March 25, 2007 — The University of the Virgin Islands' Sports and Fitness Center was almost completely empty Sunday evening as the Lady Bucs blasted the University of Puerto Rico- Arecibo (UPRA) in the first round of the playoffs.
A few loyal fans stuck around to watch the two-hour game, cheering as the Bucs soared to an 80-41 victory in the first round of the Intercollegiate Athletic League's women's basketball playoffs.
The Bucs, who outmatched UPRA in both size and skill, dominated the game in every aspect. The first quarter started with a corner jump shot from the Bucs' Caitlin Dowd, which gave them a lead they maintained throughout the evening.
The Bucs played a well-balanced game, with all five starters scoring in double digits. The team was led by Tiffany Reddick with 17 points, followed closely by Teal Hetrick with 16.
Carrying the team on her back and at times slashing through all five Bucs' defenders, UPRA's Darlene Colon scored 28 out of UPRA's 41 points in a courageous effort. The sparse crowd gave her a standing ovation when she left the court with a little more than a minute left in the fourth quarter. UPRA's Victoria Cruz followed with nine points.
"I think we played well as a team," Dowd said. "I think today was definitely a good practice for tomorrow, because we're going to be playing a team ranked higher than us in the tournament in Puerto Rico. So today was a good day to get ready for that game."
Lady Bucs Coach Curtis Gilpin said his team "played as expected."
"We knew we should have won, so today was more or less a tuneup for tomorrow, which we know is going to be tough one against the No. 2 seed, Inter American (University of Puerto Rico)," he said. "It's going to be interesting to see how we match up against them. But if we have another home game, I hope the fans really do come out and support the girls, because they have a good chance to advance in the playoffs. The tournament is double elimination, so even if we don't win tomorrow, we still have a chance to keep playing."
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