Friday, March 10, 2006

DOTHAN, Ala. –Shameka Smith dominated the game with a huge double-double including a tournament record 20 rebounds as No. 4 Gardner-Webb shocked top-seeded Belmont 72-60 in the Atlantic Sun Championship at the Dothan Civic Center.

Gardner-Webb advances to the Atlantic Sun Finals for the first time in school history in their first Division I post-season appearance.

Early in the first half, Gardner-Webb (14-15) could not take advantage of frigid Belmont shooting. The Bruins (22-7) hit just three of their first 17 field goal attempts, but the Bulldogs would only manage to build a seven-point lead in the opening stanza. Despite the shooting struggles, Belmont’s Tonisha Jones converted a GWU turnover into a fast-break basket for the Bruins to head into the half trailing only 26-23.

Twice in the second half, Gardner-Webb built leads only to see Belmont close back within a bucket. Finally, a quick 6-0 run by the Bulldogs including back-to-back buckets by Smith gave GWU a 49-40 lead with just under eight minutes remaining. Belmont would only get as close as six points on one future possession as GWU clinched a spot in tomorrow’s finals.

In addition to her rebounding efforts, Smith led Gardner-Webb with 14 points as Sequenta Blackman went 3-for-3 from the three-point line to add 13 points. Candyse Kelly and Jessica Bryant each chipped in 10 points. A-Sun Player of the Year Alysha Clark posted her league-leading 18th double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 boards, but shot just 6-of-17 from the floor. A-Sun All-Freshmen selection Jessica Bobbitt added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Bruins.

The Bulldogs will face the winner of tonight’s second semifinal between No. 2 Florida Atlantic and No.6 Mercer with the A-Sun’s berth in the NCAA Championship on the line. The game will be televised regionally on Comcast Sports Southeast with tipoff scheduled for 1:00 pm.

General Notes
• Gardner-Webb will be playing for their first Atlantic Sun Championship in their first ever tournament appearance.
• The #4 seed advances to the Championship game for the first time since 2004.
• The #4 seed wins for only the third time in 15 contests vs. the #1 seed.
• Belmont drops to 2-5 in Championship play all-time after today’s game, and Gardner-Webb moves to 2-0.
• Gardner-Webb started the game 7-14 from the field, while Belmont was just 3-17 in the first ten minutes of play.
• Belmont swept the season series by an average of 14.0 points per game before dropping today’s contest 72-60, their largest margin of defeat since December 1, 2005.
• Shameka Smith matched a tournament record with 20 rebounds.

Belmont Notes
• With tonight’s 17 points, Alysha Clark finished the season with 582 points, which is the most by a player in Belmont’s Division I history.
• Clark tallied her league-leading 18th double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
• All but one Bruin scored in tonight’s game.
• Belmont fails to reach the Atlantic Sun Championship game as a #1 seed for the second time in three years.

Gardner-Webb Notes
• Junior Shameka Smith pulled down her 700th career rebound in today’s game, finishing with 20 and bumping her career total up to 712.
• Smith’s 20 rebounds are the most the Bruins have surrendered to any single player this season.
• Smith earned her eighth double-double of the season (14 points, 20 rebounds) and her second of the tournament.
• Sequenta Blackman set a new A-Sun Championship record for 3FG percentage at 1.000 (3-3).
• Gardner-Webb is 11-7 when freshman Jessica Bryant hits at least one three pointer in the game vs. the 3-8 record that they post when she fails to connect from long distance.