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IMMEDIATE RELEASE USA South Title Game Before Falling to #1 Greensboro Panthers Miss NCAA Tournament by One Game NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – After opening the 2006 USA South Women's Basketball Tournament with a 72-63 quarterfinal win Feb. 21 over #6 Averett University, #3 Ferrum College defeated #7 Shenandoah University 80-69 in the semifinal round Feb. 24. The Panthers then fell 74-65 in the title game to #1 Greensboro College Feb. 25. The semifinals and championship games for both the men's and women's USA South Tournaments were held at Christopher Newport University. Quarterfinal: #3 Ferrum 72, #6 Averett 63 Semifinal: #3 Ferrum 80, #6 Shenandoah 69 Championship: #3 Greensboro 74, #3 Ferrum 65 In Ferrum's semifinal win over Shenandoah, senior Tawanna McCall (Bassett, Va./Bassett) had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Aline Alzime (Leesburg, Va./Stonebridge) had 15 points, junior Charde Evans (Virginia Beach, Va./Coastal Christian) had 14, and junior Quanita Bennett (Virginia Beach, Va./Coastal Christian Academy) had 13. In the championship game, McCall had 17 points and nine rebounds for Ferrum. Alzime had 15 points and eight rebounds, Bennett had 13 points and Evans had 10 points. For their efforts, Alzime and Bennett were named to the 2006 USA South Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team. Alzime had 53 points and 27 rebounds in three games, averaging 17.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Bennett had 47 points in three games, averaging 15.7 points per game. Earlier in the week, Alzime was named to the 2006 USA South All-Conference first team, while McCall was a second-team selection. For Alzime, it was her third All-Conference honor in as many seasons. She was a second team selection and the USA South Rookie of the Year in 2004, and a first team selection in 2005. For McCall, it was her first league honor. This year marks just the third time that Ferrum had made a conference tournament championship appearance. Ferrum also advanced to the title games in 1992 before losing to Methodist College and won the 1995 tournament title with a win over Methodist. That was the first and only season in which Ferrum has qualified for NCAA post-season play. Ferrum closes out its season at 14-12 overall under first-year Head Coach Bryan Harvey. The Panthers lose two seniors to graduation this year, McCall and Rebecca Eton (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro). The 2006-07 Ferrum roster could include five seniors, three juniors and two sophomores. # # # |
