ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, January 10, 2004

Etown Win Streak Hits Eight Games, Blue Jays Tie Last Season's Win Total, with 83-58 Victory over Alvernia; Messiah Defeats Buffalo State 67-53, on Final Day of Blue Jay Classic; Etown's Hollinshead Named MVP, Roberts Makes All-Tournament Team

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- After a pair of rough seasons, it increasingly appears that the Elizabethtown College women's basketball program has regained its traditional perch among the top teams in the Middle Atlantic Region. Etown punctuated its return to form Saturday with an 83-58 blowout win over Alvernia College on the final day of Etown's Blue Jay Classic. The win, over an Alvernia team that was 7-1 entering the tournament and dropped to 7-3 overall with Saturday's loss, was Etown's eighth straight and improved the Blue Jays' record to 8-3 overall, thereby tying their win total for all of last season. In the first game of the day, Messiah College (10-2) downed Buffalo State College (4-6), 67-53. There was no championship game for the 2004 Blue Jay Classic, as Etown and Messiah are both members of the Commonwealth Conference and already have to play each other twice during the regular season.

In the day's opener, Messiah built up an early 13-4 lead only to struggle through the middle of the first half and see its lead cut to 18-17 with 5:22 left to play. Messiah then went on an 18 point run in the last five minutes to take a 36-17 lead into halftime, dealing a blow from which Buffalo State could not completely recover. With 8:56 remaining in the game, Messiah led 61-32, and despite Buffalo State's 21-6 run over the final minutes, Messiah's lead was too much to surmount.

Eli Cook (Wilmington, DE/Wilmington Christian) was Messiah's leading scorer with 19 points, and she pulled down seven rebounds. Jess Unick (Rockaway, NJ/Morris Hills) was the Falcons' top rebounder with nine, and she added 11 points. Katrina Green (Laurel, MD/Laurel) scored 13 points for Messiah as well.

Darnika Moseley (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) was Buffalo State's top scorer with 17 points, as well as its top rebounder with 11 boards. Jacey Brooks (Machias, NY/Franklinville) added 13 points for the Bengals.

Elizabethtown opened its game against Alvernia with a remarkable hot streak on offense, not missing a single shot and going 11-for-11 from the field in the opening seven minutes. Etown took a 50-30 lead into halftime and never looked back.

Jen Roberts (Eagleville, PA/Methacton) played the best game of her career for Etown, scoring 24 points, a career high, on 11-for-18 shooting from the field and pulling down nine rebounds. Jessica Hollinshead (Jenkintown, PA/Jenkintown) was Etown's top rebounder with ten, and she scored 18 points on nine-for-13 shooting from the field and tossed out four assists. Mary Wismer (Millersville, PA/Lancaster Country Day School) provided Etown with a bright offensive spark from the bench, totaling 14 points on four-for-seven shooting from the field and a six-for-seven performance from the free throw line, and Jessica Smith (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) led the Blue Jays in assists with six and in steals with three.

Alvernia's leading scorer was Trish O'Gurek (Summit Hill, PA/Panther Valley) with nine points. She, along with Kerry Higgs (Westminster, MD/Westminster), were the team's top rebounders with six each.

Following the conclusion of the tournament, Etown's Hollinshead was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, and Roberts from Etown made the all-tournament team. Messiah had two representatives, Cook and Green, on the all-tournament team. O'Gurek from Alvernia and Brooks from Buffalo State also earned spots on the all-tournament team.

Elizabethtown will return to action on the road Wednesday, January 14 against Commonwealth Conference rival Juniata College in a 7:00 p.m. game.

