Complete Tournament Bracket
On the heels of winning its second PSAC championship in school history, the
IUP women’s basketball team has earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Division
II East Region tournament which gets under way Friday in Glenville, W.Va.
IUP brings a record of 22-8 into its 1:00 quarterfinal game against Barton, which
is 21-7 and holds the No. 6 seed. The Crimson Hawks are in the NCAA
tournament for the fourth time and first since qualifying in 1999 and 2000.
IUP earned the automatic bid from the PSAC with its 63-53 win over
California in the conference championship game on Saturday.
In the other quarterfinal game in IUP’s bracket, No. 2 Pfeiffer (26-4), the
champion of the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference, will face No. 7 Pitt
Johnstown (20-7) at 3:00.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 and host Glenville State (30-2)
meets No. 8 St. Andrews Presbyterian (20-9) at 8:00 and No. 4 Anderson (23-7) takes
on No. 5 California (21-9) at 6:00.
The IUP-Barton and Pfeiffer-Pitt Johnstown winners will meet in the 6:00
semifinal on Saturday, and the Glenville State-St. Andrews Presbyterian and
Anderson-California survivors meet in the other semifinal at 8:00.
After taking Sunday off, the semifinal winners will play on Monday night at
7:00 for
the region title and berth in the Elite Eight, which takes place in Kearney,
Neb., March 21-24.
Charleston is the defending East Region champion but did not earn a berth
this season. Glenville State lost to the Golden Eagles in the regional
final a year ago.
IUP moved up four spots from its No. 7 ranking in the final East Region poll
of the season after defeating Edinboro, Millersville and California, all by
double digits, to win its first PSAC title since 1988.
Barton was second in the CVAC regular season standings with a 16-4 record
and lost to Anderson, 71-59, in the conference tournament semifinals.
IUP, Pfeiffer and Glenville State earned automatic bids to the tournament,
with the other five garnering at-large berths. Pfeiffer won the CVAC
championship with a 67-54 win over Anderson while Glenville State, ranked
second in the nation, won the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference crown by routing West Liberty State, 69-44, in the title game.
IUP has a record of 2-3 in its previous three NCAA tournament appearances.
Both of those wins came in 1999 when IUP beat Millersville and Shippensburg
at Memorial Field House to advance to the Elite Eight.
Barton is in the NCAA field for the third time, all in the past four years,
and has a record of 1-2.
The two teams have met only one time, with IUP claiming a 71-44 victory over
Barton in the championship game of the Virginia State Classic early in the
1999-00 season.
Under 18th-year head coach Wendee Saintsing, Barton opened the
season at 6-3 before reeling off 11 straight wins. The Bulldogs staggered a
bit down the stretch, losing four of their final eight games, including the
conference semifinal defeat to Anderson.
Barton is led by senior forward Jo Denevan, who paces the team in scoring
(15.0) and rebounding (8.2). Guard Esty Flores, the CVAC Freshman of the
Year, averages 13.7 points, has dished out 80 assists and leads the Bulldogs
with 63 steals.
Sophomore forward Kendra Thomas (12.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and junior guard Candice
Britton (88 assists, 55 steals) are other players to watch.
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