Friday, March 12, 2004 - Opening Round

STELLMACHER’S BUZZER-BEATER LIFTS VIRGINIA UNION OVER LANDER

RALEIGH, NC – Pria Stellmacher’s put-back jumper with less than a second remaining provided Virginia Union University with a 68-66 victory over Lander University in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball South Atlantic Regional Tournament at Spaulding Gymnasium on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh, NC.

Lander (24-6) held a 61-53 advantage after Jacquay White hit a jumper with 6:44 left to play in the contest.

Virginia Union (24-6) then went on an 11-3 run to tie the score at 64-64 on a lay-up by Sharon Atkins at 1:57. Atkins accounted for nine of the Lady Panthers’ 11 points during the stretch.

With the score knotted at 66-66, the Lady Bearcats missed two field goal attempts before Virginia Union took possession out of bounds with 13 seconds on the clock.

Lady Panther Tonya Pegram missed a mid-range jumper with two seconds left, but Stellmacher corralled the rebound, took a shot from five-feet out and the ball bounced around the cylinder before falling through the net with six-tenths of a second remaining.

After a Lander timeout, the Lady Bearcats attempted a long inbounds pass for one final shot, but the ball was deflected and time expired.

“There was 13 seconds on the clock when we got the ball in and I just tried to push it up the floor and find the open person,” Stellmacher said about the last possession. “Tonya (Pegram) took the shot and I was fortunate enough to get in position to get the rebound and put the shot back up.”

Virginia Union was topped by 6-6 senior center Danielle Hoggard with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Stellmacher added 18 points. An active Atkins finished with 11 points, six steals and five assists for the Lady Panthers, while Andrea Bellamy grabbed a game-high 15 boards.

“We’re just happy to be able to come back and pull it out,” said VUU head coach Moses Golatt. “We saw that we were not playing as well with the two week lay-off, but the young ladies stepped up and we beat a real tough team.”

Lander junior guard Tracy Jacobs scored a game-high 24 points, while adding eight rebounds and three steals. Three other Lady Bearcats tallied double-figures, including Natasha Hemphill (12), Jennifer Beamon (12) and White (11).

“We were concerned about two things coming into the game - number one rebounding and number two turnovers,” said Lander head coach Jonathan Norton. “They killed us on the boards with 22 offensive rebounds. The turnover margin was plus three in our favor, but we needed at least plus eight to have a chance and that wasn’t the case. We didn’t shoot the ball well enough to win.”

Virginia Union won the battle of the boards, 54-40, and out-shot Lander 44.1 to 33.8 percent. The score was tied 28-28 at the half.

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