Hampton women cruise past Delaware State on Senior Night

MELANIE WARNER
 FORWARD, SENIOR
HOMETOWN: TALLAHASSEE, FL
NORTH FLORIDA CHRISTIAN H.S.

HAMPTON, Virginia - Melanie Warner's smile was bright, but it masked myriad emotions.

Warner, Hampton's senior guard/forward, caught the opening tip of Monday night's game against Delaware State with her left hand, then immediately headed to the bench. She spent the rest of the night cheering her teammates, playing their final home game of the season, with the broken finger on her right hand heavily wrapped.

Warner, averaging 10.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 32.7 minutes per game for the Lady Pirates, jammed the finger catching a pass in Sunday's practice. She will have surgery Tuesday and is likely out for the rest of her final season.

"It's bittersweet," said Warner, a 42 percent 3-point shooter who shoots 83 percent from the free-throw line. "Everybody wants to play on senior night, but my teammates held it down, so I'm OK with it. All I can do is be positive and just cheer on my teammates. I know that they have my back."

They certainly did on Monday, dispatching Delaware State 71-44 after a ragged 0-for-9 start from the field. But even as the Lady Pirates (20-4, 12-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) cruised to victory, trailing by no fewer than 23 points in the second half, their missing teammate wasn't far from their thoughts.

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Scores That Matters!

February 20, 2012

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

GCAC
Tougaloo 60, Talladega 47
Dillard 61, Philander Smith 47
Xavier 81, Fisk 50

SIAC
Kentucky State 52, Miles 44
Paine 89, LeMoyne-Owen 86 (2OT)

CIAA
Virginia State 75, Lincoln Pa. 50
Virginia Union 66, Bowie State 39
Shaw 83, Winston Salem State 57
Johnson C. Smith 81, Saint Augustine's 78
Fayetteville State 78 , Livingstone 71

MEAC
Hampton 71, Delaware State 44
Howard 62, Maryland Eastern Shore 49
Florida A&M 75, South Carolina State 69
Bethune-Cookman 47, Savannah State 43

SWAC
Alabama State 52, Southern 39
Alabama A&M 61, Alcorn State 50
Mississippi Valley 82, Texas Southern 48
Praire View A&M 72, Arkansas Pine Bluff 52

NAIA
Texas College 70, SAGU Tx 59
Langston OK 102, Huston-Tillotson 56
Jarvis Christian Tx 62, LSU Shreveport 56
Wiley Tx 2, Paul Quinn Tx 0 (Forfeit)



MEN'S BASKETBALL

GCAC
Tougaloo 84, Talladega 64
Southern-New Orleans 70, William Carey 59
Xavier 74, Fisk 50
Philander Smith 101, Dillard 90

SIAC
Kentucky State 68, Miles 60
Paine 86, LeMoyne-Owen 71
Benedict 73, Morehouse 55

CIAA
Shaw 80, Winston Salem State 59
Bowie State 101, Virginia Union 82
Virginia State 75, Lincoln Pa. 51
Johnson C. Smith 89, Saint Augustine's 79
Livingstone 74, Fayetteville State 65

MEAC
Norfolk State 66, Longwood 52
Savannah State 67, Bethune-Cookman 44
Delaware State 74, Hampton 68 (2OT)
Florida A&M 83, South Carolina State 82
Howard 53, Maryland Eastern Shore 51

SWAC
Mississippi Valley State 56, Texas Southern 53
Alabama A&M 81, Alcorn State 71
Arkansas Pine Bluff 61, Prairie View A&M 58
Southern 55, Alabama State 53

NAIA
Texas College 74, SAGU Tx 73 (2OT)
Langston OK 93, Huston-Tillotson Tx 68
Wiley 80, Paul Quinn 71
LSU Shreveport 75, Jarvis Christian Tx 54
Webber International 76, Florida Memorial 68

XU Nuggets climb to 19th; Rush 25th for fourth straight week

NEW ORLEANS — The Xavier University of Louisiana women's basketball team climbed two places to 19th in the NAIA Division I coaches poll. Xavier is 25th in the men's poll for the fourth consecutive week.

The polls, the 10th of the season, were announced Monday afternoon before Xavier's Gulf Coast Athletic Conference doubleheader at Fisk.

