Thursday, March 09, 2006

DOTHAN, Ala. - Top-seeded Belmont overcame a deliberate Stetson game plan to pull away in the game's closing minutes to win their Atlantic Sun Championship opener 63-49 at the Dothan Civic Center.

The Bruins (22-6) advance to tomorrow's semifinal versus the winner of #4 Gardner-Webb vs. #5 Campbell. A-Sun Player of the Year Alysha Clark scored 21 points to pace the Bruins. The game featured nine ties and six lead changes.

Belmont seemed poised to pull away late in the first half, grabbing an eight-point advantage on a short jumper from Destri Bockey. However, the Hatters (9-19) took advantage of Clark’s foul trouble to close the first half on a 6-0 run to close within a bucket at the intermission.

Head Coach Dee Romine slowed the game to a crawl as Stetson seemed content to hold the ball in the backcourt, milking the clock before beginning their offensive sets. The strategy worked as planned for nearly 34 minutes and an upset seemed to be brewing before Belmont displayed the muscle that led them to their regular season title.

After Nefertiti Walker hit 1-of-2 free throws to draw Stetson to 49-47 with 6:11 remaining, the Bruins closed the game on a 14-2 run to seal the 63-49 victory.

Belmont advances to the semifinals of the Atlantic Sun Championship for just the second time in school history while Stetson saw their four-game win streak in opening round games snapped. Jenny Conkle added 14 for the Bruins while Laura Cowley and Tonisha Jones each chipped in 10 points. Walker matched Clark for game-high honors with 21 points and backcourt mate Sharnesha Smith added 10 for the Hatters.

General Notes
• Today’s match up between Belmont and Stetson marks the third time the two teams have met in the first round of the Atlantic Sun tournament in three years. Stetson won the previous two meetings prior to today’s game.
• With today’s win, Belmont’s tournament record increases to 2-4 all time, and the tournament’s #1 seed improves to 36-8 all-time.
• Stetson’s record in the tournament falls to 15-18, and the tournament’s #8 seed falls to 3-12.
• Belmont closed today’s game on a 14-2 run over the last 6:11.

Belmont Notes
• Atlantic Sun Player and Freshman of the Year Alysha Clark scored only five points in the first half of action but finished the game with 21 points
• Freshman Alysha Clark posted her fifteenth 20-point game of the season, finishing the contest with 21 points, including a career high 13 free throws (13-15)
• Belmont advances to the semifinals for only the second time since joining the Atlantic Sun in 2002.

Stetson Notes
• Senior guard Nefertiti Walker, named First Team All Conference, set the Stetson record for single season points in today’s game, finishing with 21 points, increasing her season total to 581 points. She also set the season three point record, scoring four in today’s game to finish the season with 80.
• Stetson had won four straight first round games before losing today’s game to Belmont.
• Stetson has managed to average only 43.3 points per game in three meetings with Belmont this season.