TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The days of Long Island University being a
laughing stock in the Northeast Conference are over.
Angelika Stec scored a career-high 21 points and LIU (16-14)
earned its first bid to the NCAA women's tournament by defeating
top-seeded Mount St. Mary's 70-61 to win the conference tournament
Monday night.
Tournament most valuable player Tamika Dudley had 14 points and freshman center
Jessica Brookes added 14 points and 16 rebounds as LIU capped a
remarkable transformation. The Blackbirds had posted a 47-117
record over the past six seasons, including a 2-24 disaster two
seasons ago.
"To me there was nothing (left over) because I'm brand new,"
said LIU coach Tony Bozzella, who didn't take over the program
until June 15. "I came into this with my eyes wide open."
The late change was made after Patty Delehanty resigned.
Bozzella, who didn't get a chance to recruit, inherited a first
eight that included one senior, a transfer junior, five sophomores
and a freshman.
"I obviously never expected to win a championship in my first
year," said Bozzella, who posted a 120-104 record in eight seasons
at Southampton College. "But when we got in this tournament, as
hard as we work, we knew if we got a couple of shots to fall and we
got on a roll, we were as good as anyone."
Kim Mac Millan had 13 points for the third-seeded Blackbirds,
who hit 26 of 57 from the field, roughly 46 percent, while limiting
Mount St. Mary's to 34 percent.
"Winning (47 games) over the past six seasons means nothing
when you have a new coach and a new staff," forward Nicki Winston
said. "It's all a new game. We knew it was about playing
together."
Kia Williams, the conference player of the year, led Mount St.
Mary's with 20 points. Deanna Butters had 15 points and nine
rebounds for the Mountaineers.
"What's been haunting us for a while is our outside shooting,"
Mount St. Mary's coach Vanessa Blair said. "Once again it came
back to bite us. We had no one step up to take them out of their
zone. The person we count on to do that, Adrienne Harris, shot 1-for-13."
LIU, which rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to beat
second-seeded Quinnipiac in overtime in the semifinals Sunday,
never trailed after Stec hit a layup with 2:29 left in the first
half for a 33-32 lead.
Dudley, a sophomore who scored 25 and 31 points in the opening
two games of the tournament, added another layup to give LIU a
three-point halftime lead.
Stec, a native of Poland who transferred from nearby Mercer
County Community College, hit two more baskets in a 6-1 run that
gave the Blackbirds a 41-33 lead in the opening minutes of the
second half.
Williams scored six consecutive points to get Mount St. Mary's
at 41-39 with 14:03 to play.
With the score 43-41, Brooks scored on a layup and Stec
converted a three-point play to put LIU ahead 48-41. Stec finished
9-for-11 from the field.
Mount St. Mary closed to three points twice after that.
Brookes, a freshman center, hit a 3-pointer and Dudley then scored
inside the second to protect the Blackbirds' lead.
Mount St. Mary, which split games with LIU in the regular
season, led 19-12 before LIU got back in the game with a 9-0 run
that featured a three-point play by Dudley.
Mount St. Mary's (15-14) was looking for its first NCAA
tournament berth since going in both 1994 and 1995, the first two
years the NEC had an automatic berth.
"We had a lot of fun, but we just didn't play together all the
time, and it hurt us tonight," Williams said.
St. Francis, Pa., the five-time defending champion in the NEC,
did not make the postseason tournament. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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ALSO SEE
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