The Gold Nuggets are in the top 25 for the 28th consecutive time. The Gold Rush appear in the top 25 for the 21st time in 22 polls.

Both XU teams were 2-0 this past week. The Gold Nuggets (20-8) won 52-46 at home against Tougaloo and 60-53 at Edward Waters. The Gold Rush (20-7) rallied from 16 down to beat Tougaloo 67-61, then won 68-57 at Edward Waters.

he Tougaloo doubleheader was the final night of XU basketball at The Barn. A 4,500-seat arena, which is still under construction, will replace XU's 75-year-old gymnasium next season.

The Rush failed to climb despite a victory against Tougaloo, which entered the game 18th. Yet Tougaloo climbed one place to 17th.

Oklahoma City's women and Oklahoma Baptist's men are the top-ranked teams. Oklahoma City was a unanimous No. 1 for the fourth straight week, and Oklahoma Baptist replaced Shorter at the top.

Receiving votes for the second straight week was GCAC newcomer Talladega, whose women collected 10 points, five more than a week ago, and are 33rd.

Xavier is one of 10 schools with women's and men's teams in the top 25. The other schools are Azusa Pacific, Campbellsville, Columbia (Mo.), Georgetown (Ky.), Lee (Tenn.), Rogers State, Shorter, Southern Nazarene and Westmont. A week ago there were 11 such schools.

Both XU teams will close the regular season Saturday at longtime city and GCAC rival Dillard, then travel to Jacksonville, Fla., for the GCAC Tournament on March 1-3.

NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, Feb. 19)
Rank Team Record Points Last
1 Oklahoma City (12) 25-1 312 1
2 Union (Tenn.) 27-2 302 2
3 Freed-Hardeman 24-4 292 3
4 Lee (Tenn.) 28-1 282 4
5 Westmont 25-2 272 6
6 Lubbock Christian 22-4 261 7
7 Shawnee State 23-4 246 9
8 Cumberlands 23-3 242 5
9 Langston 25-2 229 10
10 Olivet Nazarene 25-3 225 11
11 Vanguard 20-5 211 12
12 Azusa Pacific 20-6 199 13
13 Lewis-Clark State 23-4 193 8
14 Saint Xavier 20-7 183 14
15 Southern Nazarene 21-7 167 15
16 Westminster (Utah) 18-7 164 18
17 Georgetown (Ky.) 19-8 157 17
18 Belhaven 22-6 151 16
19 Xavier 20-8 125 21
20 Shorter 23-5 119 22
21 Campbellsville 18-10 103 20
22 MidAmerica Nazarene 20-8 100 24
23 Loyola 21-4 99 19
24 Columbia (Mo.) 20-8 88 25
25 Rogers State 18-10 56 RV

Others receiving votes: Avila 50, LSU-Shreveport 48, St. Catharine 26, Biola 23, Lyon 19, William Woods 16, Lindsey Wilson 12, Talladega 10, Robert Morris (Chicago) 1, Montana State Northern 1, Our Lady of the Lake 1, San Diego Christian 1, St. Gregory's 1.

NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, Feb. 19)
Rank Team Record Points Last
1 Oklahoma Baptist (9) 24-3 310 2
2 Shorter (3) 26-2 302 1
3 Robert Morris (Chicago) 24-3 294 3
4 Concordia (Calif.) 22-5 273 11
5 Southern Poly 22-5 268 4
6 Martin Methodist 22-6 261 6
7 Our Lady of the Lake 21-6 248 7
8 Lindsey Wilson 18-8 231 16
9 Mountain State 21-7 230 9
10 Rogers State 21-6 228 5
11 Texas Wesleyan 21-5 193 12
12 Point Loma Nazarene 18-7 188 RV
13-tie Georgetown (Ky.) 20-7 185 10
13-tie Montana Western 21-7 185 15
15 John Brown 22-6 182 13
16 Lee (Tenn.) 19-7 177 14
17 Tougaloo 22-6 142 18
18 Columbia (Mo.) 22-6 138 20
19 LSU-Shreveport 19-7 117 19
20 Campbellsville 20-8 112 RV
21 Westmont 18-7 101 8
22 Montana State Northern 22-6 99 22
23 Southern Nazarene 20-8 87 23
24 Azusa Pacific 21-7 85 17
25 Xavier 20-7 82 25

