SCSU, American International Both Took Rugged Paths - St. Cloud Times 3/23/06

By Tom Fenton

tfenton@stcloudtimes.com

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Apparently, the only people who thought St. Cloud State and American International would advance to today's NCAA Division II women's basketball national semifinals were those on the respective teams.

Everyone seemed be talking about a Shaw vs. Emporia State matchup today, but the Huskies and Yellow Jackets had something to say about that Wednesday.

St. Cloud State withstood a late surge from Shaw to win 78-71 in Wednesday's first quarterfinal at Summit Arena, and unranked American International rode a 27-point performance from All-American Sharmion Selman to an 86-79 win over No. 8 Emporia State.

That sets up today's 7 p.m. semifinal between the Huskies (29-4) and Yellow Jackets (25-7).

"I think it's anybody's tournament to win," St. Cloud State coach Lori Ulferts said after watching American International's victory. "I don't think records or polls mean anything right now. The athleticism is here for all these teams, and it's just a matter of who wants it more."

American International was in the national poll all season before dropping out the week before the tournament. Emporia, meanwhile, beat defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Washburn in the South Central Region championship.

"Until we got out here, I thought we'd be one of the favorites," American International coach Pete Cinella said. "Then we got here and everyone was talking about us not being ranked and being the underdog.

"I think we were ranked every week the last three years until the last one. We've never thought of ourselves as an underdog."

That role is just fine with Selman, a 6-foot senior from Burlington, Vt., who was 11-for-20 from the field and 5-for-5 on free throws Wednesday.

"I hate losing. I'm a poor loser," Selman said. "But I love being the underdog."

The Yellow Jackets, who last appeared in the national quarterfinals in 2002, also got 17 points from junior Krystal Pressley.

Their performance left Ulferts impressed.

"They're very good, and I knew they were," Ulferts said. "(Selman) did everything. She boarded, shot well and her defense is tremendous.

"They're a big team, and we don't match up really well with that. But we've worked awfully hard this year. We've got two seniors who don't quite want this to be their last game."

American International, located in Springfield, Mass., tied for third in the Northeast 10 Conference behind Southern Connecticut and Stonehill. They were third seed in the conference tournament but lost 59-58 to sixth-seeded St. Rose in the quarterfinals.

The Yellow Jackets avenged the loss to St. Rose in the first round of the regional tournament and beat Southern Connecticut 48-40 to advance to the Elite Eight.

"St. Cloud has a great point guard (Sascha Hansen) and a great center (Erika Quigley)," Cinella said. "But they play really good team ball and have a high-octane offense.

"They deserve to be here, and we're going to have to play as good as we did today or a notch or two better to beat them."