Towson coach Ellen Fitzkee and her standout forward Shniece Perry love to look at the America East women's basketball tournament draw and dream about a championship game matchup with powerful top-seeded Maine.
"If I had prayed, I couldn't have come up with a better draw," said Fitzkee. "We have the best-case scenario. We can get to the final without meeting Maine or Vermont [fourth seed]. Maine has always been on our side of the draw in the four years we've been in the league. Now we can hope for Vermont to knock off Maine or vice versa since they both are on the same side of the draw."
Said Perry: "Our definite goal is to make the finals. We're headed in the right direction now that we've made it through some rough times with six freshmen on the team."
The "right direction" was achieved in a big way last Thursday night when the Tigers blitzed Drexel, 80-56, in their season finale at the Towson Center.
Perry had a game-high 13 rebounds and 11 points in the rout over Drexel and leads the team in rebounding (7.8 a game) and is second in scoring (10.4 average ).
The victory over Drexel ended a five-game losing streak for Towson.
"We were playing better basketball in February than we had in January but we just couldn't win," said Fitzkee. "A lot of it had to do with the strong America East teams we were playing."
Maine is easily the most feared team in the league.
The Black Bears have won six America East tournament championships in the 1990s and are 17-1 in league play this season and 21-5 overall.
Getting to Maine in Saturday's 3 p.m. championship game at the University of Vermont is very possible, said Fitzkee.
"We have beaten Boston University twice, defeated Northeastern on the road and played two close games with New Hampshire," said Fitzkee.
Seventh-seeded Towson (11-15, 6-12) will meet 10th-seeded Boston U. (5-21, 2-16 ) in the first round today at 6 p.m.
If the Tigers get past Boston U., second-seeded Northeastern (19-7, 13-5) would be next in the quarterfinals (tomorrow at 2: 30 p.m.), and then third-seeded New Hampshire (19-6, 13-5) would most likely be waiting in the semifinals.
"We made it to the semis last year," said Fitzkee. "And our goal is to improve on last year. And I think we have the kind of team that has a chance to beat Maine because we have a solid half-court game and have really improved our half-court defense."
Perry, a 5-foot-10 junior from Red Bank, N.J., and 6-2 sophomore center Jess Gordon both need to have outstanding tournaments for Towson to make it to the championship game and possibly upset Maine.
"The post play in this league is so strong," said Perry, who wears a nearly constant smile off the court but becomes a fierce competitor once the whistle blows. "I know I have to do the job inside, especially if we get to Maine and Jamie Cassidy [the Black Bears' 6-4 junior center]."
Gordon leads Towson in scoring at 10.8 points a game and is second in rebounding with a 7.1 average.
America East women's tournament
When: Today-Saturday
Where: Patrick Gymnasium, Burlington, Vt.
TV: None
Radio: Towson games on WTMD (FM 89.7)
Defending champion: Maine
Favorite: Maine. The top-seeded Black Bears swept through the regular season with a 17-1 record, which was four games better than second-seeded Northeastern. Maine has won four straight America East championships and six in the 1990s.
Dark horse: Towson. The seventh-seeded Tigers tuned up for the tournament by crushing Drexel, 80-56, last Thursday at the Towson Center and they could get to the championship game without meeting Maine.
MVP candidate: Jamie Cassidy, Maine. Cassidy is the league's leading scorer with a 23.7 average, the leader in blocks with 61 and second in rebounding at 9.0 a game.
Pub Date: 3/03/99