Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 11, 1994 TAG: 9403110059
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BILOXI, MISS. LENGTH: Medium
The Virginia Tech women's basketball team has one thought about playing tonight for the Metro Conference tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament:
Don't think about it.
"If we start thinking like that, we tend to get real tight and don't play real well," said senior guard Sue Logsdon. "The times we've gone in thinking, `Oh, this is a really big game,' we didn't play well."
It's doubtful 19th-ranked Southern Mississippi (24-3) will downplay the 9:30 p.m. game at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, even though the Metro's regular-season champions are considered a lock for the 64-team women's NCAA Tournament.
Tech beat Southern Miss by a point Feb. 28 in Blacksburg - and the Golden Eagles missed a two-foot shot as time expired that would have won it.
"I would venture to say they probably think they should have won," Logsdon said.
Added Southern Miss coach Kay James: "I see another tough game. At this point, there is nothing to hold back."
Tech (23-5) doesn't feel it needs to win tonight to make its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, although a victory probably would mean a higher seeding. Carol Alfano, in her 16th season as the Hokies' coach, is enjoying the feeling of having guided Tech to the final for the first time in 15 years of Metro competition.
"For us just to get in it is another step for our program," Alfano said.
To take another leap, Alfano said, Tech needs to slow the Golden Eagles. Southern Miss, which is 3-3 in Metro tournament finals, whipped Tech 93-62 in Hattiesburg, Miss.
"We can run on them, but we can't let them continually run on us," Alfano said. "At our place . . . we turned it into a half-court defensive game for us. That's what it needs to be [tonight]."
Tech probably will have trouble with the Golden Eagles' pressure defense, especially without reserve point guard Terri Garland, who dislocated her left shoulder in Wednesday's semifinal victory over North Carolina-Charlotte.
The shoulder was popped back into joint Wednesday, and Alfano said there is no permanent damage. But Garland, a sophomore from Dublin, is one of Tech's best ballhandlers. Logsdon will spell Lisa Leftwich at point guard.
"Hopefully, it won't give us too many problems," Logsdon said.
It's likely Janice Felder will. The Metro's player of the year averaged 19.3 points in the regular season and is Southern Miss' main offensive threat. She scored 23 points Wednesday as the Golden Eagles overcame an early 15-point deficit and beat Tulane 72-69.
Tech will counter with its typical balanced offense. Forward Christi Osborne leads the Hokies with 28 points in two games here.
"We want the thing bad," Alfano said.
Added Logsdon: "This is a huge game for both teams."
\ OSBORNE HONORED FOR ACADEMICS: Tech's Christi Osborne has been named a second-team GTE Academic All-American.
The junior forward has a 3.91 grade-point average with a double major of early childhood development and communications. The Burlington, Ky., native is averaging 14.0 points per game and set a school record with 37 consecutive free throws before missing Wednesday night during a Metro Conference tournament semifinal against North Carolina-Charlotte.
by CNB