa.)-Wheeling Jesuit winner in Saturday’s semifinals. Second-seeded Cal eliminated the Golden Eagles from regional play last season.

In the other half of the bracket, top-seeded Anderson (31-2) faces Millersville (21-8) and Fairmont State (27-3) battles Glenville State (24-7).

“We have a great opportunity on our side of the bracket to do well,” said Winn. “We really believe that there’s no team that can beat us. We really believe we can beat 99 percent of the teams that face us. The problems we’ve had are what we’ve done to ourselves.

“We’re not worried about the opponent, we’re worried about us. If we come to play, we’ll win. If we don’t, we’ll be back here soon.”