By By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
March 17, 2004
SALINA, Kan. While Tuesday afternoon's contest in the NJCAA Division I Women's National Basketball Championship was their first meeting on the hardwood, East Central Community College and Three Rivers (Mo.) Community College have squared off numerous times on the baseball diamond at Decatur.
The Raiders were a frequent visitor to ECCC when the late Jamie Clark was ECCC's coach and Dave Jarvis led Three Rivers.
Paul's in the house
One of the 14 officials working the tournament is Paul Lyle from Carthage. Officials work the event for three straight years before rotating off the list.
One of his games Tuesday was the Gulf Coast (Fla.) Community College-Lake Region (N.D.) State College game.
Let it snow, let it snow
During ECCC's shootaround at St. John's Military School Tuesday morning, a few snowflakes were seen falling outside the gym. They had quit by the time the practice session was over.
In a heap of trouble
Louisburg (N.C.) College had a rude awakening in Tuesday's first contest as the Lady Hurricanes took a 76-33 whipping from the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.
UAFS had three players score in double figures with Deidre Larry's 20 points leading the way. She played only 23 minutes.
Louisburg shot a dismal 19.6 percent from the floor, making just 11-of-56 shots.
UAFS shot nearly 50 percent, making 26 of its 53 field goal attempts.
Hiwassee wins a thriller
The Hiwassee College Lady Tigers of Chattanooga, Tenn., held on for a 73-71 victory over Weatherford (Texas) College. Courtney Perkins led Hiwassee with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Brandi Scott added 15 points.
The teams combined for 96 rebounds, thanks largely to a 53-of-136 shooting effort from the floor by the two teams. That's 39 percent.
Sandra Viksryte of Lithuania led Weatherford with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Erica Smith had 14 points.
Defending champs
still tough
Gulf Coast Community College of Panama City, Fla., won last year's tournament by an average of 37.8 points over four games, including an 81-42 rout of Western Nebraska in the championship game.
The second-seeded Lady Commodores are up to those same tricks again as they rolled to an 87-54 win over Lake Region (N.D.) State College. Tasha Phillips hit 10-of-20 3-point attempts to lead GCCC with 36 points.
National juco Player of the Year Tiffany Stansbury had 11 points and 12 rebounds. She has signed with North Carolina State.
Free throws were precious and few in the contest as the teams combined for only 10 charity tosses, making seven.
Battle of Heavyweights
Size was no problem in the Seward County (Kan.) Community College-College of Southern Idaho game.
Seward's lineup had 6-foot-7 sophomore Margaret DeCiman from Canada, 6-foot Ania Grabias of Poland, and 6-foot-2 Amanda Foster.
Southern Idaho countered with 6-foot-6 Lenka Zimova and 6-foot-5 Denisa Svarova, both from Slovakia.
Seward County, the 2002 national champion, won 78-57.
Stephanie Thiel proved size can be overrated as the 5-foot-9 sophomore guard knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half as Seward took a 43-21 lead into the break. Seward shot 61.5 percent (16-of-26) from the floor in the first half. Thiel did not score in the second half.
Grabias led Seward with 21 points. DeCiman had 14 points, eight rebounds, and eight blocks.
No easy money here
Central Arizona College head coach Lin Laursen's motto is: "I'm not in it for the income, but the outcome."
We must protect this house
Prior to this year, the Seward County Lady Saints had won 160 of their 161 home games over a 12-year span.