Nov. 29, 2003 — The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs and the Virginia Tech Hokies advanced to the championship round of the St. Thomas division Friday night with victories over the Indiana Hoosiers and the Iowa State Cyclones respectively at the 2003 Paradise Jam women’s tournament at UVI.
The West Virginia Mountaineers beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Southwest Missouri State Lady Bears defeated the James Madison Dukes in the St. John division.
St. Thomas Division:
Mississippi State 70, Indiana 67
Indiana (2-1) missed a potential game-tying three-point basket at the buzzer as the Hoosiers fell to Mississippi State (1-1).
The final game of the day was closely contested throughout the first half, with four ties and three lead changes. The Lady Bulldogs then when on a 7-0 run to take a six-point lead midway through the half. The Hoosiers came back right away with a 4-0 run to knot the score at 20 with less than nine minutes remaining.
The game was tied again at 24 with six minutes left in the half. But the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Hoosiers 9-4 to close out the first half. The MSU bench outscored IU 20-10 in the half, shooting 7-of-11 from the field.
Ebonie Ferguson had 11 points from the bench to lead the Lady Bulldogs in the first half. She shot perfectly from the field in four attempts to include 3-of-3 from behind the three-point arc.
The Lady Bulldogs took a bite out of the Hoosiers with a 22-6 run in the beginning of the second half to take a 21-point lead. Tan White had eight points and Tiana Burns had seven for the Lady Bulldogs during that offensive surge.
The Hoosiers then got into an offensive rhythm. They outscored the Lady Bulldogs 26-9 to get to within four points with less than four minutes left in the game. The Bulldogs were the ones who could not get their offense going.
The Hoosiers got to within one point of the MSU with just under a minute left in the game. Indiana had a great chance to take a lead, but turned the ball over with less than 20 seconds left in the game. They then were forced to foul the Lady Bulldogs, who made two free throws to extend the lead to three points. Jenny DeMuth missed a desperation three-point attempt as time expired.
The Hoosiers made the best of their free-throw opportunities. They missed only four attempts from the charity stripe, going 21-of-26 (84 percent) in the game. But the Hoosiers turned the ball over 26 times in the contest, while the Lady Bulldogs had 15 turnovers.
White had 20 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs to victory. Burns and Ferguson added 16 and 10 points respectively.
Cyndi Valentin had 16 points to lead the Hoosiers. DeMuth added 15 points in defeat. Angela Hawkins recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
The Lady Bulldogs advanced to the championship game of the St. Thomas division.
Virginia Tech 67, Iowa State 57
The Hokies (3-0) started the game with a 16-4 run to take control and never trailed as they completely dominated the Cyclones (1-1).
The margin got to three points twice in the game, once in each half, both times at about midway through. The Hokies answered every Cyclone attack with one of their own. Ieva Kublina was 4-of-4 for nine points in the half for the Hokies.
The Cyclones got back into the game thanks to a 9-0 run after their horrendous offensive start. Lyndsey Medders had 11 points in the first half for the Cyclones; five of those came during the 9-0 run.
Kublina started the second half horribly, missing her first six field-goal attempts. She then hit a nothing-but-net three-point basket with 10 minutes left in the game. Carrie Mason got hot, firing in nine of the Hokies' 22 points during the rest of the game.
The Hokies made the best of their free-throw opportunities. They missed only four foul shots, going 18-of-22 (82 percent) in the game. They made 8-of-10 in the final three minutes . The Cyclones also shot well from the free-throw line, going 12-of-15 (80 percent).
But the Cyclones shot poorly, 3-of-13 (23 percent), from behind the three-point arc. The Hokies hit 5-of-9 (56 percent) from downtown.
The Hokies had five players in double figures offensively. Erin Gibson had 14 points to lead the team. Kublina, Dawn Chriss and Fran Recchia each had 12 points, and Mason added 11 points. Kublina and Recchia each grabbed game-high eight rebounds.
Medders finished the game with 19 to lead the Cyclones. Anne O’Neil had 13 points and Brittany Wilkins had 10 points in defeat.
The Hokies advanced to the championship game of the St. Thomas division where they will face the Lady Bulldogs.
St. John Division:
West Virginia 75, Georgia Tech 61
The Mountaineers (3-1) gave the Yellow Jackets all they could handle in the first half. Kate Bulger and Michelle Carter each had nine points to lead the Mountaineers offensive assault.
The Yellow Jackets' (2-1) bench kept them in the game in the half, outscoring the Mountaineers 11-2. April Johnson led the reserves’ attack with six points in the half. Mallorie Winn also added five points from off the bench.
UWV started the second half with a 7-2 offensive surge, led by Bulger with four points. But the Yellow Jackets came back with a 7-0 run of their own, led by Fallon Strokes with five points. The Mountaineers then lit it up from behind the three-point arc with three consecutive bombs to regain a double-digit lead.
The game continued at a seesaw pace. The Yellow Jackets went on an 8-2 run only to be answered by an 8-0 run by the Mountaineers. The Yellow Jackets could not sustain an offensive rhythm in the half to get back into the game.
The Mountaineers made the most out of 16 Tech turnovers, converting them into 19 points in the game, while allowing the Yellow Jackets to convert only four points off of their UWV turnovers. The Mountaineers also stung the Yellow Jackets with great free-throw shooting, 16-of-18 (89 percent).
The Mountaineers had four players in double figures. Bulger had 21 points and seven rebounds to lead the Mountaineers. Carter added 16 points. Yolanda Paige and Sherell Sowho each had 13 points. Janell Dunlap grabbed 10 rebounds.
Strokes had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Yellow Jackets. Winn added 12 points from the bench in defeat. Alex Steward had nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Southwest Missouri State 82, James Madison 64
The Lady Bears (2-0) came out roaring with a 14-2 offensive surge and never trailed in the game. The Dukes (1-2) got their offense off to a slow start and could not recover from the early deficit.
The Lady Bears' starters scored as many points as the Dukes' entire team did in the first half. The Dukes bench outscored their starters 17-15 in the half and 36-28 for the game. Reserve guard Shirley McCall led the Dukes with nine points in the first half.
The Lady Bears went on a 19-5 run midway through the second half to reestablish control and command of the game after the Dukes had closed the gap to six points. SMSU led by as many as 23 points in the closing minutes of the game.
The Lady Bears made the most out of 16 Dukes turnovers, converting them into 21 points in the game, while allowing the Dukes to convert only four points off of their 13 turnovers. The Lady Bears shot 52 percent from the floor, going 25-of-48.
Kari Koch had 21 points to lead the Lady Bears. Jenni Lingor added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Bears. K. C. Cowgill had 12 points from the bench for the winners.
The Dukes were led by Jody LeRose, who had 19 points from the bench. McCall finished the game with 13 points. Lesley Dickerson chipped in 11.
Saturday’s games will feature West Virginia vs. James Madison at 2:30 p.m., Georgia Tech vs. Southwest Missouri State at 4:45 p.m. in the St. John division, and Iowa State vs. Indiana at 7 p.m. in the consolation game of the St. Thomas division. Virginia Tech will take on Mississippi State at 9:15 p.m. in the championship game of the St. Thomas Division.
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