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The Behrend Beacon
Lions use hot second-half shooting to down Lake Erie
by Mike Bello
sports editor
It took Behrend a little longer than
expected, but when the time counted
Wednesday night against No. 7 seed
Lake Erie, the Lions showed why they
finished the regular season 17-7
overall and 9-3 in the AMCC.
Behrend. down by five several
times early in the second half, shot
65.2 percent from the floor in the
second half to score a 65-57 win in
front of 379 fans at the Junker Center.
The Lions meet Frostburg tonight at
6 p.m. at Pitt-Bradford in the AMCC
semifinals. No. 1 seed Bradford plays
host to Pitt-Greensburg at 8 p.m.
The Lions dominated the opening
minutes of the first half against Lake
Erie, grabbing an early 18-6 lead,
capped by Matt Keith’s 3-pointer at
11:26. Behrend’s offense struggled
mightily the rest of the first half,
though. The Lions made 2-of-14 shots
and found themselves tied at 22
heading into the half. Lake Erie made
16 of the half’s last 20 points.
Lake Erie (8-18) jumped out to a
five-point lead in the second half, 31 -
26, before Behrend’s offense woke up
from its slump. Keith, playing in the
last home game of his career, gave the
Lions the lead for good when he
i Q £r A: Who's Behind the Scenes? \
j Senior (Rebecca Sfieaffer bias a(C\
[the riaht moves for dance team j
• by Kate Levdansky Petrikis
• assistant sports editor
• Rebecca Sheaffer is the senior
• leader of Penn State Behrend’s
• dance team. Sheaffer grew up in
• Plum, a suburb east of Pittsburgh,
• where she went to Plum Senior High
• School. Sheaffer is majoring in
. management with a minor in mar
• keting. She would like to eventually
• be a manager of the marketing de
• partment for a large business. For
• now, she is looking for any sort of
• Beacon: When did you begin
* dancing?
• Sheaffer: I was about 5 years old
• when 1 began dancing. My mom
• was friends with the owner of the
• studio (Rodgers School of Dance),
• and convinced her to register me for
• classes. I never really asked to start
t dancing, but from that point on I
• loved it.
Beacon: How did you become
involved in the dance team at
Behrend?
Sheaffer: My sophomore year,
fall of 1999, my suite mates and I
approached Brian Streeter with the
idea for the dance team. He was
thrilled with the idea and we went
from there. The three of us were
appointed captains and worked with
Mr. Streeter and coach Decker to de-
velop the team.
Beacon: What types of dances
do you do?
Sheaffer: We do a variety of
styles. We like to combine a little
bit of jazz and funk, with some hip
hop and street style dancing.
inspiration and motiva
tor to us all, and she
loved to dance more
than any of us. She has
made a lasting impres
sion on any dancer, or
The dance team finishes a performance person for that matter,
during halftime of the men’s basketball game, who she ever had con-
Beacon: What is your favorite tact with
dance to do?
Sheaffer: I prefer a more street
style of dance, what you would see
in a pop video. As far as my favor
ite dance this season, I would have
to go with “Pop” by ’N Sync.
Beacon: Where do you perform
or compete? If both, which do you
prefer?
Sheaffer: We perform at half
time, during the men’s and women’s
varsity basketball games. Although
we do not compete here at Behrend,
it is a possibility for the future.
drained a three at the 15:30 mark.
Keith sank another 3-pointer a
minute later to give Behrend a six
point lead. Both teams traded baskets
for the rest of the half but the Storm
could get no closer than four points.
“We feel really good about the
success we’ve had so far this year, but
we’re not finished yet," said
sophomore Dave Hairston. “We set a
goal to win our conference
tournament and give ourselves a
chance to be playing in March. We’ve
made a commitment as a team to do
this.”
James Curren led the way with 22
points and eight rebounds. Keith
showed that senior experience can be
a major factor in the playoffs. He went
5-of-7 from the floor, including four
behind the arc, and scored 15 points
despite playing only 19 minutes.
Casey Ponsoll and Hairston added 10
and eight points, respectively.
Lake Erie shot 44.8 percent from
the floor while the Lions shot 49
percent. More importantly, Behrend
avoided foul trouble. The Lions
committed only seven personal fouls
and sent Lake Erie to the line three
times, forcing the Storm to go inside,
where 6-6 Curren and 6-8 Randy
Conley were waiting.
"We executed well on offense and
Rebecca Sheaffer once misperformed the fish flop during a
practice with some humorous results.
Competing puts a lot more pressure
on the situation, and it is not as easy
to have fun. But, performing you can
just go out there and give it all that
you have, and have a blast doing it.
When you mess up you just laugh it
off.
Beacon: What is your best memory
of the dance team?
