•BEACON SPORTS Women's basketball read By Sara Kamber co-sports editor The AMCC defending champions are ready to take on Frostburg State, the number one seed in the conference, and head into the game on a seven game winning streak. After sending Pitt-Bradford packing on Tuesday night in the first round of the AMCC tournament, the blue and white took one more step in the way of the taking this year's championship crown. It was a pretty even offensive attack for the Lion's. Sophomore Tenesha Aden and senior Amber Krumpe both posted 12 points. Krumpe alb() posted four assists with Aden grabbing 7 boards. Sophomore Rachel Slomski scored 9, freshman Jessica Serafin put up 8 and junior Nikki Pacinelli and sophomore Brittany Mays had 6 a piece. As a team, Behrend shot 42 percent from the field and 81 percent at the line. The blue and white out-rebounded Pitt- Bradford 37-25 in the 64-43 victory. Pitt-Bradford was single handedly led by Brittany McLean who scored 30 of their 43 points. When Frostburg traveled to the Junker Center earlier this season, the Bobcats took the decision by a bucket. More recently thought, Frostburg embarrassed the Lion's by totally man handling them in the 42-69 Behrend loss. "We didn't play near our potential in the two meetings this season," said Streeter receives Outstanding Athletic Director Award By Sara Kamber co-sports editor Behrend Director of Athletics, Brian Streeter, is the 2004-05 recipient of the General Robert R. Neyland Outstanding Athletic Director Award, which is given out by the All-American Football Foundation. Streeter was presented with the award at the 66th Banquet of Champions, held on Jan. 26 in Princeton, NJ. Streeter was chosen because of his dedication to not only Penn State Behrend Athletics, but to the advance ment of many other athletic programs as well. He serves as President of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference and has been involved with ECAC for 24 years, serving on many different committees. Streeter feels it is important to be pro fessionally active outside of Behrend because it gives him the opportunity to see what does and does not work at other schools and bring that back to our own athletic program. "It's important to serve both on and off campus to get ideas from other pro fessionals," said Streeter. "This bene fits not only the athletes, but all students and the school. In order for our pro gram to get ahead, there has to be pro fessional development and involve ment." The award was given out by the All- American Football Foundation, which HOUSING AND FOOD SERVICES PENNSTAI L Tenesha Aden Sophomore Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week ... Ene Head Coach Roz Fornari about the Frostburg games. "They have some good players as do we. We need to go to our strengths and understand what it is going to take to beat the team.- A lot has changed in the last few weeks for the blue and white. Every one is healthy and shoot ing well and the team is playing like a real force on the court. But how do you prepare for playing the best team in the league in the semifinals after they slaughtered you in the last meeting? "I really don't have to say much to motivate this team; sometimes it's what you don't say that is more heard, - said Fornari. "This is a great chance to beat a team that we are as good as and just didn't play well against last time. We have seen our share of upsets and the home team not making it to the championship. I am confident that we can not only compete, but have a good chance at beating Frostburg, we just need to play very well." Some would think it was a bad luck of the draw having to play Frostburg first, but the women seem to be even is even more of an honor for Streeter since Behrend has no football program. This proves the committee looks at all around service and dedication to the entire athletics profession and not just what goes on at one director's school. When asked about the possibility of having football at Behrend, Streeter smiled happily at the chance to answer this question. "I would love to see football be a part of our program here at Behrend," said Streeter. "Economically, this may not be the right time to add a football team, but it's on the to do list along with many other things that are important in the growth of Behrend. A college grows together, and when the time comes, the university will make the right decision." Streeter was also recognized along side of Tom Brennan, the athletic direc tor at La Salle University. For those who don't know, La Salle is a Division I team with a strong football program. "Being honored by such a large body gives us (Behrend) the opportunity to be recognized among many different peo ple. It's nice to have the school men tioned with Division I and II schools and in front of media like CBS." Until Behrend does get that football team, they can take satisfaction in knowing the school has an "outstand ing" athletic director who is dedicated to not only what is best for the athletics department, but the entire college. This past weekend against Lake Erie, Aden had a game high 26 points and 10 boards going 11 for 15 from the floor. Behrend closed out the regular season defeating Lake Erie 91-36 and was able • i o hold on to the fourth spot in weekend. The blue and wh, t • x games by at least 11 tallies Last . omer of the Year in 14.0 ppg and 6.8 i Player of the Wee, The b this past he AMCC tour- Ids. Behrei in Maryland to take on i .he tournament. Frostburg is seeded first in the conference with Behrend taking fourth. The winner of this game will advance to the championship round on Sat. Tuesday nament. Housing and Food Service Athlete of the Week is selected by the Sports Information Staff Sophomre Tenesha Aden shoots over two Pitt-Bradford defenders Aden and Krumpe (right) led the team with 12 points apiece. more motivated by taking them on first. With so much recent change, the team feels they have a lot to prove and what better way to do that then knock off the one seed on their home court? "I am pumped to play Frostburg first. They stole the first game from us on Men's basketball finishes second in