Post by rainman on Mar 2, 2008 9:43:46 GMT -5
Champions!
By Duane Cochran
For the Times West Virginian
CHARLESTON— Champions!
What Fairmont State didn't do during the regular season the Lady Falcons accomplished in the West Virginia Conference Tournament.
Led by tournament Most Valuable Player Danielle Cornish and all-tournament selections Gabby Gattuso and Jaimie Merinar, third-seeded Fairmont State claimed its first league tournament championship in 24 years with a convincing 63-49 victory over fifth-seeded West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday evening at the Charleston Civic Center.
“Earlier today I was thinking the thing I can't stand the most is hearing Fairmont hasn't done this since then or that since then, well we just did,” said an ecstatic, smiling Cornish, who capped a tournament MVP performance with 19 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday's victory. “We did it and I hope the success our program has had in recent years and this year continues for a long time.
“Right now the only thing people can say is the last time Fairmont won a title was 2008 and that feels pretty good. Honestly it's kind of hard for me to talk right now without cheesing ear-to-ear.”
In addition to the league tournament title the Lady Falcons earned the WVC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division II East Regional which will be played later this month at a site yet to be determined.
“I'm not really sure what to say,” said FSU coach Steve McDonald, who saw his team improve to 25-6 overall and win its first WVC Tournament title under his guidance. “Obviously we're extremely proud of our kids.
“One of the thoughts I have about this tournament for us is it exemplified the concept of team. It exemplified why I coach college basketball and why they play it.”
The first half of Saturday's game decided nothing. After the first 20 minutes the score was deadlocked at 24, but in the final half Fairmont's suffocating defense turned the tide.
“Fairmont played extremely well today,” said Wesleyan coach Steve Tierney, who saw his team's season end at 19-11. “Their defense today was great. They kept switching between a match-up zone and man-to-man and it kept us off balance.
“Also, the tempo wasn't to our liking. We wanted to push it more, but we couldn't do it. Again, that's a credit to them.”
In the only previous meeting between the teams back on Feb. 2 in Buckhannon, the Lady Bobcats shot 55 percent from the field and rolled to a 74-62 victory. The 55 percent field goal percentage was the highest allowed by FSU all season.
Yesterday the story was entirely different. The Lady Falcons' defense stymied the Wesleyan shooters and held conference player of the year Sarah Van Horn in check. Van Horn finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but was just 3-of-9 from the field. As a team Wesleyan shot just 32.7 percent from the field (18-of-55), including only 31 percent in the second half (9-of-29). The Lady Bobcats connected on just 3-of-12 3-point field goals and were outrebounded, 35-27.
“We did an excellent job of getting out on their shooters,” said Cornish. “They can shoot off the dribble or shoot off the pass and coach Mac made sure all night we were out on them. They were 3-of-12 on threes so that's pretty good.
“Sarah Van Horn is just an excellent player. I have so much respect for her. We were concerned about her all night and really tried to deny her the ball. We were able to control her tonight, thank goodness. We just tried to limit them to one shot and make sure we were blocking out and getting on the boards.”
Cornish and Gattuso helped Fairmont take control of the game in the first eight minutes of the second half. They combined for 14 of FSU's first 16 points in the second half as the Lady Falcons opened a 40-35 lead with 12:35 to play. Ten of those points came from Gattuso, who finished with a game-high 20 points and five rebounds.
“The reason I came to Fairmont from Florida was to win a championship and tonight we accomplished that. I can't tell you how good it feels,” said Gattuso, who was snubbed on the all-conference team, but garnered all-tournament honors by averaging 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in FSU's four tourney victories. “My goal coming into this tournament was to prove myself. Every game coach Mac kept telling me ‘Gabby you still haven't proved yourself.’ That motivated me. I wanted to go out there and play my best.”
Merinar, who scored just three points last night, but grabbed six rebounds and handled most of Wesleyan's relentless pressure as the Lady Falcons' point guard, also garnered all-tournament honors. In addition, she also received the tournament's sportsmanship award.
“Right now this feels amazing,” said Merinar, a natural three who was forced out of necessity to play the point for the Falcons after the holiday break. “If it wasn't for everyone on our team I honestly don't think we'd be where we are right now. Everyone has been so supportive of me playing point guard. You saw that tonight. Danielle stepped up, helped me when I needed it and took some of the pressure off of me.
“This was just a great team win and a great team accomplishment for us. It's a wonderful feeling.”
FSU also got 12 points from Ashley Vavrek, who set a school record in the tournament by making 26 consecutive free throws. That broke the old mark of 25 set by Lisa Monteleone from 1989-90.
Samantha Wanichko chipped in five points and four rebounds for Fairmont, while Molly Kiger contributed four.
Wesleyan was paced by Brandi Wynn's 13 points.
Joining Cornish, Gattuso and Merinar on the 10-member all-tournament team are Wesleyan's Van Horn and Lucia Darling, Glenville State's Donita Adams and Karina Kendrick, Shepherd's Kate Warehime, West Virginia State's Randi Cary and Concord's Samm Nester.
The tournament's heart and hustle award went to Glenville's Miranda Reed. High-scoring honors in the tournament went to GSC's Adams, who averaged 23.7 points in three games.