Others receiving votes: Cumberland 75, MidAmerica Nazarene 67, Evangel 26, Cal State San Marcos 21, Saint Xavier 16, Freed-Hardeman 14, Southwestern Assemblies of God 9, Olivet Nazarene 8, Westminster (Utah) 5, Cumberlands 5, Union (Tenn.) 1, Biola 1, Baker 1, Pikeville 1, Harris-Stowe 1, Voorhees 1, St. Catharine 1, Oklahoma Christian 1.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

8 Straight for Howard With 62-49 Win Over UMES On Senior Night

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Howard University women's basketball team won its eighth straight, 62-49, over the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore (9-16, 6-7 MEAC) at Burr Gym on senior night. The Lady Bison, now 21-7 on the season, will finish the 2011-12 campaign with a 10-1 home record.

Three players reached double-figures en route to their 13th conference victory. Tamoria Holmes had a solid night with 22 points, five assists, three steals, and a career-best three blocks in 39 minutes of action. Saadia Doyle finished one board shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Zykia Brown tallied 10 points – just one shy of her 1,500th point – and pulled down six off the glass.

As a team, the Lady Bison finished with a 31.3 shooting clip (15-for-28). HU scored 20 points off 23 UMES miscues, while committing 18 of its own.

In the first period, HU got off to a fast start with a quick triple from Holmes – the first of five by the Lady Bison in the first three-plus minutes of regulation. UMES responded with a layup by Shanyce Stewart, but India Bradford hit a three-pointer on the next possession to give the Lady Bison a four-point edge, 6-2. A layup by Nicole Deterville gave HU a 13-4 lead by the 16:02 mark.

Sparked by a Chelsea Sanders jumper, the Lady Hawks notched a 16-2 run over a seven minute span to take a 20-15 slim cushion over HU midway through the period. From there, the advantage changed hands three times, with Howard ending the first 20 with a 9-2 run to take a 32-26 lead into the lockerroom.

In the second stint, Holmes scored five-straight unanswered points to push the advantage to 37-28 by the 16:14 mark. UMES cut it to six on two different occasions, but would get no closer than that for the remainder of the game. Howard achieved its widest margin at 14 (50-26) off a four-point play by Brown and a shot from behind the arc by Doyle at the 9:07 mark – her first made three-pointer of the season.

For the Lady Hawks, Kwinnyata Mercer notched 12 points, while Sanders tallied 10. Amber Cook chipped in with eight points in 29 minutes of action.

The Lady Bison are back in action on Sat. Feb. 25 for their final regular season match against Delaware State beginning at 5 p.m.

Follow Coach G's fan page on facebook to get a behind the scenes look at the team as they make their push toward the Big Dance: www.facebook.com/NikiGeckeler.

BOX SCORE

Jamilah Corbitt, Assistant Director of Sports Information
VISIT: HOWARD-BISON
VISIT: HOWARD UNIVERSITY 

A Tale of Two Stadiums

MONTGOMERY, Alabama - You can't miss it. A huge new football stadium is rising above the campus of Alabama State University. It's the latest in a string of construction projects at the school. But this one is different. Some say it puts ASU in direct competition with the city of Montgomery and the newly renovated Cramton Bowl.

The New Hornet Stadium

ASU's new stadium will be the largest in the SWAC conference. In fact, it will hold more than three times the number of fans that normally attends Hornet football games. But university officials say that doesn't concern them. They say they're building for the future. The stadium is one of more than a dozen new construction projects on campus in the last five years. There are new dorms, new classroom buildings, and a new library.

Here's a complete list of recent projects.

"The economy is conducive to construction, so we've taken advantage of economic times," said Kippy Tate, Vice President of Buildings and Grounds. Together, the recent projects cost ASU more than a quarter of a billion dollars. The football stadium's price tag is $62 million. It is designed to hold nearly 30,000 fans, but can be expanded in the future to accommodate 55,000.

Learn more about the stadium and how to buy tickets.

