MEAC Women's Tournament Opening Round: S.C. State 62, Bethune-Cookman 52

Coach Doug Robertson

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Whitney Wiley scored 19 points, including 10-11 from the free-throw line, and Trinese Fox and Paris Alston each added 10 as the Lady Bulldogs advanced to the quarterfinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference women's tournament for the second straight year.

S.C. State (12-16) rallied from an eight-point deficit with 9:27 left in the first half to take a 26-23 halftime lead. The Lady Bulldogs would maintain the advantage by holding the Lady Wildcats (13-17) to 2-11 shooting from three-point range and outrebounding them 38-29.

Sarah Bolden led all scorers with 16 points for Bethune-Cookman, followed by three players with 10 points each in defeat.

Hampton Pirates Releases 2011 Football Schedule

HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University football team, under the direction of head coach Donovan Rose, has released its 2011 schedule – a slate that includes seven home games.

The Pirates (6-5, 5-3 MEAC in 2010) will open the season on Sept. 3 at Armstrong Stadium against Alabama A&M at 6 p.m., before playing host to Florida A&M in the first conference game of the season on Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.

Hampton’s first road game will be on Sept. 17, when the Pirates head to Foreman Field to take on Old Dominion at 6 p.m., before they head to Daytona Beach, Fla. on Sept. 24 to face defending MEAC champion Bethune-Cookman.

The Pirates’ bye week will be on Oct. 1.

Hampton will play host to Princeton on Oct. 8 at 1 p.m., before heading to Dick Price Stadium on Oct. 15 for the annual Battle of the Bay against Norfolk State. North Carolina Central will come to Armstrong Stadium on Oct. 22 for a 2 p.m. kickoff, and the Pirates will close out the month on Oct. 29 at Savannah State.

All three of Hampton’s games in November will be at home: Nov. 5 against Howard at 1 p.m., against Delaware State on Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. in the annual Hall of Fame Game and against Morgan State on Nov. 19 at 1 p.m.



Pirates 2011 Football Schedule

DATE OPPONENT LOCATION GAME TAG TIME
9/3/2011 Alabama A&M Hampton, Va. Alumni Day 6 pm 
9/10/2011 Florida A&M Hampton, Va. Take-A-Kid-to-the-Game Day/Greek Day 6 pm 
9/17/2011 Old Dominion Norfolk, Va. 6 pm
9/24/2011 Bethune-Cookman Daytona Beach, Fla. TBA
10/8/2011 Princeton Hampton, Va. Military Appreciation Day, Parents’ Weekend 1 pm 
10/15/2011 Norfolk State Norfolk, Va. Battle of the bay 1 pm
10/22/2011 North Carolina Central Hampton, Va. Homecoming 2 pm 
10/29/2011 Savannah State Savannah, Ga. 2 pm
11/5/2011 Howard Hampton, Va. Battle of the “Real” HU 1 pm 
11/12/2011 Delaware State Hampton, Va. Athletics Hall of Fame Game, Take-A-Kid-to-the-Game Day 1 pm 
11/19/2011 Morgan State Hampton, Va. Community Appreciation Day 1 pm

Home Games are in bold
* denotes a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference contest

By Hampton University Media Relations

Florida A&M's Moore making big impact

Florida A&M freshman guard Avery Moore scored a 3-point transition field goal from near midcourt, while the Bethune-Cookman defense was crashing down around the basket.

On the ensuing Wildcats' possession, C.J. Reed hit a trey of his own. Immediately afterward, Moore and Reed briefly exchanged words. Moore flashed a smile. "He was telling me you're not scoring anymore," said Moore. "I'm the player of the year and this is my gym."

Moore didn't back down. Not on offense or on defense. Down to the final seconds in the Rattlers' overtime loss to B-CU, he made plays on both ends of the floor.

Dynamic duo leads FAMU into postseason

When coach LeDawn Gibson was recruiting Antonia Bennett and Tameka McKelton, she saw two players who had very different roles on their high school basketball teams.

McKelton was the star at West Palm Beach High, while Bennett played in the shadow of two featured players at Lakeland High. But Gibson, who is in her third season as head coach at Florida A&M, figured the diverse roles that they played could be meshed to form a nucleus for her program.


Videographer: FAMUSPORTS

FAMU looks to Bennett once again

DAYTONA — Coach LeDawn Gibson can begin preparing her Florida A&M women's basketball team with a little bit more emphasis on the role that forward Antonia Bennett will play during next week's MEAC tournament.

The cards played out in such a fashion during Thursday's final regular season games that the Rattlers won't play until the third day after competition begins in Winston-Salem, N.C. When they step on the court against Coppin State, it would be exactly a week after their 68-59 victory over Bethune-Cookman on Thursday at Moore Gymnasium.

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Bowie State earns an at-large bid to NCAAs

The Bowie State men's basketball team received an at-large selection to the Division II NCAA tournament, the field for which was announced Sunday night. The Bulldogs are seeded third in the Atlantic Region and will face Mansfield University on Saturday at West Liberty (W.Va.) University.

The Bulldogs (22-5) won the regular season meeting, 82-81 in overtime. Senior Eric Vann (Gwynn Park) leads the team in scoring at 17.9 points.

Mansfield men will face Bowie State in basketball NCAAs

MANSFIELD, Pa. -- The Mansfield University men's basketball team earned its first NCAA Division II National Championship tournament berth since 1997 late Sunday. Mansfield (18-9), the No. 6 seed, will square off against No. 3 seed Bowie State (22-5) in a Division II Atlantic Regional quarterfinal game at noon on Saturday at West Liberty University in Wheeling, W. Va. The tournament schedule was announced Monday.

