Saturday, March 04, 2000
XU women set sights on A-10 title
BY PETER HOLTERMANN
Enquirer contributor
PHILADELPHIA — Since spring practice began last April for the Xavier women's basketball team, the Musketeers have been yearning to get back to the postseason.
Last March, the Muskies made it to the Atlantic 10 tournament final but lost 85-73 to St. Joseph's. Then Xavier, in its second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, made it to the second round and nearly upset No.1-seeded Connecticut on its home floor before losing 86-84.
“Everybody was so happy and proud of us, yet we felt like we could've done more,” Xavier coach Melanie Balcomb said.
So when the Muskies begin play today in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament at Temple's Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, nothing short of a championship will be acceptable.
When the Musketeers attended Thursday night's A-10 awards banquet, four members of the team won individual honors, but the team trophy went to George Washington, which finished first in the Atlantic 10 West. Xavier placed second.
“It was kind of hard sitting at the banquet watching George Washington go up there and St. Joe's (the East Division champions) go up there,” junior forward Jennifer Phillips said. “There's only one thing left for us to win.”
Winning has been Xavier's goal since Midnight Madness in October, and the team is reminded of that every day in practice, where the backs of their jerseys read "Unfinished Business.'
“I do think we're hungry. We're not satisfied because we haven't won anything yet,” Balcomb said. “We still have a lot to prove.”
The Musketeers, who finished the regular season at 23-4 overall and 13-3 in the league, will start the road back to the championship game at 6 p.m. today with a quarterfinal game against St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies beat Duquesne 67-63 in a first-round game on Friday.
Xavier beat St. Bonaventure 87-66 on Feb.4, but the Bonnies were without Melissa Fazio, the second-leading scorer in the conference with an average of 16 points per game. Fazio scored 18 points against Duquesne on Friday.
The Musketeers know rematches with Dayton or St. Joseph's are possible in the conference semifinals, and they could face George Washington in the final. All three teams beat Xavier during the regular season.
However, the Muskies head into the tournament focusing more on their game than their opponent.
“We've played each other once, if not twice, so everybody knows each other,” junior guard Nicole Levandusky said. “We just have to execute, do the simple things, and play with intensity when we're out there.”
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