1/10/04 1:00 p.m. at Thompson Gymnasium, Elizabethtown, Pa.
MESSIAH COLLEGE 67, BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE 53
MESSIAH COLLEGE (10-2)
Eli Cook 9-13 1-1 19; Katrina Green 5-12 1-1 13; Jess Unick 4-5 3-4 11; Kristin Sassaman 1-8 4-4 7; Sarah Ringer 2-5 2-4 6; Marita Rydell 1-5 2-2 4; Lauren Emick 1-2 0-0 3; Beth Godino 0-3 2-2 2; Betsy Stotzer 0-4 2-4 2; Shelli Remmel 0-2 0-0 0; Christy Groves 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 17-22 67.
BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE (4-6)
Darnika Moseley 7-15 3-3 17; Jacey Brooks 6-8 0-0 13; Marcy Dankovich 3-7 0-0 8; Amanda Benoit 3-5 1-2 7; Desi Gibson 2-10 0-0 4; Ashley DeVaughn 1-3 0-0 2; Beth Hogan 1-2 0-0 2; Leah Colucci 0-1 0-0 0; Amanda Trisket 0-2 0-0 0; Tawan Slaughter 0-3 0-2 0. Totals 23-56 4-7 53.
Messiah College............... 36 31 - 67
Buffalo State College......... 17 36 - 53
3-point goals-Messiah College 4-18 (Katrina Green 2-5; Kristin Sassaman 1-4; Lauren Emick 1-2; Beth Godino 0-2; Betsy Stotzer 0-3; Shelli Remmel 0-2), Buffalo State College 3-8 (Marcy Dankovich 2-4; Jacey Brooks 1-2; Beth Hogan 0-1; Leah Colucci 0-1). Fouled out--Messiah College-None, Buffalo State College-None. Rebounds-Messiah College 41 (Jess Unick 9), Buffalo State College 34 (Darnika Moseley 11). Assists-Messiah College 14 (Kristin Sassaman 4), Buffalo State College 13 (Beth Hogan 3). Total fouls-Messiah College 11, Buffalo State College 17. A-100

1/10/04 3:00 p.m. at Thompson Gymnasium, Elizabethtown, Pa.
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE 83, ALVERNIA COLLEGE 58
ALVERNIA COLLEGE (7-3)
Trish O'Gurek 3-7 3-4 9; Kerry Higgs 3-8 0-1 6; Kristin McCloskey 1-3 4-6 6; Mandy Reinhart 2-3 1-2 6; Jen Sawyer 2-9 0-0 5; Lauren Fortna 1-5 3-4 5; Heather Flannery 2-4 0-0 5; Sarah Swears 1-2 2-2 4; Stephanie Durante 1-2 1-2 3; Brittany Kouroupos 1-4 1-2 3; Kacie Androsko 1-2 1-1 3; Erin Knarr 1-5 1-1 3; Camrell Gholston 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 19-55 17-27 58.
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE (8-3)
Jen Roberts 11-18 2-3 24; Jessica Hollinshead 9-13 0-0 18; Mary Wismer 4-7 6-7 14; Megan Wolfe 2-5 4-4 8; Cristin Braun 4-7 0-0 8; Dana Voit 2-8 1-2 6; Jessica Smith 1-7 0-0 3; Christina Buso 1-1 0-0 2; Anna Thompson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-67 13-16 83.
Alvernia College.............. 30 28 - 58
Elizabethtown College......... 50 33 - 83
3-point goals-Alvernia College 3-11 (Jen Sawyer 1-4; Mandy Reinhart 1-2; Heather Flannery 1-2; Lauren Fortna 0-2; Trish O'Gurek 0-1), Elizabethtown College 2-17 (Dana Voit 1-6; Jessica Smith 1-4; Mary Wismer 0-2; Megan Wolfe 0-3; Jessica Hollinshead 0-1; Jen Roberts 0-1). Fouled out—Alvernia College-None, Elizabethtown College-Christina Buso. Rebounds-Alvernia College 36 (Kerry Higgs 6; Trish O'Gurek 6), Elizabethtown College 43 (Jessica Hollinshead 10). Assists-Alvernia College 10 (Trish O'Gurek 3), Elizabethtown College 23 (Jessica Smith 6). Total fouls-Alvernia College 18, Elizabethtown College 20. A-150