West Liberty State (29-0, the tournament host and No. 1 seed, will take on No. 8 seed Slippery Rock (21-10). Two other quarterfinal games will also be played at West Liberty. Mansfield and Bowie met earlier in the season at Bowie with the Bulldogs taking an 82-81 win in overtime.

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Stillman to take on Harding in first round of Division II playoffs

TUSCALOOSA - The Stillman College men's basketball team may have been disappointed with its last loss, but the Tigers get to play again.

Coach Michael Grant's Tigers were selected as an at-large team for the NCAA Division II playoffs. Stillman (22-7) plays Harding University from Arkansas (25-4) on Saturday at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. Stillman is the No. 7 seed. Harding is the No. 2 seed. If the Tigers can win three games, they will advance to the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass., the city where James Naismith invented basketball.

Grant directed the Tigers to seven wins in his first season, and 18 last year.

Stillman Tigers Basketball goes dancing

Indianapolis, IN -  The NCAA Division II announced the 2011 Tournament Bracket and the Stillman Tigers received an at-large bid. The Tigers finished the regular season ranked 8th in the southern region. The Tigers fell one game short of winning their first conference championship in five years. Stillman will not have far to travel to compete. The host school for the Southern Regional is the University of Alabama-Huntsville. “Because it’s not that far travel, the players will have time to get plenty of rest,” said head coach Michael Grant.

Stillman was one of three Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) teams to make the Tournament. The other schools were Benedict College of Columbia, South Carolina, the regular season winner and Clark-Atlanta University of Atlanta, Ga., the conference champion. The Tigers came in second to both teams. Also making the Tournament for the women was the Fort Valley State University of Fort Valley, Ga.

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Fort Valley State University Men's Basketball Coach Relieved of Duties

Fort Valley, Ga. (March 7, 2011) - After a 10 a.m. meeting with the men’s head basketball coach, Fort Valley State University (FVSU) Athletic Director Percy Caldwell has announced that John Douglas has been relieved of his duties as the Head Coach of FVSU Men’s Basketball.

Douglas served as head coach for the past two seasons at FVSU and during that time accumulated a 17-40 overall record (43% winning record) and a 15-33 conference record (45% winning record). The Wildcats finished the regular season ranked 11th out of 13 teams in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and were eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament in both years.

“After an assessment of the past two years of the men’s basketball program, it has become patently clear that we must take our program in a different direction, said Caldwell. We are grateful to Coach Douglas for the service he has provided and wish him success in his future endeavors.’

The search for a new men’s head basketball coach will begin immediately.

By FVSU Media Relations

HU Softball Falls to No. 19/20 Texas Tech and Dayton Flyers

Lubbock, Texas  -  The Howard softball team suffered a tough weekend in Lubbock, Texas after taking losses from Dayton and No. 19/20 Texas Tech in the Red Raider Classic.

The Bison (3-8) met tournament hosts Texas Tech (22-0) three times throughout the weekend. Howard opened the Classic with a 8-0 shutout loss at the hands of the Red Raiders. Christine Sborz was the only member of the Bison to muster a hit against Texas Tech’s Kelsey Dennis and started off the game with a leadoff double.

On the mound for Howard was Carly Martin who allowed eight earned runs on eight hits and five walks. Martin was unable to deliver a strikeout against the nationally-ranked powerhouse throughout the game.

In their second meeting, Howard took another shutout loss, 10-0. Sborz finished the game with another hit while Ciera Gordon, Andascha Moore and Candace Rogers also posted hits.
Samantha Gatson pitched four innings and gave up ten hits on eight earned runs, walking six and striking out none. The loss was her first on the season.

In the final face off in their trio of games, Howard took another heavy loss to the Red Raiders on Sunday, wrapping up the weekend with a 7-1 loss. Despite losing the game, Howard ended Tech’s five game-shutout streak and held them to their fewest runs scored since Feb. 25, 2011.

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Box Score

Howard’s run also ended Tech’s newly established record of most consecutive innings without allowing a run as Brittany Barker delivered a RBI single with bases loaded, giving the Bison an early 1-0 lead. Barker finished the game with two hits, and was the only Bison to land more than one hit against Tech over the span of the weekend.

Sborz sacked her third hit of the Classic in their final game against Tech. Sborz has now posted at least one hit in six of the Bison’s eight games this season. She is now on a four-game hitting streak. Marisa Coats also added with a hit of her own while Andascha scored Howard’s sole run.

The lead would diminish quickly after the Red Raiders cracked the game wide open with a three-run homer giving them a comfortable 5-1 lead. Emily Johnson took her fourth loss of the season after giving up six runs, in which three came from seven hits spanning four innings.

In between Howard’s match ups with Texas Tech, the Bison took on Dayton (7-7) in a duo of games. On Friday Howard scored three runs against Dayton and were led by Lorae Robinson who posted two hits. Eight members of the Bison recorded hits in the 10-3 loss.

Johnson and Gatson shared the mound, while Johnson was given the loss. Johnson pitched 4.2 innings and gave up six runs on six hits and three walks, including three homers. She did manage however, to blast four strikeouts. Gatson came in for an inning and gave up two hits, four runs and a walk.

On Saturday, Howard dropped again to Dayton, but posted six hits in the 7-1 loss. Gordon posted two hits, while three other members of the Lady Bison posted a hit. Martin took the loss in the circle after giving up seven earned runs on seven hits and five walks. She equaled Gatson, posting a tournament best, four strikeouts against the Flyers.

Up next the Bison will travel to Tempe, Ariz. on March 11-13 for the Diamond Devil Invitational. Visit Howard-Bison.com for further updates on the Howard softball team.

By Tiffany White, Sports Information Assistant
Howard University
VISIT: howard-bison.com