Monday, March 06, 2000
Xavier women reach A-10 finals
Dig out of 20-point hole, win in OT
BY PETE HOLTERMANN
Enquirer contributor
PHILADELPHIA — Xavier's full-court defense helped force overtime, and the Musketeers, who trailed by 20 points at halftime, went on to defeat St.Joseph's 84-78 in an Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinal Sunday.
XU advanced to the A-10 championship game for the second straight year.
The Musketeers, who are now a school-record 25-4, never led until overtime, when they scored the first three points.
“Once we knew we were so far down, the only thing we could do was go all out,” Muskies coach Melanie Balcomb said.
The Hawks stymied Xavier early in the game with the league-best defense that holds teams to an average of just 52 points a game.
XU was down 63-50 with six minutes remaining before turning up the intensity on defense, which sparked Xavier on a 10-1 run to pull within 64-60 with two minutes remaining.
“We haven't really pressed all year, but we didn't have any other choice,” said XU's Taru Tuukkanen, who led Xavier with 27 points.
St.Joe's forced two ties in the extra period, the last coming at the 1:46 mark at 78-78, but it was all Xavier after that.
“We didn't want to stop doing what we were doing (in OT),” Balcomb said. “I didn't want to back off and play a half-court game, which is what they want to do.”
With just more than a minute to go, Nicole Levandusky hit her first free throw, but the second came hard off the iron to the left side of the court. Xavier's Jennifer Phillips saved the ball from going out of bounds, and the Muskies scored on a drive to go up 81-78 with 58.8 seconds left.
The Hawks were forced to foul Xavier the rest of the way as XU prevented St.Joe's from taking a shot.
The Muskies were down 68-62 in the final minute of regulation when a Levandusky 3-pointer got XU within three with 48.8 seconds to go.
Xavier then started fouling the Hawks to keep time from coming off the clock. Susan Moran hit a pair of free throws for St.Joe's, but Levandusky hit another 3 to close the gap to two with 36.6 seconds left.
XU was down 72-70 with 24.4 seconds left when Cheryl Kulesa went to the line for the Hawks. She hit just one of her free throw attempts, leaving the door open for Xavier.
Xavier patiently worked through the offense, and Amy Waugh drained a 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds left to force overtime.
Xavier Stories
Mitchell deal expected today
Real star of Reds is Bowden
Griffey downplays first homer
Reds' aces stack up well
New sliding style challenges Reese
Reds ship 9 to minor-league camp
Sunday's games report
UC returns to No. 1 in polls
C-USA tournament preview
C-USA tournament schedule
Miami upsets top-seeded BG
MIAMI NOTEBOOK
Marshall 58, Central Michigan 56
SEC tournament preview
SEC tournament schedule
Big Ten tournament preview
Big Ten tournament schedule
Both NKU teams make tournament
Cincinnati basketball update
Cincinnati boys basketball schedule
Cincinnati girls basketball schedule
N.Ky. boys basketball schedule
N.Ky. girls tournament update
Mighty Ducks grow at Gardens
Stuff 104, Trenton 91
SEASON IN STORIES
