Welcome from Blake Arena in Springfield, Mass.
I figured I’d start today’s thread a little early since a) I’m here after a 6.5 drive from Philadelphia and b) it makes me look official so the players and coaches aren’t suspicious (shh!).
A few tourists entered the Arena in front of me looking for the original Basketball Hall of Fame. They won’t have to look far since it shares the same facility. As you probably know if you’re on this site, Springfield is the birthplace of basketball. Dr. James Naismith introduced the game in a YMCA gymnasium based here in Springfield. Incidentally Dr. James Naismith wasn’t a Springfield native, or even a native born American for that matter. He was born in Ontario, Canada. Viva Steve Nash, eh.
I chatted briefly with NCAA Assistant Director of Championships Donnie Wagner who said last night’s banquet at the modern Hall of Fame was a hit. Four of the five 25th Anniversary honorees were able to attend and the final one — Laurie Trow Kelly whose Northern Arizona Lumberjacks open the Division I tournament tomorrow against Baylor — sent a nice videotaped message.
At the moment Scranton is on the floor practicing, filling the vacancy left by Hope. Coach Morehouse instructed his Flying Dutch to pack up and leave quickly, minutes before the Lady Royals took the floor. There was an awkward moment as one team left and their opponent-to-be entered. Sort of like when you forget somone’s birthday and then see them the next day.
We’ll keep you posted as time allows with pregame beginning at 3 PM.
2:00 PM and we’re just missing one person from our crew, Josh Bowerman who will bring you photos from this weekend’s action.
Early bird awards go to the Southern Maine fans and student radio crew who’ve arrived.
Word is that there were 62 media credential requests. Little post-it notes dot the floor for the photographers and there are plenty of those.
The Arena has a pull-down screen upon which they are projecting the logo right now. If they have an in-house video element, that’ll be a nice touch.
Plenty of Springfield College staff on hand helping out, which is nice.
Incidentally if you want to shoot us questions during the game, please feel free to do so.
Post-It’s, really? Wow. I have worked three Men’s Final Fours now and many high school and college events in other sports and have never been in a situation where there was assigned photographer seating.
How many spots are marked on the baselines?
3:20 PM and we’re officially on the air from the rafters of the Blake Arena at Springfield. Hardin-Simmons and Southern Maine will tip off in about 40 minutes. We’re be joined right now by Dr. Cathie Schweitzer, the Athletic Director at Springfield College.
To answer Ryan’s question, there’s 12 positions that I can count for photographers on the baseline. That’s six spots on each end marked with a white Post-It note.
Southern Maine blue and yellow fans are filling up both sides of Blake Arena and there are still more spectators coming in. Hope fans are mixed in wearing bright orange on the opposite side of the gym. You should be able to see them on the wide shot of the live video feed.
As an aside, if you have any trouble with our audio, or the audio over the video feed, please let us know.
John McGraw
A few more random pregame notes…
– The Huskies brought their mascot, which looks a little like a skunk. The Huskie is getting his (her?) schwerve on with J.J. Jumper, the amphibious NCAA mascot.
I don’t know why mascots amuse me so much. At some point I’m going to convince someone to let me be a mascot for a game. Just figured I’d share.
– Springfield is using the pull down screen to project the 25th Anniversary of NCAA Women’s Athletics video. Very cool.
– A few purple and yellow HSU fans have arrived. Kudos to them for making the trip.
Two very different vibes coming from the Huskies and Cowgirls.
HSU has a loose, almost non-chalant look. I’m not sure whether to read that as cool and collected or scared. 🙂
USM is noticeably nervous. PG Donna Cowing and one of her teammates swayed back and forth anxiously during the anthem.
And remember, USM is the team who’s been here before. We’ll see if this means anything early on…
Hardin Simmons is making it’s first appearance in the national seimifinals, which doesn’t necessarily mean much. Trinity (Texas) and Wilmington both recently won titles in their inaugural trip.
On the court Sonya West has picked up two quick fouls. Myles and Marble have done all the scoring early, like last year’s semifinal game against Millikin.
But it’s still early…
HSU 9 USM 8 — 15:05
Myles and Marble are leading the way offensively for the Huskies with 18 points but the guards are getting involved, driving in when they can and hitting M&M with good passes.
HSU is hanging tough despite going the first four minutes without a rebound. Sonya West has played the past three minutes with two fouls. They need her inside presence, particularly on offense where they are settling for a lot of long range jumpers.
USM 24 HSU 14 – 6:44
Coming up on the half we’ll have an alum from each team.
Joanna Brown will give us the Southern Maine perspective. She is the second all-time scorer at USM and played on the 1998 tournament team.
Kathryn Otwell will talk about the Cowgirls with us. She was a Kodak All American as a senior and now is an assistant at Boston University.
USM 32 HSU 23 HALF
Half time stats…
Southern Maine 32
40.7% FG, 20% (2-10) 3-pt, 72.7% (8-11) FT
24 rebounds, 8 assists, 12 turnovers
Ashley Marble: 13 pts, 10 rebounds, 2 steals
Megan Myles: 9 pts, 5 rebounds
Shannon Kynoch: 5 points, 4 rebounds
Hardin-Simmons 23
25.9% FG, 14.3% (1-7) 3-pt, 61.5% (8-13) FT
15 rebounds, 4 assists, 8 turnovers
Lyssa Dennnard: 4 pts, 3 rebounds, 3 steals
Sonya West: 3 pts, 5 rebounds
Hodges and Henley also have 4 points, but Henley has 3 fouls.
