2004

l

WEEK OF /1.

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~~--~~-------======-~ ECCC Lady Warriors captor

consolation bracket Women's National Basketball rebounded the Coyotes 42-3:!.

Special to Area Media By Marty Stamper EMG sports assistant

Cbamptonship on Tuesday, the Lady \\'amors of East Central Community College had to revtse their goals here. Making it to championship game on Saturday became their new cause. Thanks to a sizzlmg fiiSt II minutes from 3-point range, the Lady Warriors defeated Weatherford (Texas) College 63-52 Friday afternoon to reach Sarurday's I p.m. contest with the College of Southern Idaho. The winner of the championship matchup v.ill place seventh, while the loser will finish etghth. Southern Idaho, 28-7, advanced with a 60-58 win over Vincennes (lnd ) Friday. "That was our objeCtive, to find a way to get here on Saturday," ECCC head coach Brad Hodge said. "Our performance m the fii'St game was not a typical performance for us. I think we've gotten better each game we've played and, hopefully, we can come out and demonstrate some more improvement tomorrow (Saturday)." Against Weatherford. the Lady Waniors were a remarkable 6-of- 9 from behind the arc in the fiiSt half with all six baskets coming m the first I0 minutes and 15 seconds. Kristin Chaney started the trifectas with Kotreece Bender knocking down the next three over a span of Just under three minutes. Kim Cox came off the bench to bury two bombs for a 26-11 lead wtth 9:45 left mthe half. The Lady Warriors shot 52 percent (13-of-25) from the floor in the first half and 85.7 percent (6-of-7) from the free-throw lme. They also had a 21- 14 advantage on the boards. "Knowing 1t's playing to get to Saturday, to get offto a good start, to get a good feeling and take a lot of pressure off our defense, that was an awesome beginning to the game," Hodge said "That group that started the game came out ready to play and demonstrated 1t that first I 0 mmutes or so." Two baskets by Kimyatta Viverette and a basket and two free throws from Ebone'e Leverette gave the Lady Warriors their biggest lead of the game at 34-14 with 6: 16 to go befo.-e balftune \\ e~noro went on a !:4) • run, capped by a three-pomt play by Kristen Harrell to close to \\1thm 34-23 With 4 17 left before mtenru ton.

Weatherford shot on!) 32.8 percent (21-of-64) from the noor and 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the line. The Coyotes forced ECCC mto 29 turnovers, \\ bJ!e tuming the ball OH~r only 17 IJ11les themsel\'es. ' Weatherford, 25-11, was led by Viksryte with 21 points and I0 rebounds. Harrell had eight points. ECCC 74, LAKE REGION 66 The Kansas jtMwas official– ly put to rest Thursday morning as East Central Community College knocked off Lake Rbg10n (N.D.) Stare College 74-66 Ill the NJCAA Division 1 Women's National Basketball Championslup. ECCC got Its 30th wm of the season and advances to a noon con– test on Friday Weatherford (Texas) College, 25-10. ECCC went 0-2 m the 200 I tournament at Salina's Bicentennial Center and was 0- 1 this time around ECCC snapped its 0-for– Kansas sktd by the method that's seen the Lady Warriors win 30 of their 33 games thus far... a lot of players con– tnbuting. Eleven Lady Warriors had seen action by halftime. Kristin Chaney fimshed with 18 points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists. She played a team-high 34 minutes. Kimyatta Viverette had II points. II rebounds, and four blocks. Kotreece Bender had I 0 pomb and fi\'e rebounds. Rita Birden added eight points, Lenore Gray had seven pomts, four rebmmds and three steals, Brnney Burks had seven pomts and three steals. Monique Overstreet had six pomts, and lndJa Backstrom had five pomts and SIX rebounds. "Just to get the good taste back in our mouth after our perfoml– ance the ot11er mght was mce," ECCC head coach Brad Hodge sa1d ''Now we get to stay ahve and try to find a way to play Saturday. We've got a tough oppo– nent m Weatherford.'' ECCC jumped out to the game's btggest lead by sconng the first 10 pomts over the first four mmutes. but the Ladv Royals drev. e- en "' :!2- 22 bebmd 12 p..,mrs r.- rr ec ere 1el, \\oho frequently got behmd the Lady Wanior defense for runout layups.

SALINA, Kan. - The East Central Community College Lady Warriors ptcked a bad rune for a cold shooting perfonnance. Playing in the seventh-place game in the NJCAA DivisiOn 1 Women's National Champion.s}up. the Lady Wamors shot JUSt 28.8 percent from the floor and 40 percent from the free-throw line Saturday in losing 58- 48 to the College of Southern Idaho ECCC fimshed 31-4 and placed eighth in the country for Regton 23's best showing of the 2000s. The 31 wms are a school record. Sarurday's 48 powts are a season low. The Lady Wamors made JUSt 19-of-66 field goal tries and were 4-of- 1 0 at the free-throw line. CSI held a 46- 39 advantage on the boards and shot 40.7 percent (22-of-54) from the floor and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the line. "As many shots that were missed, there were definitely going to be some rebounds," ECCC head coach Brad Hodge said. "But ifyou shoot 28 percent for the ~e and 40 percent at the free-throw 1\ne, you don't deserve to win. "We were fortunate it was four points With 45 seconds left. We Just didn't capitalize on our opportum– ties. The problem is we just can't sinr ulate 6-foot-5 (Denisa Svarova) and 6- foor-6 (Lenka Zimova) mside. "They packed that zone in and we couldn't knock down some open 3-point shots when we needed to. That rim ge~ a tittle tighter when that happens." Southern Idaho's Meliame Halaufia scored the game's first four pomts and the Lady Warriors chased the Golden Eagles the rest ofthe after- noon. CSI, 29-7, held a 10-3 advan-

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tage five mmutes into the game.

LAK - ME55ENGER

t: ECCC closed to withm I0-8 on a 3- SCOIT COUNTY TIME ~omterfromKimc~~with l4:44togo m the half and a drivmg layup by Cox I.Jt\ ON APPEAL 11 seconds later. Back-to-back 3-pomters from , ~ t\STON COUNTY JC Kotreece Bender brought ECCC to ' within 17- 16 with 9:18 left in the half. S ;) RJT OF MORTON A trey from \~hley Aile) ..00 a patr · - close-range shots from Halaufia put~

#pACT

Golden Eagles up 28-20 wnh JU~t

'

w1der four minutes shO\\mg.

CSI took a 31-:!' lead into the

break.