SALEM, Va. - The Thomas More College women's basketball team upset No. 1-seed Roanoke College 80-76 on Wednesday in the first round of the NCAA Division III women's tournament.
Thomas More, a No. 8 seed, took a 25-point halftime lead and held on when Roanoke cut the lead to three with 50 seconds to play.
Sophomore Christy Hoffeditz, a Mercy High graduate, made two late free throws to seal the victory.
Thomas More (19-6) will play at Bridgewater (Va.) College (22-5) on Saturday in the second round. Bridgewater finished second to Roanoke (25-3) for the regular-season title in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
Sophomore guard Amy Burk, a Scott High grad, scored a
game-high 33 points on 13-of-25 shooting. Burke consistently pushed the ball up the floor and took it to the basket.
''I knew I had to go to the hole,'' Burk said.
Thomas More made 11 of its first 14 shots and finished the first half shooting 60 percent from the field. Roanoke shot 24.2 percent in the first half.
''We were expecting their pressure,'' Roanoke senior center Amy Athey said. ''Their shooting percentage we weren't expecting.''
Roanoke coach Susan Dunagan was less than pleased at halftime.
''I was angry at my team, and I had a right to be,'' she said. ''We were very intimidated, not aggressive at all.''
The second half was different.
Roanoke forced 15 Thomas More turnovers and shot 44 percent. Athey, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference player of the year, led the Maroons with 24 points. She also had nine rebounds.
Thomas More (80) - Dandridge 2 0 4; Clinkenbeard 5 0 11; Desmond 1 0 2; Galbraith 1 1 3; Burk 13 4 33; Smith 4 1 9; Hoffeditz 2 2 6; See 3 2 8; Heaton 1 2 4. Totals: 32 12 80.
Roanoke (76) - Ficarro 0 2 2; McCallum 6 2 14; Athey 7 10 24; McConnell 0 3 3; Moore 4 2 13; Harrigan 0 2 2; Shoemaker 2 0 4; Riseman 1 4 6; Morris 1 0 2; Rhodes 2 1 6. Totals: 23 26 76.
Halftime: TM 47-22. Three-point goals: TM-Clinkenbeard, Burk 3. R-Moore 3, Rhodes. Records: TM 19-6, R 25-3.
Previous stories
THOMAS MORE CARRIES SLINGSHOT March 5, 1997
TMC WOMEN MAKE TOURNEY March 3, 1997
