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Herons impeach Presidents from NCAA first round
March 2 , 2005
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Pria Young scored 11 of her 12 points
in the first half against the Presidents,
leading the Herons to a four-point
halftime lead. |
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Marisa Vespa scored a team-high 15
points in the Herons' 68-54 win over
Washington & Jefferson in the first
round of the NCAA Tournament. |
GENEVA, N.Y.—William Smith College used a balanced scoring attack and a stifling second half defensive effort to defeat Washington and Jefferson College 68-54 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Herons used a 17-6 run in the second half to take control of the contest and closed out the win on a 10-0 run.
Trailing by two early in the second half, first-year guard Marisa Vespa (Immaculate Heart/Watertown, N.Y.) lit a fire under William Smith’s offense, scoring nine of her team-high 15 points in the 17-6 surge that helped the Herons build a 52-43 lead.
As the second half wore on, William Smith (19-7) continued to play at an up-tempo pace, while the Presidents (21-7) seemed to fade a bit. Washington & Jefferson connected on just 37 percent of its shots after the break (50 percent in the first half) and was outrebounded 22-12 (37-21 for the game).
“I think the difference was that we only had one player that played more than 30 minutes,” William Smith Head Coach Olympia Scott-Richardson said. “When you’re at this point in the season, when you have slight injuries or just overall fatigue, maybe that 10 minutes makes a difference.”
All five Presidents played at least 32 minutes, while the five W&J players to come in off the bench accounted for none of their team’s points. On the flip side, the Heron bench accounted for 30 points, paced by sophomore guard Paula Foote’s (Sidney/Sidney, N.Y.) 12-point, six-rebound effort.
The Presidents hung close to the Herons, trailing by just four on a layup by junior guard Leigh Sulkowski (Upper St. Clair/Upper St. Clair, Pa.) with 1:49 remaining. It was W&J’s final basket.
William Smith outscored their guests 10-0 down the stretch, including a 6-of-6 showing at the free-throw line in the final minute.
“They played a great defensive game, and we didn’t knock down shots,” Washington & Jefferson Head Coach Jina DeRubbo said. “They made every big shot they took, every one of them.”
The one President that was, well, presidential, was Sulkowski. Despite missing five of W&J’s past six games due to a stress fracture in her foot, she played 38 minutes, and scored a game-high 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting. Junior forward Lauren Slampak (Laurel Highlands/Uniontown, Pa.) was the only other President in double digits with 11 points.
In the first half, William Smith relied on its depth as Vespa sat for nearly 15 minutes with two fouls. Junior guard Pria Young (Council Rock/Richboro, Pa.) carried the scoring load, netting 11 of her 12 points before the break on 4-of-7 shooting, including three three-pointers. Senior guard Tara Brisson (Bishop Grimes/Liverpool, N.Y.) set the table in Vespa’s absence, handing out a game-high seven assists, all in the first half.
William Smith, which improved to 11-8 in NCAA Tournament play, 9-0 in Bristol Gym, will travel to Oswego State University on March 5. Game time and ticket prices for the second round match up will be announced on March 3.