ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602260102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
RANDOLPH-MACON RALLIES in the second half to win the women's tournament.
All player of the year Jenn Kohler had to show for the first two days of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament was a declining scoring average and a cracked tooth.
Daring the Roanoke College women's basketball team to stop her in the second half Saturday, Kohler distinguished herself by leading Randolph-Macon College to its first ODAC championship with an 84-73 victory at the Salem Civic Center.
Kohler scored 34 points, 25 in the second half, as the Yellow Jackets stopped the Maroons' six-year title trot.
``About every time she had her hands on the ball, she took it to the hoop,'' said Susan Dunagan, Roanoke's coach.
``We've always been a better second-half team,'' said Kohler, who also was 7-of-9 from the field in the second half. ``We were down six at halftime, and we knew we had to pick up our defense. When our defense picks up, our offense picks up.''
The defense was certainly there (Kohler and Aimee Beightol each finished with four steals), but the reason for Kohler's outburst was more subtle. She had to take off her muzzle.
After visiting a local dentist after the semifinals, Kohler wore a mouthpiece during the first half Saturday. She said it hindered her performance.
``I couldn't breathe with it,'' she said. ``I could feel myself getting tired, so I chucked it aside.''
With it went four years of ODAC also-ran frustrations. Before this weekend, Randolph-Macon had gotten beyond the tournament first round only once, in 1994.
``My freshman year we got crushed [by Roanoke]. Sophomore year we split and junior year we split. Every year they seemed to pull together in the tournament. It feels great to beat them and be No.1,'' Kohler said.
No player on the Roanoke roster knew how it felt to lose an ODAC tournament game, because the Maroons' last tournament loss came in the 1990 finals against Bridgewater. Since then, they had won 17 straight with an average margin of victory near 20 points per game.
``It's really important to give Roanoke the credit for their years of domination,'' Yellow Jackets coach Carroll LaHaye said. ``Susan deserves as much credit as anybody in the league, for the fact that we all try to copy her program.''
LaHaye said Dunagan showed her what kind of players it takes to win titles and go to the NCAA Tournament, which Randolph-Macon will do for the first time next week. Two standouts from Roanoke, Aimee (14 points) and Allison Beightol (nine points), helped seal the deal for the Yellow Jackets. Allison hit only her third 3-pointer of the season with 6:29 remaining and it turned out to be R-MC's last field goal of the game.
``I had a good feeling about it,'' Allison said. ``We've never lost on this court. It helped me in a way, knowing I was here with all my friends.''
The Beightols won four Roanoke Valley District titles while playing at Cave Spring High School.
Led by tournament MVP Aimee Beightol, the ODAC all-tournament team had a local flavor. Joining Beightol were Roanoke's Amy Athey (Cave Spring) and Marcee Hufton (William Byrd), along with Kohler and Guilford's Laura Haynes.
Hufton, a senior, had 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting, along with six rebounds. Athey keyed Roanoke's inside game with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Athey and Hufton were critical in an 18-2 Maroons run that left the Yellow Jackets down 36-30 at halftime.
``We didn't go without a battle,'' Dunagan said.
It shouldn't be a battle for Roanoke to get an NCAA bid, but it is not certain. The Maroons (21-6) entered the tournament as the No.6 team in the South Region, and won two games (including over No.10 Guilford) before bowing to top-ranked Randolph-Macon (26-1).
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Amy Athey of Roanoke (32) is fouledby CNBfrom behind by Randolph-Macon's Zandar Smith.