Strong field fills NJCAA

By By Marty Stamper/EMG sports assistant
March 14, 2004
With a school record 29-win season under their belts, the East Central Community College Lady Warriors appear to be as ready for a national tournament as they'll ever be.
Play in the NJCAA Division I Women's National Basketball Championship Tournament begins Tuesday. ECCC takes on Three Rivers (Mo.) at 2 p.m. in first-round action at Salina, Kan.
Here is a look at some of the 16 teams listed in the order of their seeding.
No. 1 Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College (32-0)
The Lady Cardinals from Athens, Texas, are the tournament's top seed and are the only remaining undefeated Division I women's team this season.
Of their 32 games, the Lady Cardinals have reached 100 points on 19 occasions and finished with 99 twice. Their lowest output came in an 80-69 win over Panola (Texas).
Trinity Valley has two players from Mississippi freshmen Keisha Carter from Jackson Provine and La'Courtney Ratliff from Canton. The Lady Cardinals have three players from Brazil, including 6-foot-4 sophomore center Vanessa Silva.
Trinity beat Angelina College (Texas) 86-58 for the Region 14 crown.
No. 2 Gulf Coast (Fla.)
Community College (31-1)
The Lady Commodores from Panama City, Fla., are the defending national champions, having ripped Western Nebraska 81-42 in last year's finals. Gulf Coast beat Central Florida Community College 64-51 in the Region 8 finals.
Defense is the team's strength as the Lady Commodores are ranked second in the NJCAA in points allowed at 49 per game.
Tiffany Stansbury, a 6-foot-3 power forward who has signed with North Carolina State, is 10th nationally in rebounding, averaging 11. She was named Panhandle Conference Player of the Year. She also averages 13.3 points.
Other top players for coach Roonie Scovel are 5-foot-9 freshman guard Tasha Phillips (12.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg), 6-foot freshman wing Marquita Green (12.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and 5-foot-10 freshman guard Helen Johnson (11.8 ppg).
The Lady Commodores average 77.7 points per contest. Gulf Coast has been the Florida state champion six of the last seven years, missing only in 2001.
No. 3 University of Arkansas-Fort Smith (29-3)
UAFS held off Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa 46-44 to win the Region 2 Tournament at Shawnee, Okla. NOCT missed a pair of three-pointers in the final 10 seconds. The region title was the fourth for the Lions and earned their first trip to the nationals since 1998.
Key players include 6-foot-6 freshman center Gillian Goring of Trinidad, 6-foot-1 sophomore guard/forward Joei Clyburn, 5-foot-10 sophomore forward Deirdre Larry and 5-foot-8 sophomore guard Tiffany McCollins.
No. 4 Seward County (Kan.) Community College (31-3)
No doubt, the Lady Saints will enjoy the homecourt advantage in Salina, having recently completed the Region 6 Tournament at the Bicentennial Center. Seward routed Dodge City 64-38 in last Tuesday's championship contest.
Size is no problem for Seward, which includes 6-foot-7 Margaret DeCiman of Canada, 6-foot-1 Ewelina Gad of Poland, 6-foot-2 Amanda Foster, 6-foot Ania Grabias of Poland and 6-foot-3 Melisa Ball.
DeCiman, who has committed to Louisiana Tech, had 23 points, 15 blocked shots, and five rebounds in the title game win over Dodge City to earn region MVP honors.
The Lady Saints are ranked sixth in the NJCAA in points allowed at 53.2. Seward is ranked 16th in the NJCAA in free-throw percentage at 67.4 percent.
No. 5 Southeastern Illinois College (28-5)
Like many of the teams at the nationals, head coach Greg Franklin has players from seven states and two other countries.
SIC defeated John A. Logan (Ill.) College 51-39 to capture the Region 24 championship. The Falcons from Harrisburg, Ill., are 50-14 over the last two seasons.
No. 6 Hiwassee (Tenn.) College (28-2)
The Lady Tigers knocked off Southwest Tennessee 77-64 last Sunday in the Region 7 finals. Hiwassee averages 80.8 points, while giving up 59.5.
Top players are Courtney Perkins (14.1 ppg, 5.0 apg, 5.4 rpg), Beth Hopper (11.7 ppg), Kim Turner (11.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg), Ashley Keck (10.7 ppg, 3.1 apg), Roshana Jackson (10.4 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 2.6 blocks) and Brandi Scott, who had 21 points in an 85-78 first-round regional win over St. Catharine.
Keck has made a Region 7-best 62.9 percent (66-of-105) of her three-point shots. She is also a 78 percent (32-of-41) free-throw shooter, and Hopper has made 80.4 percent (82-of-102) of her charity shots.
No. 7 Three Rivers (Mo.) Community
College (26-5)
The Lady Raiders from Poplar Bluff, Mo., hammered Moberly Area Community College 82-52 in the Region 16 finals to earn a trip to Salina.
Top players include 5-foot-6 sophomore guard Jessica Wilson (13.2 ppg), 5-foot-7 sophomore guard Ashley Williams (12.9 ppg), 5-foot-7 sophomore guard Bliss Roberson (12.6 ppg), 5-foot-10 sophomore guard Nicole Rivers (10.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg), 6-foot freshman center Emma Ledwaba (9.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg) from Cape Town, South Africa, and 6-foot-3 sophomore center Victoria Richards (8.9 ppg, 7.2 rpg).
Head coach Jack Childress is in his 11th year at Three Rivers with a 233-106 record over that span. The Lady Raiders are ranked fifth in the NJCAA in free-throw percentage at 69.2 percent.
No. 8. Vincennes (Ind.) University (27-4)
The Lady Trailblazers from Vincennes won the Region 12 championship by nipping the Surge from Cincinnati (Ohio) State 74-69. Vincennes then rolled past Malcolm X College of Chicago 81-64 in a play-in game on Wednesday.
Top players for the Lady Trailblazers are 5-foot-5 freshman Rachel Dixon (15.6 ppg), 6-foot freshman Carla Gheorghe (14.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg), 5-foot-10 freshman Margaret Batteast (12.6 ppg) and 6-foot-2 sophomore Kanika Rogers (8.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg).
No. 9. Western Nebraska Community
College (27-5)
The Lady Cougars return to Salina after finishing second in last year's tournament to cap a 34-3 season. They whipped Northeastern Junior College 75-45 last week to win the Region 9 Tournament at Sheridan, Wyo.
They are ranked fifth in the NJCAA in points allowed at 53.1, and the Lady Cougars are a lot like East Central in that they have seven players averaging from 6.2 points to 11.1. Tatiana Conceicao, a
6-foot-2 sophomore from Brazil leads the Lady Cougars with an 11.1 scoring clip. Next is 5-foot-8 freshman Shantel Muniz at 9.8.
Western averages 77.8 points offensively and has outrebounded its opponents by nearly 11 boards per game.
No. 10 East Central Community College (29-2)
Third-year head coach Brad Hodge has the Lady Warriors from Decatur hot as they enter the nationals riding a 22-game win streak. ECCC's last loss was to Pearl River in early December.
In his three seasons as head coach, the Lady Warriors have compiled a 58-24 record. They defeated Copiah-Lincoln 52-45 for the Region 23 crown on March 4.
Leading the Lady Warriors are 6-foot-1 sophomore Lenore Gray (12.9 ppg, 8 rpg), 5-foot-4 freshman Kristin Chaney (10.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.4 apg), 6-foot sophomore Kimyatta Viverette (8.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg), 5-foot-9 sophomore Rita Birden (9.8 rpg) and 5-foot-9 freshman Kotreece Bender (7.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg).