ERIE, Pa. — It’s the classic David versus Goliath storyline.
Fairmont State’s Lady Falcons (aka David) reached tonight’s opening round of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional the only way it could this season — by winning the West Virginia Conference Tournament last week.
That victory earned FSU the league’s automatic berth into the national tournament and the eighth and last seed in the Atlantic Regional.
Gannon (Pa.) University (aka Goliath) claimed the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference’s automatic berth in the D-II Tourney with a victory in the annual PSAC Tournament title game last weekend, but regardless of the outcome of that game or tournament the mighty, top-seeded Lady Knights were a lock to make the national tournament.
That’s because Gannon’s women’s basketball team hasn’t lost a game since last year’s national tourney, when it fell in the “Sweet 16” to California (Pa.) University.
Perfection is symbolic of Gannon. The Lady Knights, led by five senior starters, are a perfect 33-0 this season and enter tonight's 6 p.m. first-round Atlantic Regional game on their own home court at the Hammermill Center with 22-9 Fairmont State as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team.
“Gannon is every bit as good as advertised and I can categorically tell you that after watching four different game films on them,” said FSU coach Steve McDonald, who has taken the Lady Falcons to three national tournaments in the last six seasons. “They just don’t make a heckuva lot of mistakes. Their transition defense is excellent. They block out very well. They know who is supposed to take shots for them and where to take them on the floor. They will, on occasion, turn the ball over, but they make up for that by shooting the ball very, very well.
“The bottom line is they’re every bit as good as their ranking and the key for us tonight, I believe, is to compete for 40 minutes. If we can compete for 40 minutes we certainly have a much better opportunity.”
Gannon is a perfect 15-0 in home games this season at the Hammermill Center and the Lady Knights currently have a 48-game winning streak in contests when they’re leading at the half.
As noted, Gannon is a veteran team which is led by PSAC West Player of the Year Kristina Freeman, who also garnered second-team Daktronics All-Atlantic Region honors this week. The senior guard averages 14.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists. She leads a trio of players who average scoring in double figures for the Lady Knights, who shoot 48.7 percent from the field as a team.
FSU, on the other hand, is led by first-team All-WVC selection and second-team All-Atlantic Region pick Ashley Vavrek. The senior guard is one of the nation’s top scorers averaging 21.3 points per game and 2.3 assists.
“Gannon is a very good team, but I feel like we’ve got a good team too,” said Vavrek. “This game is a great opportunity for us. We’re a little familiar with them because we played them last year (a 71-65 loss in the Concord Tip-Off Classic). We just all need to be focused on the game. We have to shoot the ball well, we have to play good defense and we have to play hard. If we do those things we’ll at least have a chance.”
Fairmont State true freshman point guard Kaitlin Snyder, who averages 11.5 points and 2.8 assists, says she’s looking forward to playing in her first national tournament. She knows the environment will be tough tonight playing on the Lady Knights’ home court, but feels if her team can withstand the initial nerves of playing in a high-profile game they can settle in and play well.
“One thing coach Mac (Steve McDonald) does very well is prepare us for games,” said Snyder. “We’re real familiar with their offense and defense and I think a key for us will be settling into the game early on and just playing. We can’t get all caught up in the excitement of the game early on.
“I’m excited. I mean, how many opportunities do people really have to come to an event like this and take part in it as a player? We just want to make the best of every situation we’re put in during the game, have fun and hopefully when it’s over we can make them 33-1.”
FSU senior forward Mo Gattuso, like teammates Vavrek, Samantha Guell and Melissa Henry, will be making her second national tournament appearance. Two years ago when Gattuso was a sophomore the Lady Falcons fell 62-50 to Anderson (S.C.) University in opening round of the national tourney.
She says Fairmont doesn’t feel any pressure heading into tonight’s showdown with the nation’s top-ranked team because no one is giving the Lady Falcons a chance to win.
“We just need to play like we’ve been playing,” said Gattuso, who averages 6.3 points and 5.0 rebounds. “We need to do exactly the same type of things we did last week at our conference tournament. We really have nothing to lose. We just need to leave it all out there on the floor and if it works then it’ll be awesome and we’ll move on.
“Nobody is expecting us to win or even giving us a chance, so there’s really no pressure on us. We just need to play and play well.”
