 2/28/07
-- The top-seeded Long Island University women’s basketball
team will host crosstown rival St. Francis (N.Y.) in the quarterfinals
of the
Northeast Conference Tournament on Saturday, March 3. The Blackbirds
and the eighth-seeded Terriers will square off at 2:00 p.m. at
the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center.
Long Island (22-7, 15-3 NEC) finished in a three-way tie for first
place with Robert Morris and Sacred Heart, earning the first seed
and home-court advantage throughout the tournament by way of a
tiebreaker. The Blackbirds wrapped up their most successful regular
season in school history, winning a program-record 22 games. Long
Island also set a new school standard for consecutive wins, rattling
off 13 victories in a row from Jan. 3 to Feb. 12.
The Blackbirds are led by freshman Valerie Nainima (Suva, Fiji)
who has been named the NEC Rookie of the Week a record-breaking
10 times this season. The 5-foot-5 guard averages 17.3 points per
game. Fellow Fijian Mikaelar Whippy (Suva, Fiji) is second on the
team in scoring. The junior averages 12.6 points and 4.9 rebounds
per game. St. Francis (12-17, 7-11) is paced by
6-8 junior Katja Bavendam, who averages 14.6 points and 9.7 rebounds
per contest.
The winner of the game will move on to a semifinal game that will
be hosted by the higher seed following the reseeding of the remaining
teams. The NEC Tournament semifinal games will be on Tuesday, March
6 with the conference championship to be held on March 10.
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