By Duane Cochran
For the Times West Virginian
CHARLESTON— Champions!
What Fairmont State didn't do during the regular season the Lady Falcons accomplished in the West Virginia Conference Tournament.
Led by tournament Most Valuable Player Danielle Cornish and all-tournament selections Gabby Gattuso and Jaimie Merinar, third-seeded Fairmont State claimed its first league tournament championship in 24 years with a convincing 63-49 victory over fifth-seeded West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday evening at the Charleston Civic Center.
“Earlier today I was thinking the thing I can't stand the most is hearing Fairmont hasn't done this since then or that since then, well we just did,” said an ecstatic, smiling Cornish, who capped a tournament MVP performance with 19 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday's victory. “We did it and I hope the success our program has had in recent years and this year continues for a long time.
“Right now the only thing people can say is the last time Fairmont won a title was 2008 and that feels pretty good. Honestly it's kind of hard for me to talk right now without cheesing ear-to-ear.”
In addition to the league tournament title the Lady Falcons earned the WVC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division II East Regional which will be played later this month at a site yet to be determined.
“I'm not really sure what to say,” said FSU coach Steve McDonald, who saw his team improve to 25-6 overall and win its first WVC Tournament title under his guidance. “Obviously we're extremely proud of our kids.
“One of the thoughts I have about this tournament for us is it exemplified the concept of team. It exemplified why I coach college basketball and why they play it.”
The first half of Saturday's game decided nothing. After the first 20 minutes the score was deadlocked at 24, but in the final half Fairmont's suffocating defense turned the tide.
“Fairmont played extremely well today,” said Wesleyan coach Steve Tierney, who saw his team's season end at 19-11. “Their defense today was great. They kept switching between a match-up zone and man-to-man and it kept us off balance.
“Also, the tempo wasn't to our liking. We wanted to push it more, but we couldn't do it. Again, that's a credit to them.”
In the only previous meeting between the teams back on Feb. 2 in Buckhannon, the Lady Bobcats shot 55 percent from the field and rolled to a 74-62 victory. The 55 percent field goal percentage was the highest allowed by FSU all season.
Yesterday the story was entirely different. The Lady Falcons' defense stymied the Wesleyan shooters and held conference player of the year Sarah Van Horn in check. Van Horn finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but was just 3-of-9 from the field. As a team Wesleyan shot just 32.7 percent from the field (18-of-55), including only 31 percent in the second half (9-of-29). The Lady Bobcats connected on just 3-of-12 3-point field goals and were outrebounded, 35-27.
“We did an excellent job of getting out on their shooters,” said Cornish. “They can shoot off the dribble or shoot off the pass and coach Mac made sure all night we were out on them. They were 3-of-12 on threes so that's pretty good.
“Sarah Van Horn is just an excellent player. I have so much respect for her. We were concerned about her all night and really tried to deny her the ball. We were able to control her tonight, thank goodness. We just tried to limit them to one shot and make sure we were blocking out and getting on the boards.”
Cornish and Gattuso helped Fairmont take control of the game in the first eight minutes of the second half. They combined for 14 of FSU's first 16 points in the second half as the Lady Falcons opened a 40-35 lead with 12:35 to play. Ten of those points came from Gattuso, who finished with a game-high 20 points and five rebounds.
“The reason I came to Fairmont from Florida was to win a championship and tonight we accomplished that. I can't tell you how good it feels,” said Gattuso, who was snubbed on the all-conference team, but garnered all-tournament honors by averaging 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in FSU's four tourney victories. “My goal coming into this tournament was to prove myself. Every game coach Mac kept telling me ‘Gabby you still haven't proved yourself.’ That motivated me. I wanted to go out there and play my best.”
Merinar, who scored just three points last night, but grabbed six rebounds and handled most of Wesleyan's relentless pressure as the Lady Falcons' point guard, also garnered all-tournament honors. In addition, she also received the tournament's sportsmanship award.
“Right now this feels amazing,” said Merinar, a natural three who was forced out of necessity to play the point for the Falcons after the holiday break. “If it wasn't for everyone on our team I honestly don't think we'd be where we are right now. Everyone has been so supportive of me playing point guard. You saw that tonight. Danielle stepped up, helped me when I needed it and took some of the pressure off of me.
“This was just a great team win and a great team accomplishment for us. It's a wonderful feeling.”
FSU also got 12 points from Ashley Vavrek, who set a school record in the tournament by making 26 consecutive free throws. That broke the old mark of 25 set by Lisa Monteleone from 1989-90.
Samantha Wanichko chipped in five points and four rebounds for Fairmont, while Molly Kiger contributed four.
Wesleyan was paced by Brandi Wynn's 13 points.
Joining Cornish, Gattuso and Merinar on the 10-member all-tournament team are Wesleyan's Van Horn and Lucia Darling, Glenville State's Donita Adams and Karina Kendrick, Shepherd's Kate Warehime, West Virginia State's Randi Cary and Concord's Samm Nester.
The tournament's heart and hustle award went to Glenville's Miranda Reed. High-scoring honors in the tournament went to GSC's Adams, who averaged 23.7 points in three games.
