ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 28, 1998

ALLENTOWN DEFENSE STIFLES ETOWN, 66-59, AS CENTAURS WIN FIRST MAC CHAMPIONSHIP; JAYS ON THE BUBBLE FOR NCAA'S

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- The Middle Atlantic Conference's new kids on the block have become its champions.

In its first season in the MAC, Allentown knocked off Elizabethtown, 66-59, to capture the 1998 conference championship on Saturday afternoon at Thompson Gymnasium. With the win, the Centaurs (20-7) earned an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament which begins on Wednesday, March 4.

The Blue Jays (18-8) are still in the hunt for an at-large bid in Mid-Atlantic region and will learn their fate when the tournament pairings are announced on Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. Six teams will be chosen from each of eight regions.

Kim Guman and Kate Baxter led Allentown with 16 points apiece while Shauntae Stancil paced Etown with 15 points.

As with Allentown's semifinal win at Moravian, however, defense was the story.

Trailing 44-38 with 14:02 left in the contest, the Centaurs held Etown scoreless for the next 8:37 while going on a 14-0 run to take a 52-44 with just under six minutes to play. On Thursday night at home, the Allentown defense held Moravian to 6-for-45 (13.3 percent) shooting for the game.

Abbie Fabian broke the drought with five of her 13 points and Stancil followed with a layup to pull the Jays within 52-51 at the 3:18 mark. After Baxter and Etown's Brenda Wessel traded baskets, Janelle Ganci converted a three-point play and Baxter followed another empty Blue Jay possession with a reverse layup to put the Centaurs up six with 1:16 left.

Etown pulled to within four points on two occasions in the closing minute, but Allentown hit seven of eight free throws to ice the championship.

Also scoring in double figures for the Blue Jays were Wessel with 13 points and six assists and Kim Boback, who collected ten points and now needs only nine more to become the 18th player in program history to surpass the 1,000-point mark. In addition to her 13 points, Fabian added a game-high 13 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and four steals.

Ganci finished with nine points, three assists and three steals for Allentown while Baxter added ten rebounds to her 16 points. Entering the 1997-98 season, the Centaurs were the defending champions of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference.

Allentown (66)
Ganci 2-2 5-6 9, Guman 5-13 5-5 16, Cleighton 2-4 0-2 6, Mancuso 1-4 2-2 5, Flory 0-0 0-0 0, Corcoran 2-9 2-2 7, Baxter 8-15 0-0 16, Herbert 1-2 0-0 2, Samoylo 0-0 0-0 0, Hartung 2-7 1-5 5. Totals: 23-56 15-22 66.

Etown (59)
Thompson 1-2 0-0 2, Fabian 5-11 3-6 13, Goldstein 0-2 0-0 0, Lucey 0-1 0-0 0, Kaiser 0-4 4-4 4, Wessel 5-19 3-4 13, Still 0-2 0-0 0, Boback 5-12 0-0 10, Stancil 6-13 3-5 15, Chiles 1-1 0-1 2. Totals: 23-67 13-20 59.

Three-pointers: Allentown 5-10 (Guman 1-3, Cleighton 2-3, Mancuso 1-1, Corcoran 1-3), Etown 0-3 (Goldstein 0-1, Wessel 0-2). Rebounds: Allentown 38 (Baxter 10), Etown (Fabian 13). Assists: Allentown 11 (Ganci 3), Etown 19 (Wessel 6). Turnovers: Allentown 23, Etown 21. Steals: Allentown 10 (Ganci 3, Mancuso 3), Etown 4 (Fabian 4). Fouls: Allentown 17, Etown 19. Technicals: None. Attendance: 1000.