The bitter sting of last season’s first-round loss in the Northeast Conference Tournament hasn’t quite left the Long Island University women’s basketball team.
But it certainly hasn’t been the only thing driving this year’s Blackbirds.
“I think it’s motivation,” associate head coach Jennifer Payes told the Eagle yesterday.
“But I don’t know if they’re dwelling on it. It’s in the kids’ minds, but I think our kids are confident and they take the approach of ‘One game at a time, one practice at a time.’”
The Blackbirds appeared to be a virtual shoe-in for their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2001 last March after putting together a brilliant 22-7 overall record and a conference-best 15-3 mark.
But Downtown Brooklyn rival St. Francis walked into the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center and whipped the Blackbirds, 67-58, becoming the first-ever No. 8 seed to knock off a No. 1 in NEC Tournament history.
While the loss last year stung throughout the spring and summer, the Blackbirds (18-5, 9-3 NEC) have not shown any signs of a letdown thus far this year. In fact, they’re heating up just as playoff time approaches.
After having its five-game winning streak snapped with Saturday’s 76-68 loss at Robert Morris, LIU bounced back by slamming Saint Francis (Pa.), 61-47, on Monday evening in Loretto, Pa.
Grad student Sara Oblak finished with 11 points, including the 1,000th of her career, and sophomore sensation Valerie Nainima, the reigning NEC Player and Rookie of the Year, had a game-high 16 points as the Blackbirds remained in sole possession of fourth place in the league standings.
“Both are very important players for us,” Payes said of Oblak and Nainima, who also picked up her 1,000th career point Saturday.
“But they’re all important pieces on this team.”
The Blackbirds are two games behind first-place Quinnipiac with six games left to play, including a showdown with the Bobcats next Monday.
Also on LIU’s itinerary before its much-anticipated return to the NEC Quarterfinals on March 8 are a pair of meetings with coach Brenda Milano’s Terriers, including the annual Battle for Brooklyn game March 3 on Remsen Street.
While they aren’t likely to figure out where they stand in the conference until that regular-season finale, the Blackbirds aren’t concerning themselves with anything but Saturday’s home game with Central Connecticut State.
After all, the only game you can possibly win is the game you’re playing next.
“We can’t focus on [the NEC Tournament] and forget about the games we still have to play,” said Payes.
That attitude and a renewed resolve following last year’s disappointing finish may lead the Blackbirds back to the place many feel they belonged a season ago — among the 64 top college basketball teams in the nation during March Madness.
The LIU men had won two in a row before Saturday’s 88-72 setback to Robert Morris in Moon Township, Pa.
Senior Kellen Allen scored 23 points and Brooklyn native Jaytornah Wisseh added 11 as the Blackbirds fell to 12-11 overall and 4-8 in the Northeast Conference.
LIU is seventh in the NEC Tournament race, but just a half game ahead of two teams vying for the final playoff spots: Fairleigh Dickinson and St. Francis, Pa., both of which are 3-9 in league play.
The Blackbirds are back in action tomorrow night at home against Quinnipiac.
LIU men’s soccer coach TJ Kostecky announced the signings of three student-athletes to National Letters of Intent this week.
Nik Conklin, Steve Jakubowski and Adam Janssen will all join the Blackbirds in the fall of 2008.
“I am excited to welcome this new group of talented student-athletes into our program,” Kostecky said. “All three are terrific players who have excelled both on the field and in the classroom. They are focused and motivated to succeed and I expect them to compete for playing time immediately and contribute to our overall standard of play.”
Conklin played forward, midfield and in the back for North Stafford High School in Stafford, Va. A four-year letter-winner and two-time captain, Conklin registered three goals and nine assists as a junior to help his team to a 12-0 district mark and a second consecutive AAA Commonwealth District title. He was named to the Washington Post All-Metropolitan First Team and was an honorable mention all-state honoree.
Jakubowski is a 6-foot striker from West Deptford, N.J., who scored nearly 60 goals over his four-year varsity career at West Deptford High School.
Janssen, a 6-1 goalkeeper from Toronto, Ontario, is a member of the Canadian National Team player pool and has started in goal at Michael Power St. Joseph’s Catholic High School for four straight seasons.
Over at St. Francis, senior Tiffany Hill scored 18 points on six 3-pointers, but the Terriers managed little else in a deflating 62-48 defeat at Central Connecticut State on Saturday.
The Terriers (8-16, 5-8 NEC) remain tied for fifth in the NEC Tournament standings, meaning they are currently set up for another first-round encounter with fourth-place LIU (9-3).
Hill became the 10th all-time leading scorer in NEC history with 1,642 points. She and the Terriers will return to action Saturday against Robert Morris at the Peter Aquilone Court.
The St. Francis men resumed their free fall into the NEC basement, suffering their seventh straight defeat with a 76-61 defeat at Central Connecticut State on Saturday.
Jamaal Womack scored 15 points and fellow seniors Robert Hines and Bass Yessoufou added 11 apiece for the Terriers (5-19, 2-11), who are still only a game and a half behind FDU and St. Francis (Pa.) for the final conference tournament spot.
Coach Brian Nash’s slumping team will have a chance to climb back into the thick of the race when it hosts St. Francis (Pa.) tomorrow night in Downtown Brooklyn.
In other local sports news, New York City College of Technology (City Tech) will present a lecture and panel discussion on “Blacks in Sports” next Wednesday evening from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in the Atrium Amphitheater on 300 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Admission is free.
William C. Rhoden, a sports columnist for the New York Times, will give the keynote address. Rhoden has been writing about sports for the New York Times for 25 years. Previously, he was a copy editor for the newspaper’s Sunday Week in Review section. Before joining the Times, Rhoden was a columnist for the Baltimore Sun and an associate editor of Ebony magazine. He attended Morgan State University in Baltimore and while there acted as assistant sports information director.
For more information, please contact the school’s Department of African-American Studies at (718) 260-5205.
Five members of the AGUA (Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics) swimming team last week qualified for the 2008 United States Olympic Trials, which begin in Omaha on June 29.
One of those Asphalt Green swimmers, 12-year-old Brooklyn native Lia Neal, qualified by shattering the 11-to-12 Girls National Age-Group Record for the 100-Meter Freestyle by 1.3 seconds.
Neal, who turns 13 later this month, is the second-youngest girl to have made it to the Olympic swim trials, where she will compete against the very best swimmers in the nation.
“We are extremely proud of all of our AGUA swimmers at Asphalt Green, and having five of them qualify for the Olympic trials is surely a testament to the quality of our program and the caliber of talent it attracts,” said AGUA head coach Brian Brown.
Neal is also one of two swimmers to receive the Swim for the Future scholarship at Asphalt Green. The scholarships are supported by a memorial fund for two Asphalt Green Masters swimmers — Andrew Fisher and Doug Irgang — who lost their lives in the World Trade Center attack.
Captions:
Photo 1
Tiffany Hill became the NEC’s 10th-leading scorer of all-time, but couldn’t help the Terriers avoid a loss to CCSU Saturday in Downtown Brooklyn.
Photo 2
LIU associate head coach Jennifer Payes is helping to get the Blackbirds ready for another run at the NEC Tournament.
Photo 3
Brooklyn’s Lia Neal (left) shattered the 11-to-12-year-old Girls National Age-Group Record for the 100-Meter Freestyle by 1.3 seconds. Neal, coach Brian Brown and 16-year-old Lili Shiota will attend the 2008 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha this summer.
Photo 4
Kemi Owoseni is a junior forward on the basketball team at City Tech, which will be hosting its “Blacks in Sports” lecture and discussion next Wednesday evening at Jay Street.
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