ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Tuesday, February 24, 1998

THOMPSON'S HEROICS GIVE ETOWN DRAMATIC 71-70 WIN OVER LYCOMING; JAYS WILL HOST KING'S IN MAC SEMIS

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- With one last second shot, Thompson Gym became Thompson's Gym on Tuesday night.

Etown sophomore Andrea Thompson sank an 18-footer at the buzzer, her only points of the game, to give the Blue Jays a 71-70 come-from-behind victory over Lycoming in the quarterfinals of the Middle Atlantic Conference playoffs on Tuesday night at an aptly-named Thompson Gym.

With the win, Etown (17-7) will host King's College, a 77-63 winner over Susquehanna, in the MAC semifinals on Thursday night. Game time is 7 p.m.

Brenda Wessel led five Blue Jays in double figures with 23 points while Erica Weaver paced the Warriors (15-10) with 19 points and teammate Heather Jacobs added ten points and 11 rebounds.

Trailing by 15 with under nine minutes to play, Etown ripped off a 21-7 run capped by Shauntae Stancil's three-point play to cut the deficit to 70-69 with 34.6 to play. With time running out on Etown's MAC title hopes, Abbie Fabian came up with a clutch steal and fed point guard Allison Lucey, who ran the floor and found Thompson open at the top of the circle with three seconds left.

Thompson, who played only those 34.6 seconds in the second half and only eight minutes in the game, knocked down the open jumper as time expired to send the Warriors to the floor in disbelief and the Blue Jays into the semifinals. The loss marked the second year in a row and the third time in four years that Etown has knocked Lycoming out of the MAC postseason.

After a tight first half that saw Lycoming take a 31-29 lead into the locker room, the Warriors took command with a run early in the second half. Leading 50-44 with 13:05 to play, the visitors ripped off a 13-4 run over the next 4:19 to increase their advantage to 63-48 with 8:46 left in game.

Then the Blue Jays took over. Fabian hit a basket and added a free throw and Stancil followed with a pair of charity tosses to pull Etown within ten at the 6:55 mark. After Weaver converted one of two free throws, Jesse Goldstein hit one of her three three-pointers on the night to pull the Jays within 64-56.

The two teams traded baskets to make it a 68-60 Lycoming lead with 3:45 to play before Gina Kaiser hit a pair of free throws and Wessel canned jumpers on consecutive trips down the floor to cut the deficit to 68-66 with just under two minutes to play.

With 1:31 left, Weaver hit her team's final basket before Stancil's three-point play made it a one-point game and Thompson sent the Blue Jay fans home happy with her last second heroics.

Also scoring in double figures for Etown on the night were Goldstein, Kaiser and Stancil with 11 apiece and Kim Boback with 10. The Blue Jays are seeking their first MAC championship since 1995.

Lycoming (70)
Kimble 2-4 1-1 5, Seltzer 1-4 0-0 3, Holt 3-8 0-0 9, Heirgeist 1-1 0-0 3, Smith 4-11 1-1 9, Shuler 2-7 0-0 5, Weaver 8-15 3-6 20, Jacobs 5-6 0-0 10, Hoffman 2-2 0-0 4, Boos 0-1 2-4 2, Forney 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 28-60 7-12 70.

Etown (71)
Thompson 1-2 0-0 2, Fabian 1-5 1-2 3, Goldstein 4-5 0-0 11, Lucey 0-4 0-0 0, Kaiser 2-7 7-8 11, Wessel 11-25 0-0 23, Still 0-0 0-0 0, Boback 4-7 2-2 10, Stancil 4-8 3-3 11, Chiles 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 27-65 13-15 71.

Three-pointers: Lycoming 7-24 (Seltzer 1-3, Holt 3-7, Heirgeist 1-1, Smith 0-2, Shuler 1-5, Weaver 1-5, Jacobs 0-1), Etown 4-8 (Goldstein 3-5, Lucey 0-1, Wessel 1-2). Rebounds: Lycoming 40 (Jacobs 11), Etown 35 (Fabian 8). Assists: Lycoming 17 (Hoffman 5), Etown 19 (Lucey 7). Turnovers: Lycoming 12, Etown 13. Steals: Lycoming 8 (Kimble 2, Weaver 2), Etown 7 (Fabian 3). Fouls: Lycoming 13, Etown 10. Technicals: None. Attendance: 400.