February 25, 2002

CAPE COD, Mass.—The Eastern College Athletic Conference recently announced the pairings for the ECAC Upstate Regional Women’s Basketball Tournament. The William Smith College Herons will enter the fray seeded third, taking on the No. 2 seeded and defending champion University of Rochester Yellowjackets. The Herons and Yellowjackets will meet in the second semifinal at 2 p.m., on March 2, at Rochester’s Palestra.

William Smith, which is making its third ECAC Tournament appearance (1991 & 1993) under Head Coach Glenn Begly, has posted 18 consecutive winning seasons, dating back to the 1984-85 campaign. The Herons have made eight NCAA Tournament appearances during Begly’s 14 seasons.

“I think this is a great accomplishment for this team, especially considering how difficult its become [with automatic qualifiers] to make the NCAA Tournament,” Begly said. “I think this is particularly significant given that our team has had to persevere through an unbelievable amount of injury and illness, especially in the second half of season.”

William Smith (17-9) will travel to Rochester (16-9) for the second time this season. On Feb. 5, the Yellowjackets led 26-22 at halftime and extended their lead after the break for a 65-51 victory.

The Herons are led by forwards Laura Hadwin (Vestal/Vestal, N.Y.) and Leah Cornwell (Wheatland-Chili/Scottsville, N.Y.).

A senior, Cornwell is averaging 15.6 ppg and a team-leading 8.4 rpg. She recorded her 1,000th career point this season in a home upset of St. Lawrence. She currently ranks ninth in career scoring at William Smith with 1,174 points. She’s also one of only five Herons to score more than 1,100 points and grab 700 or more rebounds.

A junior, Hadwin leads the team in scoring (15.9 ppg) and field goal percentage (.523) and ranks second in rebounding (7.4 rpg).

Rensselaer, the top seed, and No. 4 St. John Fisher College will play at noon in the other semifinal. The winners will meet at 1 p.m., on March 3, at the Palestra.

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