Road Woes Continue for Women's Basketball

Gray earns All-Tournament honors despite SU dropping both games in Coaches vs. Cancer Blue Jay Classic

For More Information Contact: Scott Musa 540.665.5417

Elizabethtown, Pa. -  Shenandoah University's women's basketball program could not manage to change its recent fortunes this weekend in the Coaches vs. Cancer Blue Jay Classic at Elizabethtown College.  In the two-day classic, SU dropped its first game Friday night to Washington and Jefferson 81-68 and was not able to alter its momentum the next afternoon against Grove City in an 82-44 defeat.

In the opening game, Shenandoah (2-5) kept pace with W&J (5-4) in the first half as a result of a well-balanced offensive output from the starting lineup.  Leading the Hornets were sophomore Bridget Robbins (Baker, W.Va./East Hardy) and freshman Jenny Gray (Sumerduck, Va./Liberty) who poured in 9 points apiece.  They were closely backed by senior Wendy Legge (Stephens City, Va./Sherando) and sophomore Jenny Driver (Staunton, Va./Fort Defiance) who each added 8 points to the effort.  The women were rewarded for their impressive cohesion with a mere three-point halftime deficit to the high powered Presidents 42-39.

The second half saw the Hornets fall victim to their greatest opponent: fatigue.  SU stayed stride for stride with the Presidents but a combination of tiring players and a deep W&J bench led to the Hornets' demise.  W&J's Tracy Weaver came off the bench to score 14 of her 16 points in the second half while Shenandoah saw their shooting percentage slip to 27% in the latter period.

Shenandoah's performance was highlighted offensively by senior Rosaline Fisher's (Greencastle, Pa./Hagerstown CC) team-high 17 points.  Gray also had an outstanding night with a double-double adding a game-high 10 rebounds to her 14 points.

A complete box score and play by play can be found at http://www.su.edu/athletics/wb/200102/010402.htm

In Shenandoah's second and final game of the weekend, the Hornets faced a difficult task in trying to contain the explosive offensive attack of Grove City.  At first it appeared that Shenandoah (2-6) was intent on forcing the Wolverines to work hard for every basket they got as the score was only 11-7 in favor of GC with 14:12 remaining in the first half.  Then Grove City shifted gears and the flood gates opened.  The Wolverines embarked on a 19-4 run to take a 30-11 lead with 9:22 to go until halftime sending the Hornets into a downward spiral from which they would not recover.

The lone bright for Shenandoah as they headed to the locker room down 43-24 was sophomore Shannda Gaskins (Falls Church, Va./McLean).  Gaskins scored 8 points off the bench shooting 4-5 from the floor in 7 minutes of play.

The Wolverine onslaught continued into the second half as Shenandoah found itself once again the troubled by poor shot selection.  The Hornets could not find the bottom of the net from the floor or the free throw line shooting a disappointing 30% and 54%, respectively.  Grove City had three players score in double figures and were led by Stephanie Murphy's game-high 21 points in the 82-44 victory.

The Hornets were led by senior Wendy Legge who had a team-high 6 rebounds and scored 7 points.  Freshman Jenny Gray also added 7 points in the cause on her way to earning All-Tournament recognition.

A complete box score and play by play can be found at http://www.su.edu/athletics/wb/200102/010502.htm

Jenny Gray's two game totals of 21 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 steals was good enough to earn her the honor of being named to the 2002 Coaches vs. Cancer Blue Jay Classic All-Tournament Team.  The complete team is as follows:

Shenandoah:                         Jenny Gray

Grove City :                             Abby Moose

Washington & Jefferson:      Shawndra McDonald

Elizabethtown :                       Stephanie Scinto

Elizabethtown :                       Cherrissa McCoy

Tournament MVP:

Grove City :                             Stephanie Murphy

The Hornets are now off until Wednesday, January 9, when they open Dixie Conference play at Christopher Newport University.