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Saturday, March 02, 2002 Page: 5B
The King’s College women’s basketball team will stand as one of 32 teams
still in the hunt for a national championship when the Lady Monarchs play host
to Alvernia College at 7:30 p.m. today in a Mid-Atlantic Region NCAA Division
III tournament game at Scandlon Gymnasium.
Ticket prices are $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, students and children 5
and older. Children younger than 5 will be admitted free. Tickets go on sale
at 6 p.m.
Second-seeded King’s (23-3) will play its first game in 10 days following a
80-76 loss to Delaware Valley College in the semifinals of the MAC Freedom
Conference Tournament. King’s will be making its third consecutive trip to the
national tournament under 10th-year coach Bryan Whitten, who led the Lady
Monarchs to the Sweet 16 in 2000 and the second round a year ago.
Third-seeded Alvernia (24-5), the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference
champion, has won nine consecutive games, including a 62-46 victory over
Hunter College in an NCAA first-round game on Wednesday. Led by 12th-year head
coach Kevin Calabria, Alvernia is making its fourth NCAA appearance, having
qualified previously in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
In the other Mid-Atlantic Region semifinal, top-seeded Messiah (23-3) will
host fourth-seeded Scranton (24-4) in Grantham.
The Lady Monarchs will be led by junior forward Jen Wozniak, who tops the
team with 12.8 points per game while adding 5.3 rebounds despite not starting
a single game all season. Junior guard Nikki Kingston follows with 12.2
points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game. Senior forward Fran
Monte adds 9.5 points and 5.4 rebounds each contest. Sophomore point guard
Tiffini Varrasse checks in with 8.9 points, 3.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1
steals per game.
Sophomore small forward Jennie Orelli comes off the bench to contribute 7.1
points and 2.1 rebounds while connecting on a team-high 38 three-pointers.
Junior center April Tanner averages 4.8 points and 3.6 rebounds; junior
forward Carissa Ryan nets 4.7 points with 3.4 boards, while freshman center
Kristin Yeasted chips in with 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds. The Lady Monarchs
are averaging 71.2 points per game while yielding 55 each game.
Leading Alvernia is senior forward Tanisha Giddens with 17.1 points, 9.6
rebounds, 3.3 steals and 1.9 assists. Sophomore guard Jen Sawyer follows with
12.1 points, 2.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 31 three-pointers.
Alvernia averages 66.8 points per game while allowing 53.4 points to their
opponents.