Ferrum Advances To USA South Women's Championship With 80-69 Win Over Shenandoah

NEWPORT NEWS, VA - Third-seed Ferrum advanced to the USA South women's championship with an 80-69 win over No. 7 Shenandoah in the second semifinals Friday night.

The Lady Hornets led by as many as eight in the first half, 33-25 with 5:25 left on two free throws by Valerie Samples. After that, SU began to go cold from the field. The Lady Panthers closed the half 19-4 run to lead 44-37 at the half.

FC was 15-of-30 from the field, 2-of-5 on threes and 12-of-17 (71%) from the free throw line. Shenandoah was on fire in the first half, shooting 14-of-24 (58%) from the floor, 2-of-3 from behind the arc and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.

In the second half, SU played Ferrum fairly even. The Hornets however went cold from the field, shooting just 13-of-37 (35%) from the floor, 2-of-10 on threes and 4-of-7 from the free throw line.

The Lady Panthers forced 11 second half turnovers and 24 for the game. FC continued its crisp shooting, finishing 15-of-35 (43%) from the floor, 5-of-10 from beyond the arc and 1-of-3 from the foul line.

For the game, SU was 27-of-61 (44%) from the field, 4-of-13 (31%) on threes and 11-of-15 (73%) from the free throw line. Ferrum was 30-of-65 (46%) from the floor, 7-of-15 (47%) on threes and 13-of-20 (65%) from the line.

Shenandoah was led by four players in double figures Cassie Womack led the way with 17 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Netagia Foreman finished with 16 points, Alicia Sanders added 13, all in the first half and Valerie Samples contributed 14 points off the bench.

The Panthers were led by four players in double figures as well. Tawanna McCall finished with a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds. Aline Alzime finished with 15 points, Charde Evans contributed 14 points and Quanita Bennett added 13 points.

The Lady Hornets finish 2006 with a record of 9-18 overall. Ferrum improves to 14-12 overall and will take on Greensboro in the championship game beginning at 4 pm Saturday,