Tuesday, March 07, 2000

Xavier women make return trip to NCAA

---

A-10 title continues two-year surge

BY PETE HOLTERMANN
Enquirer contributor

Xavier women hoist their first A-10 tournament trophy. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        PHILADELPHIA — Finally, the Xavier women's basketball team has something to celebrate.

        After two straight seasons with school-record win totals, the Musketeers have something to call their own: the Atlantic 10 tournament title.

        Xavier earned that distinction with an 80-66 win over No.23 George Washington on Monday at Temple's Liacouras Center.

        “We've been a pretty good team, but we've never had anything to show for it,” Xavier guard Nicole Levandusky said. “Now we do, and it feels pretty nice.”

        Xavier (26-4) leads the Atlantic 10 in nearly every offensive statistic, but used defense to earn the title.

        “For years, we even made jokes that we're so offense-oriented,” Xavier coach Melanie Balcomb said. “This year, we talked about if we want to win championships, it's defense that wins them.”

Celebrating after the game: Amy Waugh, Jennifer Phillips, Kim Hotz and Taru Tuukkanen. | ZOOM |

        Levandusky, named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, led the defensive effort for the Muskies, recording six steals in the semifinals and five in the final.

        Xavier struggled on the offensive end in the first half of Monday's championship game, hitting just nine shots on 33 attempts.

        Meanwhile GW (25-5) dominated the rebounding 26-19 and was 13-of-32 from the field, including 18 points in the lane.

        But Xavier only trailed by four, 31-27, at halftime.

        “In the first half we struggled offensively and didn't execute well,” Balcomb said. “I was really glad it was that close at that point.”

        Despite Xavier's early woes, the Colonials never led by more than six.

Hotz grabs loose ball. | ZOOM |

        Xavier took control of the game when GW forward Petra Dubovcova picked up her fourth foul with just over 13 minutes remaining.

        The Musketeers trailed by one, 45-44, at that point, but launched a 19-3 run over the next seven minutes to put the Colonials away.

        With Dubovcova on the bench for all but nine minutes of the second half, Xavier's Jennifer Phillips took over the game, scoring nine points and grabbing nine rebounds in the second half.

        “Once (Dubovcova) got in foul trouble, we put an emphasis on getting it into the post even more,” Phillips said.

        Phillips recorded her second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds, but was left off the all-tournament team.

        “She was a force inside,” Levandusky said. “She was definitely robbed.”

        “They couldn't guard her,” Balcomb said. “We tried to get the ball to her every time down.”

Waugh steals. | ZOOM |

        The Colonials tried to get back into the game in the final three minutes, but never got closer than eight points.

        Xavier's Taru Tuukkanen joined Levandusky on the all-tournament team. The junior center averaged 18.7 points in XU's three tourney games.

        GW's Dubovcova, who led the Colonials with 20 points in the final, and Kristeena Alexander also made the team, along with Susan Moran and Angela Zampella of St. Joseph's.

        Xavier will now spend the rest of the week practicing, leading up to Sunday's 5 p.m. NCAA Tournament selection show.

        The Muskies should fare better than last year's No.8 seed, but it was not something the team was thinking about following the game.

        “We didn't look past this game at all,” Balcomb said. "We were focused on winning a championship.”

XAVIER (80)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Griggs          22   1-5   2-2   0-1  0  0    5
Phillips        29  5-13   3-5  3-16  1  4   13
Tuukkanen       27  3-10   2-4   2-6  0  2    8
Waugh           40   2-6   8-8   1-3  6  2   14
Levandusky      29  8-12   1-1   0-2  4  3   19
Piipari         29   2-3   2-4   0-1  2  3    8
Hotz            24   5-9   3-3   3-4  2  1   13
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 26-58 21-27  9-33 15 15   80
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.448, FT-.778. 3-Point Goals:
7-15, .467 (Griggs 1-2, Waugh 2-6, Levandusky
2-4, Piipari 2-3). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked
shots: 3 (Phillips, Levandusky, Hotz). Turnovers:
12 (Phillips 3, Griggs 2, Levandusky 2, Tuukkanen
2, Hotz, Piipari, Waugh). Steals: 10 (Levandusky
5, Piipari 3, Phillips, Tuukkanen).

GEO WASHINGTON (66)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Lawrence        19  2-11   2-2   4-6  0  2    6
Dubovcova       28  9-19   1-1   4-9  0  5   20
Jefferson       26   3-6   3-4  4-11  1  3    9
Egleston        29   4-5   1-1   2-3  3  4   10
Aguilar         28  3-12   3-4   2-3  1  2   10
Joens           14   1-5   2-4   3-4  0  0    4
Alexander       14   1-8   0-0   0-0  3  4    2
Baskova          5   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  0    0
Davidson        15   1-3   0-0   1-3  3  2    3
Reid            13   0-1   0-0   0-3  2  0    0
Carlson          9   1-1   0-0   0-1  0  3    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 25-71 12-16 20-44 13 25   66
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.352, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
4-17, .235 (Dubovcova 1-3, Egleston 1-1, Aguilar
1-5, Joens 0-3, Alexander 0-3, Davidson 1-2).
Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 2 (Lawrence,
Reid). Turnovers: 16 (Egleston 4, Aguilar 2,
Davidson 2, Lawrence 2, Alexander, Baskova,
Dubovcova, Jefferson, Joens, Reid). Steals: 8
(Joens 2, Lawrence 2, Alexander, Baskova,
Dubovcova, Reid).
__________________________________
Xavier             27   53  -   80
Geo Washington     31   35  -   66
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 1,536. Officials: John
Palermo, Bryan Enterline, Nan Sisk.

---

Xavier Stories

Xavier women make return trip to NCAA XAVIER NOTEBOOK

Mitchell considers Cowboys
Bengals defensive end miffed at whining from teammates
Bengals may need new radio home
Long men on the hot seat
Bichette won't waste fortune on wheels
REDS NOTEBOOK
Monday's report
Bearcats back on top - for now
UC gets J.C. commitment
St. X beats Milford for sectional title
Spartans seek revenge vs. Miami
MIAMI NOTEBOOK
Lady Surge play for district title