Sheaffer: Best memory of the
dance team would have to be our
original coach, Becky
Decker, who passed last
January from her battle
with cancer. She was an
Beacon: What is the funniest
memory you have?
Sheaffer: It would have to be at
one of our practices when I tried to
do a fish flop. (The dance starts by
sitting with one’s legs stretched out
in front of them. They then raise both
legs in the air and try to roll over their
shoulder onto their stomach). Let’s
just say that it did not go over all that
well. Seriously, anything called a fish
flop has to be funny. Plus, when it is
done wrong, it is even funnier.
Beacon: Who is you favorite dance
SPORTS
Friday, February 22, 2002
limited the mistakes on defense,” said
coach Dave Niland. ‘That was the key
of the game, not beating ourselves.”
The Lions tuned up for the playoffs
by playing Pitt-Greensburg Saturday
at home. In front of 579 fans., the
Lions rolled to a 76-62 win for a
chance to secure the second seed in
the AMCC in front of Frostburg State
(14-11,9-3). The teams had to flip a
coin to see who would get the second
and third seeds, and the Lions guessed
correctly.
Ponsoll scored 19 points and
Curren added 18 points to lead the
way for the Lions. Curren, the team’s
leading scorer, grabbed a game-high
10 rebounds, as well. Steve Merrill
contributed 12 points and Keith sank
10 as the Lions finished 11-2 at home
this season. Saturday night was also
senior night, as the Lions
congratulated the team’s only senior,
Keith, for his long and distinguished
career.
The Lions shot 49.1 percent from
the floor while limiting Greensburg
(9-17,5-7) to 44.1 percent. The Lions
struggled at the free throw line,
making 13-of-24 shots, although they
outrebounded the Bobcats 43-27.
The Lions now have to concentrate
on Frostburg before thinking of
Bradford, the favorite to win the
partner? •
Sheaffer: We dance as a team, I
and because of that I can not really *
say that I have a favorite partner. •
All the girls on the team are talented •
in their own ways, so to pick one *
over the other would not be fair or J
possible. •
Beacon: Do you plan on continu- •
ing to be involved with dance after *
college? •
Sheaffer: I will most likely con- •
tinue to dance by taking adult J
classes, or something similar. I •
would not mind volunteering or •
working with children who enjoy s
dance. It is just a great way to get J
away from it all and makes you feel •
so good. I would hate to leave it all •
behind after 17 years. I
Beacon: Did you find that the •
dance team was a good experience? •
Sheaffer: It definitely was a l
great experience. I met a ton of J
beautiful, talented women here at •
Behrend [whom] I most likely !
would not have had the opportunity J
to meet. I gained friendships and •
learned a lot about myself, and oth- •
ers. It is something I will never re- J
gret. J
Every week, the Beacon will •
engage in a little “ask and re -•
spond” with someone who *
doesn’t make the headlines. •
championship.
“Coach is always going to prepare
us one game at a time,” said Hairston.
“He hasn’t said a word to us about
Bradford yet. When we head to
Bradford for the tournament, we have
to make sure we bring our A game for
both games. It’s going to be a tough
battle to get past the second round for
the chance to meet Bradford again.”
The Lions will look for revenge
against Frostburg tonight. The
Bobcats humiliated the Lions 80-50
in Frostburg on Feb. 2, although the
Lions won round one 66-57 at the
Junker Center on Jan. 12.
“The loss to Frostburg was the
worst loss in eight years for Behrend,”
said Niland. “We came out flat, but
every team has days like that. We just
have to make sure we come out on
Friday fired up and ready to play.”
The Lions know they have a
legitimate shot at the AMCC title,
considering they took Bradford into
overtime on Jan. 30 before falling 80-
69.
“As long as we continue to play
hard, play together, and take it one
game at a time,” said Hairston, “we
could make a great run into the
playoffs this year.”
Behrend women down
Frostburg
by Mike Bello
sports editor
In the early part of the season, the
women’s basketball team defeated itself
through foul trouble and constant
turnovers. Against Frostburg on
Wednesday in the opening round of the
AMCC playoffs, the Lions proved the
postseason can be much different than
the regular season.
Behrend, playing stingy defense
against one of the AMCC’s better
shooting teams, forced 30 turnovers and
took more than twice as many foul shots
in downing Frostburg State 75-63 in
front of an estimated 300 people at the
Junker Center. The Lions will play Pitt-
Greensburg 8 p.m. on Friday in Altoona
for the chance to play in the
championship game for the fifth
straight year. Penn State Altoona will
host Pitt-Bradfoid at 6 p.m.
“We were stretching them
(Frostburg) out to foil court,” said coach
Roz Fomari. ‘They have skillful enough
players that we had to keep them out of
their half-court offense. By playing
pressure defense a foil court, we were
able to get them to turn the ball over.
