March 23, 2007

Southern Connecticut Advances to National Title Game

Owls Take Flight Late, Beat UC San Diego

      Kearney, Neb. –  The first National Semifinal game of the 2007 Division II Women’s Elite pitted Southern Connecticut State versus UC-San Diego. 

      Thanks to another stellar defensive effort and some key shots down the stretch, the SCSU Owls beat the Tritons, 67-53, to improve to 33-2 on the year.

      UC-San Diego, representing the West Region finishes the season with a 27-5 record.

      The game was played at the Health & Sports Center on the Nebraska-Kearney campus.

       Southern Connecticut managed to limit UCSD’s All-American Leora Juster to just six points in the first half.  But UCSD was able to capitalize on SCSU’s 27 percent shooting from the field (9 of 33) to still lead at the intermission, 28-26.

      The Tritons, facing one of the top defensive clubs in Division II, were also shooting a solid 46 percent (12 of 26) from the floor, despite Juster's troubles.

      For Southern, All-American Kate Lynch had half (13) of her team's points at the break.

      “We knew coming in that they were going to create match-up difficulties for us.  They’re just so long, so tall.  They forced us to change things up defensively.  I thought that in the first half we played very, very tentative,” said SCSU Head Coach Joe Frager.

      In a game featuring 11 lead changes and four ties, the tide started to turn the Owls way with about 13 minutes left to play. At that time, UCSD was up 42-38; for the season, SCSU gives up only 50 points per game.

      Over the next 10 minutes, Southern out scored the Tritons 17-2, with Lynch and guard LaShauna Jones hitting back-to-back threes to give the Owls the lead for good.

      Lynch had taken only one shot in the first 13 minutes of the second half but finished with a flurry, scoring nine points in the last eight minutes.

      During this key run, UCSD missed 13 consecutive shots and had five turnovers.   

      Juster, who scored 26 points in a National Quarterfinal win over Glenville State (W.V.), was limited to12 total points on 6 of 19 shooting.  

      “They played a great game defensively.  They played very aggressively, they were everywhere,” said UCSD Head Coach Jannel Jones.

      Facing Southern's tough 2-3 zone, the Tritons were at 31 percent (10 of 32) shooting in the second half and at 38 percent (22 of 58) for the game. They are the seven straight team Southern has held under 60 points.

      Also, the Owls haven't given up more then 68 points all year.

      SCSU bounced back from a cold shooting first half to make half of its shots (11 of 22) in the final frame. The Owls also owned the glass, out rebounding UCSD by ten, 43-33. That led to 19 second chance points.  

      Finally, Southern tallied 26 points off of 17 San Diego turnovers.

      Lynch recorded her second straight double double (22 points, 12 rebounds) of the Elite 8 with post Babette Noah (10 points, 13 rebounds) also have double digit efforts in two categories.    

      In the back court, Jackson (16 points, five rebounds, five assists) and Jones (10 points, seven assists, three assists) had strong all-around efforts.

      For San Diego, starters Michelle Osier and Hillary Hansen joined Juster as starters who scored 12 points in the game. Reserve Meaghan Doud had 10 points (two made 3's) off the bench.

      SCSU, the Northeast Region representative, will face Florida Gulf Coast in the national championship game on Saturday (March 24) at 5:00 p.m. CST.  The game will be televised on ESPN2.