 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Herons enter ECAC fray as 5th seed
February 26, 2007
GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College basketball team will make its fourth consecutive postseason appearance when the fifth-seeded Herons travel to No. 4 Utica College for an ECAC Upstate Tournament quarterfinal on Feb. 28. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Pioneers’ Clark Athletic Center. Tickets are $4 for adults, $2 for students.
The game will air live on WEOS-FM (89.7/90.3 in Geneva, 88.1 in Ithaca). Outside the broadcast range, fans can listen to the action online at www.weos.org/live.html.
William Smith (14-11) is led by junior Marisa Vespa (Immaculate Heart/Watertown, N.Y.) in the backcourt and by the tandem of junior Stephanie Czajkowski (Bishop Ludden/Syracuse, N.Y.) and first-year Erin Cunningham (Morris Knolls/Rockaway, N.J.) in the frontcourt.
A three-time first-team All-Liberty League pick, Vespa sits atop the conference rankings in assists (6.0 apg) and steals (2.8 spg) and is contributing 10.5 ppg. Through Feb. 18, Vespa ranked seventh in the nation in assists, while her season total, 144, is the fourth highest single season effort by a Heron and her career total, 389, is tied for second.
A two-time All-Liberty League selection, Czajkowski leads the team and ranks fifth in the conference in scoring (13.2 ppg). She also leads the team and ranks seventh in the League in rebounding (7.4 rpg). Czajkowski is 10th in career rebounding (532) and 16th in career scoring (874).
The Liberty League Rookie of the Year, Cunningham is second on the team in scoring (13.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 rpg). She led the team and was second in the conference in both field goal (.525) and free throw (.809) percentage. Since the start of the calendar year, Cunningham is averaging a team best 15.2 points and 7.6 rebounds. She has posted five double-doubles this season, including three straight entering Wednesday’s contest.
In the past 17 seasons, William Smith has made 15 postseason appearances, earning 10 NCAA bids and five ECAC bids.
In the other quarterfinal games, No. 8 Rensselaer will travel to No. 1 Elmira, No. 7 RIT will take on No. 2 Brockport, and No. 3 Oswego will host No. 6 New Paltz. The semifinals and championship will be hosted by the highest remaining seed on March 2-3.