Published: February 29, 2008 09:59 am         

ACM women top seed in Region XX

Garrett No. 4, Potomac State No. 7; winner advances to national tournament

FREDERICK - Allegany is the top seed, Garrett is fourth and Potomac State seventh in the Region XX, Division II women's basketball tournament, which begins today at Frederick Community College.

The Trojans have enjoyed a near perfect season to this point: a 27-1 record, a 23-game winning streak, Maryland JUCO Tournament championship, and No. 13 in the final NJCAA national poll.

Allegany will play eighth-seeded Southern Maryland in today's 5 o'clock quarterfinal.

The eight-team tournament tips off today at 1 o'clock with Garrett facing No. 5 Dundalk. Potomac State takes on No. 2 Hagerstown at 3, followed by Allegany and Southern Maryland at 5, and No. 3 Cecil and No. 6 Frederick at 7.

The semifinals are Saturday at 5 and 7 p.m., and the championship is Sunday at 3. The tournament schedule appears in today's Scoreboard section on page 4D.

The region champion advances directly to the Division II National Tournament at Illinois Central College in Peoria, Ill.

* Allegany is coming off a 55-41 win over Garrett in the Maryland JUCO championship game on Monday. Jasmine Blanks, the tournament's most valuable player, had 16 points and five assists in the title game.

Melissa Ford, who had 14 points and seven rebounds in the final, and Kacey Kahl, who had eight points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists, were voted to the all-tournament team.

The Trojans remain No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 46.3 points per game. They are also fifth in field goal shooting (46.8 percent) and three-point shooting (37.3 percent), and ninth in scoring offense averaging 77.6 points per game.

Individually, Ford, who leads the team in scoring with just under 16 points per game, is fifth in the country in field goal shooting at 64.8 percent. Blanks is 19th in assists with 5.3 per game, and Kahl 25th in steals with 3.4 per game.

* Garrett is 21-4 and had upset top-seeded Hagerstown 59-42 in the Maryland JUCO semifinals before falling to Allegany in the finals.

Tegra Hillman and Tanika Jeffers were named to the all-tournament team. Hillman had 13 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five steals in the win over Hagerstown.

* Potomac State hasn't played in nearly two weeks, since a 77-71 loss at Northampton in the Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference championship game.

The Catamounts, 17-9, were the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference regular-season and tournament champions.

Amanda McKim had 19 points, Ashley Heavener 16 and nine rebounds, and Julieanne Buckley 10 points, seven assists and four blocked shots against Northampton.

Heavener is sixth in the nation in shooting at 62.9 percent, and McKim is 22nd in scoring with a 17.4 average. The Catamounts rank sixth in the country in shooting at 46.4 percent and are 16th in offense, averaging 74.4 points per game.