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2012 MEAC Basketball Tournament

Photo 1: Florida A&M 6'-1" senior guard/forward Antonia Bennett, Lakeland, Florida (Lake Gibson High School) is majoring in Occupational/Physical Therapy. Bennett leads the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in several statistical categories, with per game averages of 19.2 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.7 block shots. The FAMU Lady Rattlers leads the conference in scoring offense at 72.1 points per game average and is seventh in scoring defense holding opponents to an average of 63.7 points per contest. In addition to having had a 14 game win streak, the Lady Rattlers have out-of-conference wins over Alabama-Birmingham, Southern Mississippi, Southeastern Louisiana, Jacksonville, Northwestern State, Tennessee State and Austin Peay State.

Any defensive player that has the assignment of guarding Antonia Bennett will be in need of therapy by the end of the game.  Bennett is a very smooth operator that can breakdown any defensive player and drive to the hoop for a score or foul.  And she will kill you with her length on the offensive boards.  A zone defense actually plays to her strength as she is a consistent shooter from 15-18 feet.

The Lady Rattlers are currently 19-6, 12-1 MEAC, tied for first place with the defending MEAC Champions Hampton University Lady Pirates and Howard University Lady Bison (2/20/12).

Photo 2: Howard University's All-American redshirt-junior forward Saadia Doyle has taken the Lady Bison to new heights, with its first 20-win season in twelve years. The explosive 5'-11" scorer is from Atlanta, Georgia, Columbia High School and is a fierce defender and rebounder.  Doyle is second in the MEAC in scoring, averaging 17.9 points per game and sixth in rebounding at 8.4 caroms per game.

The strength of the Lady Bison team is its scoring defense, holding teams to a league second best 53.7 points per game and forcing the opposition into 19.1 turnovers per game.  Doyle's inside game is unstoppable -- she has forced MEAC defenses into 158 fouls, where she averages 80 percent from the line (6th in MEAC).  The Lady Bison is currently tied for first place in the MEAC at  21-7, 13-2 MEAC.

Howard's signature wins are over Wake Forest, Navy, Detroit, Buffalo, Seton Hall, Fairleigh Dickinson, Mount St. Mary's and New Jersey Tech.  It's most difficult opponents have been Hampton (0-2) and FAMU (1-1).

3. Photo 3:  She beat Cancer! But the burning question is can she beat down Florida A&M and Howard for the 2011-12 MEAC Crown?

Sure she can!

Jericka Jenkins -- all 5'-4" is the best player in the MEAC with the best talented, supporting cast that know how to win the big games.  The honorable mention AP All-American from Lancaster, Texas (Lancaster High School) made a wise decision and chose the Hampton Lady Pirates over University of Oklahoma Sooners.  With Jenkins at point guard, the Lady Pirates have knocked off Pittsburgh, Boston College, Jacksonville, Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, Chicago State, Maryland Baltimore County, Central Michigan and East Carolina this season.

The two-time defending MEAC champion Lady Pirates are 20-4, 12-1 MEAC and have won at least 20 games for the third straight season.  Hampton leads the MEAC in scoring defense at a per game average of 48.5, with an astounding +18.2 scoring margin on all opponents. Jenkins is averaging a conference leading 7.9 assists per game.  She is scoring at a clip of 14.0 points per game, good enough for 9th place in the conference ranking.  The little dynamo has slashed for 105 fouls where she leads the MEAC with a free throw percentage of 87 percent.  Jenkins also ranks 8th in 3-point shooting, 1st in assist/turnover ratio and 1st in minutes played -- averaging 38.3 minutes per game.

No doubt, Jericka Jenkins is a very special player (who won her battle with Cancer as a teenager) that has immense drive, a competitive spirit, but has tremendous personality and smarts.  In other words, this lady got game!

Jenkins also leads the nation in assist per game, 4th in the nation in assist-turnover ration (2.67) and 23rd in free throw percentage (.867).  This is no fluke as she has improved upon her national rankings from last season.
Jenkins will receive her degree in Criminal Justice/Criminology in May 2012, after four-years of college --making the Dean's List every semester at Hampton. I look forward to seeing the Lady Pirates return to the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament and all three players, Bennett, Doyle and Jenkins being named MEAC Co-Players of the Year.  Pound for pound, it can be fairly augued that Jericka Jenkins has been the best point guard in the MEAC in the past two or three decades. 

