Page 10 History dominance every year. They have proven to everyone what kind of team they ate. Now they want the With the experience of six respect they deserve and the seniors, the Penn State-Behrend chance to prove their worthiness. Lady Lions can do what no other The bids for the NCAAs will Behrend basketball team has done be announced on Sunday, before; receive an NCAA Divison February 27 at 8:15 p.m. The 111 playoff berth and make team will be together for the Behrend basketball history. announcement of the 40 teams With an impressive 20-5 selected to the tournament, record, the Lady Lions are jf the Lady Lions receive a bid looking forward to their first trip wi u play their first game on to the NCAA tournament. Wednesday, March 2. To be Head Coach Roz Foman said, crowned champions of the "It 11 mean just about tournament the Lady Lions must everything. . win five games. The Lady Lions have fought The Lady Lions finished their through one of their toughest season in style last week with seasons. Their strength and two convincing victories against determination all season has them Grove City and Thiel, vying for the pinnacle they want Last Saturday the Lady Lions to attain. visited Grove City, and for the From the six seniors and tench most t the Lad players to the coaching staff, the .... . . . „ Lady Lion, have been a portrait * tesson ,n pla) ' otf orcooaaencjtall )*-. ta the Ural half, the Lady Lion* . fSSa roared to a 33-21 halftime lead by chance at making tbe NCAAs. *?£ fguS We WoWMiia » anemic 3 3 1 In die last three years tbe Lady percentage from the Lions have compiled a 61-17 J5 ,d ’ *** record and have displayed their 46 Eventful to say the least by Grec Kristen CoOtgun Staff by Joe Mottillo Collegian Staff "Eventful to say the least,” said Plyler and Byron Thome," said men's basketball coach Chris Gilmartin. "It was a final Gilmartin of the Lions' 104-84 opportunity for them to shine, win Tuesday night against which they did.” Laßoche. The game started an hour late "It was a very special evening because of a mix-up with the for our entire team. I can't think officiating, but once the game w hi i Arne) Bakata/Asstetanf Photo Coordinator Fast break: Byron Thome looks to pass against Laßoche of a better way to wrap up the season. It was a great way to go out for our two seniors, Don in the making In the second half the Lady Lions cooled off a bit, shooting only 31 percent. But they did what they had to do to win the game. With victory at hand, Fomari pulled them over and said, "This is your long road and it's finally over." The Lady Lions won easily 71- 49. Leading the way was Anne Bonner who netted 23, while Wendy Ebinger chipped in 17. Last Thursday at Erie Hall the seniors played their last home game of the year and they didn't disappoint their fans. The Lady Lions blasted off to an early lead against the Lady Cats of Thiel by shooting an impressive 57 percent from the field and gaining a commanding 41-23 halftime lead. Fornari said, "They played well, they played hard, and they played to lave fun." In the second half the Lady Lions again played their brand of game, cruising to an e:tsv 74-51 win. The balanced attack was led by Anne Bonner and Marlesse Schkm who both knocked down 11, while Michelle Grover netted 10. started, it became a shoot out. The Lions had an early lead of 17-14 lead although freshman forward, Steve Spencer, went down with an ankle injury. Laßoche battled back and went up 30-27 when Behrend called a time-out. Gilmartin must have said something right as Plyler hit a three-pointer right after the timeout. The game went back and forth and the score was tied 51-51 at the half. Laßoche hit eight 3-pointers in the first half, yet was outrebounded 26-14 by the Lions. Ron Derian had 14 points in the first half to lead all scorers. The second half started out just as close as neither team took a big advantage. "Plyler's running one-hander is what made the difference. That was the turning point. I've been waiting for Donnie to broaden his game and become a penetrating guard. To see him do that makes it all worth whole," said Gilmartin. Behrend took a 76-67 lead after Derian hit two driving layups to force Laßoche to call a timeout with 10:22 left in the game. The Lions kept up their intensity after the time-out as Todd Sturgin had consecutive blocked shots. Behrend continued to put on the pressure as they increased the lead to 84-67 with 8:00 left The teams went back and forth to the 3:28 mark as each team Holly Beary/Photo Coordinator Strati to tire hoop: Junior Karen Strait takes it to the hole against a Grove City player. added 10 points before Laßoche called a time-out The only things that were not determined at this point were if the Lions would hit the century mark and when the seniors would depart The first was answered at 2:19 when Rob Hunt made a put back to give the Lions 100 points for only the second time this season. The next was answered at the 1:04 and :47 marks when Plyler and Thorne exited the game for their final time. The final score ended up 104- 84 as Behrend finished 10-15 on the season after a 2-9 start Derian led all scorers with 29 points on 10 of 15 shooting and added a game high 13 rebounds. Plyli added 25 id 8 AmeJ BakiXa/AssistanrPholo CoonMnator Pap talk: Head Coach Chris Gilmartin loosens the team up during a time-out. Thursday, February 24, 1994 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals. Sturgin had a season high ten blocks to go along with his ten points. The Lions set season highs with most points in the first half (SI), total points (104), most defensive rebounds (37), most total rebounds (57), and most blocked shots (10). "Derian and Sturgin leave this season on tremendous highs and leave us a lot to look forward to," said Gilmartin. "I'm optimistic about next year based on the players we have reluming. I'm looking forward to seeing who assumes leadership of the team because they had great role models in Byron and Donnie.”
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