Warriors: 'Look out, it's a trap'
Copyright The Trib
By MATT BANEY OF THE TRIBUNE
The Lewis-Clark State women must feel
lucky that they've had a full week to
prepare for their opener in the NAIA
Division I national tournament. On
Thursday, the Warriors will face the
dogged, unorthodox defense of
Brewton-Parker. Surely none of the other
31 clubs in this tournament play quite
like the team from Mount Vernon, Ga.
Every time their opponent takes
possession -- be it off a make or a miss
-- the Barons try to trap the
ballhandler, either in the backcourt or
just across the halfcourt stripe.
Thanks to this frenzied approach, BPC
leads the country in turnover margin at
13.7. And the Barons do this with a
rotation that rarely goes beyond their
seventh player.
"They're in great shape, and they've
done it all year," LCSC coach Brian Orr
said. "... They're relentless."
Seeded fifth in its eight-team pod,
Brewton-Parker (25-8) will face the
fourth-seeded Warriors (25-6) on
Thursday at 10:30 a.m. PST. The entire
tournament will take place at Oman Arena
in Jackson, Tenn.
This is the Barons' fourth appearance
at nationals since 2001. But their
pell-mell style hasn't translated to
much success on this stage. They're 0-3
in this tournament.
Especially stinging must have been
last year's trip, when BPC entered
nationals with a 32-3 record, but lost
to Azusa Pacific 93-74 in the first
round.
This will be the last hurrah for the
Barons' top three guns; Dannisha Winfrey
(17.4 points, 4.8 steals), Tamika
Drinks-Holloway (13.4 points, 3.6
steals) and Ashley Little (12.1 points)
are all seniors.
BPC is coached by Sheila Simmons, who
is in her third year. Her cumulative
record with the Barons is 82-20.
Brewton-Parker finished the season
ranked 16th in the NAIA, and won six of
its last eight games. The Barons lost in
the championship game of the Southern
States Athletic Conference tournament.
Three teams from the SSAC, including
BPC, made nationals.
In anticipation of the Barons'
defense, L-C ran 6-on-5 and 5-on-4
drills. "We had a hard time even
simulating this team in practice," Orr
said, "except for the 6-on-5-type
stuff."
The Barons aren't overly tall, so
they might have trouble with the
Warriors' inside duo of Ashley Baker and
Aundrea Morrison.
"I would like to think that we have
an advantage inside against this team,"
Orr said. "But our guard play has to get
it there for us." |
