ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 6, 1997 TAG: 9703060086
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN THE ROANOKE TIMES
The Maroons finish their season as the second-winningest team in school history.
One can only hope Susan Dunagan made a tape recording of her halftime speech Wednesday to her Roanoke College women's basketball team. It would command a hefty price at the next coaches' convention.
Dunagan awoke a lifeless basketball team that made an astonishing comeback in the first round of the NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament only to fall short at the end.
The Maroons, seeded No. 1 in the South Region, had dozed too long in the first half to avert an 80-76 loss to eighth-seeded Thomas More (Ky.) at the Bast Center in Salem.
With their first ever tournament victory, the Saints play at Bridgewater on Saturday in the second round.
``I was angry at my team, and I had a right to be,'' said Dunagan. ``We were very intimidated, not aggressive.''
Against a team that looked much better than any No. 8 seed could hope to be, that was a bad formula. The Saints (19-6) made 11 of their first 14 shots and shot 60 percent in the first half. The Maroons, meanwhile, shot 24.2 percent and were down 47-22 at halftime.
``We were expecting their pressure. Their shooting percentage we weren't expecting,'' said Roanoke senior center Amy Athey, who missed most of Dunagan's halftime speech because she was getting her right kneecap shifted back into place.
Athey banged her knee in the first half, but it didn't stop her from scoring a team-high 24 points.
As the second half began, the Maroons (25-3) seemed to be back in place, looking like the team that won 22 straight games and a conference championship. Roanoke scored the first six points of the second half and nibbled away at the Saints' lead the rest of the way. When Roanoke got within 66-58 with 6:28 to play, Thomas More pulled away, but Roanoke came right back, twice cutting the lead to three points in the final two minutes.
The Saints held them off, however, when reserve center Christy Hoffreditz scored four points on stickbacks of missed free throws. It also helped that star guard Amy Burk kept charging down the court with visions of scoring more and more points.
``I knew I had to go to the hole,'' said Burk, who scored a game-high 33 points.
Burk brought as many shrieks from the mouths of the Roanoke fans as she brought cheers from the Saints faithful.
The gym never got louder than when Roanoke came out of a timeout down 74-68 with 2:36 to play. Athey waved for the crowd's support. They responded by coming to their feet. It was their final ovation for the second winningest team in Maroons history. NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB