CLARION (15-11 overall, 7-5 PSAC-WEST) AT SHIPPENSBURG (17-10, 7-5)
PSAC PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND GAME
7 P.M. MARCH 2, 2004
WINNER GETS: The winner of the Kutztown-West Chester game at the highest remaining seed from the PSAC-West in the PSAC semifinals.
RADIO/INTERNET: WCUC, 91.7 FM in Clarion & www.redzonemedia.com
LAST 10 GAMES: Clarion 6-4 (W 5); Shippensburg 6-4 (L 2)
LAST GAMES: Clarion beat Shippensburg 66-62 Saturday See box score
CLARION-SHIP SERIES LAST 10 GAMES: Shippensburg leads 7-3
THIS SEASON: Clarion won 66-62 at Ship Feb. 28; while Ship won 66-62 at Clarion Jan. 31
RECENT CLARION-SHIPP SERIES HISTORY: The teams have split the season series the last three years Prior to that Shippensburg had swept the series five straight times and had won 10 in a row and 11 of 12 from the Golden Eagles Both games this year came down to the wire with Ship breaking a 62-62 tie in the last minute to get the win at Clarion at the end of January and Clarion taking the lead in the final four minutes at Ship Saturday to get the win Last seasons games were just exciting The game at Clarion might go down as the greatest comeback in school history The Golden Eagles trailed by 29 in the first half and by 28 with 19 minutes to go but went on runs of 22-0 and 19-6 to get the 78-75 win But Shippensburg knocked Clarion from playoff contention with a come-from-behind 82-68 win at Shippensburg the last game of the season Ship trailed at halftime but used a 14-0 second-half run to get the victory.
CLARION-SHIPP PLAYOFF HISTORY: This is the first-ever PSAC playoff meeting between the two schools, who have combined to win nine of the last 13 PSAC title Clarion won titles in 1991, 92 and 94 while Shippensburg won six straight from 1996-200.
LAST YEAR IN THE PSAC PLAYOFFS: Clarion was not in the playoffs a year ago Shippensburg lost to California 82-50 in the opening round ... Click here for Clarion PSAC Playoff history
CLARION NOTES: Clarion is on a five-game winning streak Junior forward Heather Cigich has been a force in the stretch averaging 23.6 ppg, 15.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.8 bpg and 3.4 spg She was named the PSAC-West Player of the Week last week The 15-win season marks the second straight 15-win campaign for Clarion and the 7th under head coach Gie Parsons Clarions inside tandem of Cigich and Shay Godwin has averaged 36.5 ppg and 23.7 rpg this season On Wednesday in a 78-62 win over Edinboro Cigich scored 31 points and Godwin 30 making them the first tandem at Clarion to each score 30 points in the same game.
CLARION PLAYERS TO WATCH: No. 44 Heather Cigich Leading scorer (20.5 ppg) and rebounder (12.3 rpg) in PSAC; No. 25 Shay Godwin Second in PSAC in rebounding (11.4 rpg), 6th in scoring (16.0 ppg); No. 23 Amelia Harris 11.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.9 apg, 62 three-pointers
THE CIGICH FILE
Clarion junior Heather Cigich continues to write her name all through the Golden Eagles single-season and career record books. A look at where she stands is listed below
SINGLE-SEASON 2003-2004
POINTS: 532 Ranks 4th Needs 13 to tie Carlita Jones for 3rd
REBOUNDS: 320 Ranks T-3rd with Jones
STEALS: 83 Ranks 4th Needs 4 to tie Leatha Dudeck for 3rd and 5 to tie Dudeck for 2nd
CAREER 2001-02 to Present
POINTS: 1,346 Ranks 5th
REBOUNDS: 842 Ranks 3rd
BLOCKS: 61 Ranks 3rd
STEALS: 186 Ranks 7th Needs 3 to tie Leda Best for 6th and 6 to tie Melissa Yearous for 5th
AVG. POINTS PER GAME: 17.0 Currently ranks first bettering the mark of 16.8 ppg held by Mona Gaffney
AVERAGING CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE: 17.0 ppg, 10.7 rpg
CIGICH CAREER TOTALS
YEAR G FG FGA FG% FT FTA FT% REB TP AVG.
2003-2004 26 214 407 53% 100 132 76% 320 532 20.5
2002-03 27 196 377 52% 109 149 73% 281 502 18.6
2001-02 26 111 242 46% 89 107 83% 241 312 12.0
CAREER 79 521 1,026 51% 298 388 77% 842 1,346 17.0