CLARION FACES CHARLESTON IN NCAA TOURNAMENT

            The Clarion University women’s basketball team will face Charleston (W.Va.) in the opening round of the NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament at 1 p.m. Friday at Anderson College (SC). The game can be heard on WCUC, 91.7 FM in Clarion and on the internet at www.redzonemedia.com.

It is Clarion’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1995 and its sixth overall

            “It is very exciting to be back in the tournament,” 16^th year head coach Gie Parsons said. “Everyone involved with the program is proud of what we have accomplished, and I think everyone in Clarion is thrilled. The long wait Sunday night to find out if we were in really brought us together as a team.”

            Clarion (23-6) comes into the game as the No. 6 seed in the 8-team East Region, while Charleston (26-4) is the No. 3 seed. The winner takes on the winner of the California-Wheeling Jesuit game Saturday. Cal, the defending national champion, is the No. 2 seed, and WJ is the No. 7 seed. The Cal-WJ game is at 3 p.m. Friday.

The other half of the East Region bracket has No. 1 Anderson vs. No. 8 Millersville at 8 p.m. Friday and No. 4 seed Fairmont St. vs. No. 5 seed Glenville St. at 6 p.m. Friday. The championship game is Monday at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to the NCAA D-II “Elite 8” in Hot Springs, Ark., March 23-26.

Tickets for the tournament are $10 per session with two sessions being held Friday and one Saturday and Monday. A $30 all-session pass will also be sold Friday.

This is the second meeting of the year between the dual Golden Eagles. The Clarion Golden Eagles lost to the Charleston Golden Eagles 89-54 Nov. 28 in Charleston.

            “We are defiantly going to be the underdogs,” Parsons said. “But we have everything to gain and nothing to lose. We are going to let the cards fall where they may. We are going to take it one game at a time and see if we can advance.”

            Clarion is coming into the game off a 57-54 loss to Millersville in the PSAC semifinals last Friday, while Charleston lost to Glenville St. 63-42 in the WVIAC semifinals last Friday.

            CU, winners of 15 of 18, is led by senior forwards Heather Cigich and Shay Godwin.

            Cigich is the second leading scorer in the PSAC (17.4 ppg) and the fourth leading rebounder (10.0 rpg). She is also adding 81 assists and 63 steals. She had 12 points and eight rebounds in the game with UC in November.

            The second leading rebounder (1,119) and third leading scorer (1,826) in school history, Cigich also ranks third at Clarion in blocks (82), fifth in steals (250) and eighth in assists (243).

            Godwin enters the game as the eighth leading scorer (14.3 ppg) and fifth leading rebounder (9.8 rpg) in the PSAC while leading the conference in shooting percentage (58.2). She had 12 points vs. UC earlier this season.

            Four guards are responsible for setting up the offense and providing multiple threats for Clarion.

            Melba Melton is averaging 11.9 ppg, 4.79 apg and 2.21 spg and ranks fifth in the PSAC in assists. Her 139 assists on the season are the third most in Clarion history.

            Amelia Harris chips in with 10.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 3.1 apg, while Tiffany Peacock adds 6.8 ppg.

Freshman point guard Ashley Grimm is scoring 5.8 ppg to go along with 3.5 rpg, 4.14 apg and 2.03 spg. She ranks ninth in the PSAC in assists, and her 120 assists this season are the sixth most in school history. Grimm had 12 points and five rebounds in the November meeting.

Jessica Albanese rounds out the top seven for Clarion scoring 6.9 ppg while grabbing 4.5 rpg.

Charleston is led by forward Lisa Lee and guards Courtney Thomas and Laura Kinsler.

Lee is the third leading scorer (19.1 ppg) and fifth leading rebounder (8.2 rpg) in the WVIAC while also ranking second in the conference in steals (2.73) while adding 62 assists. She had 21 points, eight rebounds in the win over Clarion in November.

Thomas adds 13.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.23 apg and 2.67 spg, while Kinsler chips in with 10.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.43 apg and 42 steals. Thomas had 16 points and seven assists vs. Clarion earlier this season, while Kinsler had 10 points and five rebounds.

Additional key players for Charleston are forward Rachel Pike (9.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg), guard Emily Jones (8.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg), guard Erica McElroy (5.7 ppg, 3.87 apg) and center Mandy Ebel (5.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg). Pike had 16 points in the first meeting between the teams.

Charleston is one of the few teams that matches up with Clarion on the inside height wise with Lee and Pike listed at 6-0 and Ebel at 6-2. That height advantage helped UC outrebound Clarion 54-39 in the November meeting.

“It creates a little match-up problem for us,” Parsons said. “Everyone is going to have to pick it up a little bit more.”

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES: The 1995 NCAA appearance was the last of five straight appearances for Clarion in the NCAA’s including “Elite 8” appearances in 1991 and 1994 … Clarion is 6-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with all the games under Parson’s direction .