FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Gary Holden, Sports Info. Director

(540) 365-4306

 

February 26, 2003

 

Ferrum Women Earn All-Conference

Doonan Named Dixie Co-Coach of the Year

 

Ferrum, Va. -- The Ferrum College women's basketball team had three players earn All-Conference honors in the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference today.

 

Head Coachwomen's basketball program, has been named 2003 Dixie Conference Women's Basketball Co-Coach of the Year.  Doonan, pictured at right, led Ferrum to its first-ever Dixie regular season title this season.  Doonan shared the Coach of the Year award with Greensboro College's Jason Tuggle.

 

Junior forward Tanisha Durham (Roanoke, Va./Patrick Henry) and sophomore guard Tara Toland (North, S.C./North) have both been named to the All-Confere3nce first team.  For Durham, it is the second consecutive honor.  She averaged 14.5points and 7.6 rebounds this season.  Toland averaged 14.6 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.8 steals this season.

Senior forward Tina McBride (Glade Hill, Va./Franklin County) earned second team All-Conference this year.  McBride is the first-ever player at Ferrum to earn All-Conference four times.  She was also a second team selection in as a freshman in 2000 and as a junior in 2002, and was named to the first team as a sophomore in 2001.  McBride became Ferrum's all-time scoring leader this season as well.  She has 1,372 career points and counting.

 

Ferrum earned the top seed for the 2003 Dixie Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, to be held Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 27 through March 1 at Methodist College in Fayetteville, North Carolina.  The Panthers finished the season tied with Christopher Newport University for the regular season conference title with a 10-4 league record.  By virtue of a pair of wins this season over Christopher Newport, Ferrum earned the top seed for the tournament.  This is Ferrum's first regular season Dixie title since joining the league in 1986-86.

 

Ferrum takes an 18-7 overall record into the Dixie Tournament, the champion of which will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament.  The Panthers won the Dixie Tournament and advanced to the NCAA playoffs in 1995.  Ferrum also advanced to the Dixie Tournament title game one other time in 1992, losing to Methodist College.

     Women's Tournament Bracket
     Men's Tournament Bracket

Ferrum (18-7, 10-4 Dixie) will face eighth seeded Averett University (1-24, 1-13) at 2 p.m. to open the women's tournament.  The men's tournament is being hosted by Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va.  Ferrum (7-18, 4-10) is seeded #7 and will face #2 Methodist (16-9, 12-2) at 4 p.m. Thursday.  For more information, please contact the Ferrum sports information office at (540) 365-4306.

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