Friday, March 06, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - It will be a familiar scene in Allen Arena on Saturday as Jacksonville survived a rough-and-tumble battle with Belmont, 51-49, to face the defending champions ETSU Lady Buccaneers in the Championship Game of the 2009 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Women's Basketball Championship.

Belmont (18-13) held tenuous leads over the final half of play, but Jacksonville (19-12) scored the final seven points to steal the victory. Courtney Jackson trailed a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left to give the Dolphins their first lead since the 12:26 mark. Belmont missed three shots that would have taken the lead back could not pull off a miracle finish after Teneskei Richardson missed a free throw with 1.6 seconds left.

Typical of their regular-season meetings, both teams struggled with their shots - Belmont shooting 31.7 percent from the field and Jacksonville shooting 33.8 percent. The 100 combined points represented the most scored in any of the three games between the two teams. Belmont claimed both during the regular season, winning 51-45 in Jacksonville on Dec. 4 and 45-43 in Nashville last weekend.

Senior DaVina Hamilton led the Dolphins with 14 points overall. Senior All-Conference performer Jessica Bobbitt for Belmont was the game’s high scorer with 18 points. Bobbitt added five blocks, finishing her career with a conference-record 290 rejections.

Jacksonville will take on ETSU in tomorrow's General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Women's Basketball Championship contest at Noon CT on CSS. The two met last season with ETSU pulling out a 75-72 win.

This matchup marks the first rematch of a previous year's title game since Georgia State and Campbell met in 2000 and 2001. The Camels won 66-49 in 2000 but the Panthers exacted revenge, 64-62, the following year. Through the first five games of the championship, the higher-seeded school has won all five. This event has only occurred once, in 2000. In that final second-seeded Campbell upset No. 1 Georgia State.

Saturday's final with mark the 10th time the top two seeds will meet for the title. No. 1 seeds own a 7-2 advantage, including ETSU's win last season.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.