We were able to take care of the ball
ourselves.”
“We can’t look past any team,” said
senior Kate Costanzo. “We have to
focus on the team we are playing. We
have to take it one game at a time to
have another day of basketball.”
The Lions did just that Wednesday,
forcing Frostburg to make numerous
mistakes despite being outshot by the
Senior Kate Costanzo drives to the hoop Wednesday against
Frostburg. Costanzo scored 18 points in the Lions’ 75-63 win.
PHOTO BY MIKE BELLO / BEHREND BEACON
Junior Steve Merrill throws a swift pass to a teammate underneath
the basket Wednesday against Lake Erie. The Lions won 65-57 and
will face Frostburg State tonight at Pitt-Bradford.
with full court press
Bobcats 46.6 to 43.1 percent The Lions,
though, hit 21-of-31 foul shots while
limiting Frostburg to 7-of-12. The Lions
committed 15 turnovers on the night and
had the edge in steals, 15 to four.
Costanzo, Erin Phillips, and Christine
Chamock were the central focus of
Behrend’s offense for most of the game.
Costanzo sank 18 points, while
grabbing a team-high five rebounds,
and Chamock added 15 points. Phillips
went 9-of-12 from the foul line and
scored 17 points overall.
“If you put a team in a situation they
are comfortable with, they will shoot a
better percentage,” said Fornari.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t convert on
some of those.
“We missed about eight layups and
quite a few free throws. That’s not very
typical of us, but our focus was diene
and we played well. Some shots didn’t
drop for us but I liked how we attacked.”
Behrend jumped out to an early 6-0
lead and increased it to 17-8 with 9
minutes, 41 seconds left Frostburg got
to within four, 18-14, before the Lions
went on a 13-2 run to grab a 15-point
lead. Behrend finished the half up 34-
22.
By cutting down on personal
mistakes, the Lions know that the
AMCC title is within reach.
“Our No. 1 obstacle from winning a
championship is ourselves,” said
Costanzo. “No team in the AMCC can
beat us but ourselves. I think the most
important thing at this point in time is
having confidence that we can and will
win.”
behrcolls@aol.com
Frostburg slowly chipped at the lead
in the second half, geuing to within six,
45-39, before the Lions increased it to
53-42 with 9:55 remaining. Behrend led
by at least 10 points the rest of the way.
Erica Mozdy scored eight points and
had seven steals, while Bambi Lewis
and Carly Cochran each added seven
points. Cochran, who hadn’t played
since Jan. 14 because of a broken
thumb, will be counted on along with
Lewis to provide relief off the bench
now that Katie Weigold (deep bone
bruise) and Crystal McGarvey (tom
ACL) are out for the year. The Lions
only have five non-starters on foe active
roster right now.
The Lions, seeded second heading
into the season finale against
Greensburg on Saturday at the Junker
Center, came out strong against the
Bobcats in the first half. Behrend shot
40.7 percent, but Greensburg stayed in
the game and tied die score 27-all at the
half. The Lions defend fell apart in the
second half, as the ‘Cats shot 50 percent
and won 65-57.
Greensburg (13-13) grabbed the
second seed with the win, as both teams
finished 9-3 in the AMCC. Because
Greensburg defeated No. 1 seed
Altoona, and the Lions didn’t, Behrend
(14-12) dropped to the third seed.
Phillips shot 9-of-15 from the floor
and scored a game-high 21 points while
grabbing 11 rebounds. Costanzo sank
15 points and Chamock added nine.
Mozdy scored eight points and six
steals. The Lions had 15 steals while
Greensburg had four. Behrend shot 35.9
percent overall and converted on 11 -of
-19 foul shots. The Lions also missed
all eight 3-point attempts.
The Lions face an uphill battle against
Greensburg in the second round Friday.
Greensburg lost at home by four, 56-52
on Jan. 23. Fomari knows that for the
Lions to overcome Creensburg, they
will have to shoot better than before.
“When we played against them last
time (Saturday), we shot poorly and
when we shot poorly our heads went
down a little bit,” said Fomari. “We
didn’t continue to play hard. It didn’t
affect our effort as much as it did affect
us mentally. I think that’s a big key.”
Even though they will play at a
neutral site, the Lions know that playing
in front of an Altoona crowd, possibly
against the Cougars in the
championship game, will not make a
difference as long as they play smart
basketball. Altoona twice defeated the
Lions during the season by 24 points.
“[When] we get to Altoona, we will
be ready to win a championship on the
road,” said Costanzo. “A championship
is a championship, whether it’s in
Altoona or Erie.”
The Lions have hosted the
tournament the last'three years, losing
the last two at home.