conference, head to Pitt-Greensburg for AMCC tournament By Kyle Woodside staff writer Behrend's ending to its regular season was reminiscent of the movie "Friday Night Lights," where a Texas foot ball team, Permian, was virtually unstoppable all season and then came up just short of being number one in the final game. The momentum seemed to favor Behrend as they wound down the season in hopes of winning the conference title, enabling them to host the AMCC tournament. Last Friday, the Lions defeated a pesky La Roche squad on their turf by a score of 65-53. Senior Cam Mascara had a career night, scoring 22 points in 21 minutes off the bench. Senior Tom Lulich had 11 points, freshman David Gahan chipped in with 9, and senior Jared Clough added 8. Behrend shot a blistering 7 for 13 from three-point range and 45 percent overall from the field. Up next for Behrend the following night was a game at Lake Erie, who is by no means the mighty Dallas-Carter team that Permian had to face, but they sure played like it. Lake Erie took advantage of one of the rare poor shoot ing nights by Behrend and emerged victorious, 65-42, in front of a record crowd at a Lake Erie College basketball game. This was the first time the men's Lake Erie squad has ever defeated Behrend's squad. "Our last game was actually embarrassing for us," said Mascara. "That was the first time they beat us in probably ten years." Behrend shot only 25 percent in the game, compared to the opponent's 52 percent. Lake Erie also out-rebounded Behrend, 42-28. Reggie Richardson, last week's player of the week in the AMCC, scored 17 points for the home team. Jajcen Harris added 13 points. Behrend could not find the bottom of the net on this night, especially their deadly three-point shooters, who only shot 14 percent from behind the arc. Kevin for Frostburg our home court and then pretty much embarrassed us on their court, so it's payback time now," said Krumpe. "We need to cut down on our turnovers this time around and con- centrate on executing our offense. As always, our defense will win this game for us and we really need to step up our pres- In their latest meet ing at Frostburg, Mays led the charge with 10 points and 7 rebounds. Besides Mays though, the Lion's had a below average night. Aden had 8 points and 2 rebounds, both below her average. Krumpe and Slomski were also relatively quiet with 3 boards apiece. When each of these girls has a solid game, there is no stopping the team. They will need every member of the squad to be on point this Friday to make it happen and, late ly, that has not been a problem "We are simply executing better and know our strengths a little better," said Fomari. "I like the way we are under standing strategy and our focus is bet- Bchrend hopes to win and keep advancing through the tough AMCC tournament. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time in conference history. "Winning a conference championship would be an extremely special honor," said Jennings. "It would be a great way to cap off our seniors basketball careers." The Behrend Beacon I 10 Friday, February 25, 2005 Buczynski was one of the few that weren't drawing iron for the Lions. He excelled with 14 points off the bench. Lulich added 10 points. The Lions finished their regular season with a 17-7 overall record and a 14-4 conference record, earning them a No. 2 seed in the AMCC tournament. Tonight at 8 p.m., Behrend gets their opportunity to seek revenge on Lake Erie, because that is who they will face in the opening round of the tourney, which is being hosted by No. 1 seed Pitt-Greensburg. It should be an intense game. "We really didn't care who we played; we come pre pared to play every game no matter who the opponent is," said junior Justin Jennings. "But I have to admit that we kind of smiled when we found out it was Lake Erie. We have some unfinished business to take care of." Behrend will need production from everyone in order to win. Strong team play is what gave the team its winning formula this season. The top two performers this season for Behrend have been Clough and senior Lulich. Clough is averaging 12.6 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game, whereas Lulich averages 11.9 ppg and 4.5 rpg. "Our strategy really won't change," said Mascara. "We'll try to get good looks and defend, that is how you win. Last game, we got away from that and it hurt us. But we are ready to play and are definitely looking for a win." As for Lake Erie, the two leading scorers from the last contest between the two teams are the ones to watch out for. Sophomore center Jajcen Harris comes in with a 14.1 ppg and 6.1 rpg average. Junior point guard Reggie Richardson has a 13.5 ppg and league-best 5.4 assists per game. Their main concern will be shutting down Frostburg senior Tracey Little. Little is averaging 19.0 ppg and 10.9 rpg and led the attack against Behrend last time. The Bobcats are coming off of a loss to the number two team in the conference, Pitt-Greensburg. Greensburg was able to get Frostburg to turn the ball over 27 times, but it was a close 2 point loss where Frostburg out-rebounded the competition 53-36. "We will have a good game plan and are looking to come out in the first five minutes stronger than we did last game," said Fornari. "We had 19 unforced turnovers in the first half at their place, and we really didn't play well. We arc looking to play like we "We arc a much different team from the last time we played them; I don't think they know exactly what is in store for them on Friday," said Krumpe. "The AMCC trophy belongs at Behrend and we plan on taking it home this weekend. Half of our current team experienced winning a championship last year and its time to share that feel ing with our freshman." The winner of Behrend vs. Frostburg will play the winner Pitt-Greensburg vs. Medaille on Saturday in the cham pionship match. Behrend is 0-2 against both teams this season. The champion receives an automatic NCAA bid while the other teams in the tournament will be considered for an ECAC bid. Bids we be announced at some point on Monday.
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