Southern Maine came out of the halftime break hot and took an 18 point lead at 45-27. It looked like the Cowgirls were cooked.
But Shanna Briggs rallied the troops and HSU has pulled within 10. HSU continues to hang around despite shooting poorly from the field.
USM 49 HSU 39 — 11:04
Um, about that 18 point lead?
It’s down to 2 as Cisneros drills a three from the right wing. Hardin Simmons is finally shooting better and USM has been sloppy with the ball.
Oop. Marble pushes it back to 4.
USM 57 HSU 53 — 6:45
HSU gave it everything they had, but just had too big a hole to climb out of. They cut the lead to 2, but couldn’t get it even.
The seminal moment came with under two minutes left at 66-62. Donna Cowing was wide open for three in the corner and missed it, but the rebound bounced over every Cowgirl back to Cowing. Sibley dribbled the ball around and found Miles who calmly fired up a long three with five seconds on the shot clock and drilled it.
Ballgame.
USM hangs on to win and will play for their first national championship tomorrow.
USM 74 HSU 65 Final
Great effort, Cowgirls!
Travel Safely!
6:10 PM
The starting line-ups are being announced for Scranton and Hope. One side of the gymnasium is covered in bright orange t-shirts and the other is a mix of purple and green. The volume here of the fans has risen substantially between our two semifinal games.
Scranton is back in the national semifinals for the second straight year. The Lady Royals won the national championship in 1985. The University of Scranton has compiled 50 victories in the NCAA tournament, that is a record.
Hope won the national championship in 1990. The Dutch defeated St. John Fisher 65-63 on a pair of free throws by Dina Disney with under one second left.
Final scoring leaders for game one…
USM – Megan Myles 23pts 10rb, Ashley Marble 22pts 17rb, Katie Sibley 13pts 4 assts
HSU – Sonya West 13pts 11RB, Melissa Henley 11pts 5rb, Lindsay Thompson/Rachel Cisneroz 10pts each
11:25 left here from Blake Arena. Hope has started the game on a 15-5 run. Scranton looks tentative on offense and Hope’s defense has not allowed Scranton any open looks. As I type this, Allison Matt misses a jump hoop from the foul line with one second left on the shot clock.
Gordon mentioned earlier about the video screen to our right. The game is actually being shown live on the video screen during the play. Great feature and certainly makes the venue have a Division I feel.
Scranton’s mounted a comeback and cut the lead to six, 17-11. Scranton’s really been taken out by Hope’s defense and physical play. Scranton and Baldwin-Wallace played a physical game last week at the Long Center. Julie Brophy’s led the Lady Royals with eight points. Stacey Warsen tops the Dutch with six points and two offenseive boards.
The Rev. Scott Pilarz, the President of the University of Scranton is leading the Lady Royal cheering section to our left. Last year at the sections, Rev. Pilarz was hoisted up in the air by the students to direct the cheers.
At the half, we’ll be joined by Patti Betti. She was a member of Scranton’s 1985 championship team. Also, we hope to joined by USM’s Megan Myles as well. Myles led USM with 23 points and hit a clutch three pointer from four-five steps behind the left arc with around 42 seconds left.
John
HALF Hope 27 Scranton 26
Stats
Hope – Warsen 8pts 2rb
B. Ebels/Jurik/Lange 4pts each
HC shoots 11×27, 40.7% FG, 2×9 22.2% 3PT, 3×5 60% FT
Scranton – Brophy 8pts, 3rb
Matt 7pts
Williams 5rb
Mellody 2pts 1x2FG
US shoots 10×23 43.5% FG, 3×6 50% 3PT, 3×8 37.5% FT
Scranton’s run to cut the lead to one was keyed by the bench just like last week. Brophy and Remington made big baskets down the stretch.
Thank you to our half time guests. From Hope College, Lisa Timmer Schoonveld; and from Scranton, Patti Betti.
Since I forgot to mention, Betti is a 1985 Scranton grad and played for the Scranton national championship team. Timmer Schoonveld graduated from Hope in 1997. She played for Brian Morehouse during his first coaching season. She was also an assistant under Morehouse.
Hope and Scranton were tied at 32, and then Hope ripped off an 11-0 run. Scranton can’t seem to stop Hope’s bigger forwards on the block. Wood and Lange have six each. The Ebels cousins have seven points each.
This has been a very physical game. One thing that both halftime guests pointed out was how the size and physicality of the women’s game has picked up since they played. I don’t think I’ve seen a women’s game this season that’s been as rough as this one has.
Scranton keeps trying to get close, but each time, Hope’s had an answer.
Not so fast says the Lady Royals. 8-0 Scranton run gets them back in the game. All-American Taryn Mellody putting the is putting the team on her back. Scranton still can’t get over the hump, and we’re just over four minutes remaining. Lady Royals haven’t been closer than five since the Hope run.
56-54 Hope. Taryn Mellody continues to carry Scranton. Hooe’s gone ice cold from the floor and Scranton’s defensive intensity has been through the roof. 235 left, timeout Scranton.
Final Hope 59 Scranton 56
Gutty effort from both teams as they left it all on the floor at the Blake Arena. Wild finish to the game. Scranton had the ball down three with the clock running down. The Lady Royals couldn’t find an open look and the ball came to Allison Matt. Matt forced up a long, off-balance three pointer from the right wing with five seconds left that was well off. Hope got the rebound and ran out the clock.
More to come later.