Women's
Basketball wins its first Northeast Conference crown; will face
Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament
Mar. 11, 2001
Long Island's women's
basketball team, champions of the Northeast Conference, learned
tonight it received a No. 16 seed in the East Region and will
face top-seeded Connecticut in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
The game will take
place Saturday at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT at 7:00 pm.
It will be the third
encounter between these schools as LIU seeks its first victory.
The last meeting took place November 30, 1985 at Schwartz Athletic
Center in Brooklyn with the Huskies posting an 85-59 triumph.
LIU advanced to the
NCAA Tournament by virtue of completing one of the most remarkable
turnarounds in school history. The Blackbirds captured their first
Northeast Conference title on Monday, March 5 with a 70-61 triumph
over Mount St. Mary's.
The Blackbirds defeated
the Mountaineers for just the second time in 25 meetings and advance
to the "Big Dance" for the first time in school history.
LIU (16-14) was just
2-24 during the 1998-99 season and ranked last among 300+ schools
in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). But thanks to a resurgence
under first-year coach Tony Bozzella, the Blackbirds pulled together
and won the league's ultimate prize.
The Blackbirds, who
entered the tournament with a school-best No. 3 seed, clinched
their first winning season since 1979-80 (11-10).
Sophomore Tamika Dudley
(Woodbridge, VA) averaged 19.3 points and 7.3 rebounds during
the tournament as she was named the Most Valuable Player. She
closed with 14 points and 12 rebounds in the final for her 11th
double-double of the season.
Dudley has 13 double-doubles
for her career and has scored in double figures the last 17 games
en route to being named first-team All-NEC. She poured in 31 points
in Sunday's 80-74 overtime victory over Quinnipiac.
Fellow sophomore Kim
Mac Millan (Toms River, NJ) moved into sixth place on the school's
all-time scoring list (1,155) and broke her own single-season
record for most 3-pointers (106) during the weekend. Mac Millan
averaged 18.0 points for the three games and was also named to
the All-Tournament team as well as first-team All-NEC.
Junior Angelika Stec
(Stalowa, Poland) also made the All-Tournament team, averaging
13.7 points. The Mercer Community College transfer fearlessly
drove to the basket at will in the final and finished with a career-best
21 points.
True freshman Jessica
Brookes (Ocean City, NJ) provided a major boost in the paint with
14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for her first career double-double.
Brookes also was named to the league's All-Rookie team.
Rounding out the starting
lineup is sophomore Nicki Winston (Edison, NJ) who has been a
defensive menace all season. She drew three crucial charges against
Quinnipiac in the semifinal and finished with 11 points for her
seventh double-figure effort of the season.
The Blackbirds rallied
from a 16-point deficit to defeat Quinnipiac in the semifinals.
They opened the tournament with a 77-66 triumph over Wagner.
LIU is 0-2 against
the Big East Conference this season. It dropped an 82-51 decision
in the season opener at Seton Hall on November 18 and an 82-55
home setback against Syracuse four days later.
