March 24, 2007

Southern Connecticut Wins 2007 National Championship

Owls Patent Defense Shuts Down High Flyin' Eagles

      Kearney, Neb. –  The Southern Connecticut State women's basketball team used a 19-3 run in the final 10 minutes to beat Florida Gulf Coast, 61-45, and win the 2007 NCAA Division II National Championship Saturday night in Kearney, Neb.

     The seventh and final game of the Elite Eight was held at the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Health and Sports Center and was seen live on ESPN 2.

      The 7^th-ranked Owls (34-2) close the year on a 11-game win streak and give the top-ranked Eagles (34-1) a loss in the program's final Division II game.

      Next year, FGCU will be a NCAA Division I member in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Eagles were looking to become only the second Division II women's program to go through an entire season unbeaten (North Dakota State, 32-0, 1995).

       “They out executed us. I give them all the credit, they played a great game,” said FGCU Head Coach Karl Smesko.

      Trailing in only the first minute of the game, Southern withstood several Eagle rallies, especially early in the second half. The Owls led by as many as 10 points in the first half and by a 31-24 score at the break.

      A layup by FGCU All-American Kate Schrader tied the game at 42 with 9:36 to play. Gulf Coast would only score three points the rest of the way, going 1 of 13 from the field, in addition to having four turnovers.

      Another All-American, Southern's Kate Lynch, broke the 42 all tie with a layup and then LaShauna Jones made a three to give the Owls a 47-42 lead with 7:34 to play.

      Gulf Coast did cut the deficit to four, 49-45, when Chelsea Dermyer hit a three pointer with 4:31 left but Jones responded with another shot from behind the arc seconds later.

      Lynch, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, then scored eight straight to secure the victory and national title.

      “We wanted to try to play it at our pace. We figured if we played their game and just raced up and down the floor, that would be to our disadvantage.  They are such an explosive team,” said SCSU Head Coach Joe Frager.

      Southern's defense held FGU to a season-low point total and to 30.5 percent shooting (18 of 59) tonight. That included a 6 of 26 effort (23.1 pct.) from behind the arc.

      Gulf Coast began the Elite 8 by shooting 56 percent in a win over North Dakota.

      Thanks to a late surge, Southern out rebounded the Eagles by two, 36-34, with Lynch recording her third straight double double (14 points, 10 rebounds). She also had three steals, two blocks and two assists.

      Against a FGCU defense that was giving up only 44 points this year, Southern shot a solid 47.2 percent for the game (235 of 53).

      Jones had a career-high 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting (3 of 4 threes) from the floor. Fellow all-tournament team member Shamika Jackson was hot early and finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Finally for the Owls, post Babette Noah worked around four fouls to have 10 points and six rebounds.

      Schrader get off to a hot start but scored only three points, on three shots, in the second half. In her final game, she had a team-high 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting.

      Fellow senior Alex Nelson (11) was the other Eagle in double digits. All-Tournament team member Steffi Sorenson had seven points, eight rebounds and three assists.

      In the first half, Southern came out in a man-to-man defense but eventually switched to a 2-3 zone, something that helped them win their first two Elite 8 games.

      With the Eagles keying in on Lynch, Jackson and Noah combined for 20 first half points to help Southern get off to a good start. Gulf Coast had whittled a 10-point deficit to four but Jones's first three of the night gave SCSU a seven point half time lead.

      The beginning of the second half saw a much more aggressive style of play from FGCU, resulting in a 5-0 run in the first few minutes.  However, SCSU was able to keep it’s composure and respond with a 5-0 run of it's own to push the lead back to six. 

      The Eagles last run tied the game at 42 and then Southern took over from there to win the program's first national championship.

      SCSU is the first Northeast Region team to win the national title since cross town rival U. of New Haven came out on top in 1987.