Pay attention NCAA! Hampton is having difficulty in scheduling out-of-conference games with the top mid-major and BCS programs.  No one wants to pencil in a home L by scheduling the Lady Pirates.  Expect to see the same towards Howard and FAMU in the next few seasons.  Hampton was seeded 13th in last year's NCAAs and proved worthy of the ranking.

Howard, FAMU and Hampton ALL deserve an invite to the Big Dance, but we know that isn't going to happen this season. MEAC women's basketball is no longer a cupcake league for our top 3-4 teams.  Just ask Wake Forest, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Southern Miss or Alabama-Birmingham.  The MEAC got game!

Photo Courtesy: Florida A&M, Hampton and Howard Sports Information

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MLB Urban Invitational thrives in giving HBCU baseball programs national exposure

HOUSTON -- The 2012 Urban Invitational achieved its primary goal over the weekend at Minute Maid Park by giving several HBCU programs national exposure while promoting the value of education.

Alabama State, Grambling State, Southern, Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern represented the HBCU participants this year. Also, No. 24 UC Irvine played in the tournament.

Although the tournament was scheduled to take place at the Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park for two of the days (Friday and Sunday), inclement weather caused the event to take place entirely at Minute Maid Park for the weekend.

The games on Saturday aired on MLB Network and MLB.com, with analysis from Greg Amsinger and two-time All-Star Harold Reynolds.

"I think it's a great opportunity for the HBCU schools to get the exposure," former Astros two-time All-Star Bob Watson said. "I tip my cap to Major League Baseball and the Astros for giving the schools an opportunity to play in a facility like Minute Maid Park.

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NOTE:  It's great to see how HBCU are continually linked by family members...

If you didn't know, Vince Coleman Sr. played college baseball at Florida A&M. His cousin Greg Coleman also played on the Rattlers football team and ran the sprints, and hurdles on the FAMU Track and Field Teams. Greg was drafted into the NFL as a punter in the 14 round in 1976 by the Cincinnati Bengals, but ended up at Cleveland in 1977, and had a nice 12 year career in the NFL -- playing for Cleveland, Minnesota and the Washington Redskins. Greg was noted for his coffin corner kicks, and his fake punts, as he had great speed, like Vince Sr.

Last I read, Greg was a sideline reporter for Minneapolis/St. Paul radio station that covered the Minnesota Vikings, and was working as an ordained minister. He has served as an associate pastor in the Twin Cities for a number of years. Greg is enshrined in the FAMU Football Hall of Fame and the State of Florida Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Vince was also a two-sports star at FAMU in football and baseball.  In 1981 he set the single season stolen base record for the Rattlers, stealing 65 bases in 69 attempts. But, his football kicking abilities--like his cousin Greg, is what made him legendary in Rattlers' lore. Vince is remembered for kicking the game winning 34 yard field goal in Florida A&M's upset of the University of Miami in 1979. The final score, 16-13, giving the Division I-AA Rattlers its first win over one of Florida's Division I-A Big 3. 

The NFL was also interested in drafting Vince as a punter, but he chose to go the baseball route. He was drafted in the 10th round of the '82 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. In a nutshell, Vince had a stellar 12 year career managing to become a two-time all-star and 6th in MLB history in stolen bases (752). The former NL Rookie of the year ('85) was signed by seven teams during his productive career.  He ended with a .264 batting average, 1425 hits, and 752 stolen bases.  Not bad for an athlete that played in the SIAC.

I remember that Vince Sr. and Greg were both products of William Raines High School in Jacksonville, Florida -- the same school that Dr. Julian White had built into a musical powerhouse ('61-'71), before returning to FAMU in 1972 as the associate director of bands for the FAMU Marching 100.

Back in those days, Jacksonville high schools  like Raines, Matthew Gilbert, and New Stanton, among others were major feeders to FAMU, SU and TSU; and fueled the Florida A&M rivalry with Southern University and Tennessee State in every competition imaginable, including ping-pong.

Vince Coleman Jr. will have the opportunity to write his own legacy at Southern without looking over his shoulders and being reminded of his dad's record setting accomplishments at FAMU.

It's funny how we are all connected.  Rattlers, and Tigers, and Jaguars. Oh My!

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