Miranda Carrasco 14 points

Ashley Norton, 12 points All-Tournament team

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gary Holden, Sports Info. Director
(540) 365-4306

February 24, 2007


Panthers Fall in USA South Title Game

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Top seed Ferrum College lost 77-53 to #2 Christopher Newport University in the championship game of the 2007 USA South Women's Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament, held this afternoon at CNU.

       Official Box Score:  CNU 77, Ferrum 53

Freshman guard Miranda Carrasco (Vinton, Va./William Byrd) led Ferrum with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

Freshman guard Ashley Norton (Martinsville, Va./Magna Vista) had 12 points and was named to the All-Tournament team.  Norton started all three games in the tournament for Ferrum, averaging 9.7 points.

Ferrum (21-7) opened the game with a 9-3 lead but CNU rallied to take an 11-point lead and held a 37-28 lead at halftime.  Ferrum missed nine of 10 shots from the floor to open the second half as CNU raced out to a 17-point lead at 47-30 with 13:36 left in the game.  The panthers shot just 27 percent in the second half to the Captains' 44 percent.

Christopher Newport (20-8) was led by Tournament MVP Dee Luck, who had 15 points and 15 rebounds.  Samantha Davis had 13 points, while Candace Bryant and Nikki Rowland had 10 points each.

2007 USA South All-Tournament Team
Ashley Norton, Ferrum ... Alexis Hargbol, Shenandoah ... Staci Humphrey, Greensboro ... Candace Bryant, CNU ... Nikki Rowland, CNU ... Dee Luck, CNU (MVP)

This was Ferrum's fourth trip to the championship game of the USA South Tournament.  Ferrum lost to Methodist College in the finals of the 1992 tournament then beat Methodist in the finals in 1995 tournament, then known as the Dixie Conference.  The Panthers lost to Greensboro in finals of the 2006.

Christopher Newport earns the league's automatic berth into the 2007 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament.  With a 21-7 record, Ferrum is hopeful of an at-large bid.  The NCAA will announce this year's tournament selections Sunday, Feb. 25.

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