Washington U., St. Benedict advance to title game

By Jim Stout
D3hoops.com

DANBURY, Conn. -- The teams with the dominant post players won their semifinal games last night in the NCAA Division III women's Final Four at the O'Neill Center.

But there was a difference. St. Benedict's stellar post duo of Laura Wendorff and Robyn Ruschmeier was not a major factor in the Blazers' 74-54 whipping of Salem State in the first game.

In the second game, Washington University forwards Alia Fischer and Tasha Rodgers combined for 52 of their team's 74 points as the Bears beat Scranton, 74-65, before a crowd of 1,500 in the NCAA's first venture to a neutral site.

Washington, 29-0 and winners of 37 in a row, will go for its second consecutive Division III crown Saturday at 7 p.m., when it faces St. Benedict (28-1) at Western Connecticut State University. Salem (28-2) and Scranton (28-3) will play in the 5 p.m. game for third place.

Washington, which beat Southern Maine for the 1998 title, will try to become the first team since Capital of Ohio in 1994-95 to win back to back national championships.

With the way Fischer and Rodgers teamed up together last night, they'd be difficult to bet against in the final.

"They were too much for us," said Scranton coach Mike Strong. "They were way too tough up front."

In playing 35 minutes, the 6-2 Fischer hit 13 of 19 shots from the floor and took in seven rebounds. Rodgers, an athletic 5-10 sophomore, was 8-for-13 from the field, 5-for-5 from the foul line, and had six rebounds.

Center Shannon Milder netted 18 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for Scranton.

Several Scranton players conceded they were slightly in awe of Washington's front line, Fischer in particular.

"We should have come out with a little more confidence than we did," Scranton guard Kelly Halpin.

Said Royals forward Kate Dougherty, "I think we played a little scared early in the game."

Scranton cut a 58-44 deficit down to 63-59 with 6:04 remaining. Rodgers, however, answered that run by scoring the next six points to give Washington a 69-59 with 3:57 remaining.

Was Washington coach Nancy Fahey concerned by Scranton's late surge?

"If I wasn't concerned I'd be crazy," she said. "Scranton just wouldn't go away. They got close but not over the hump. I was just happy that the clock ran out."

In the first game, anyone who was waiting for St. Benedict's talented front line to steal the show was sadly disappointed.

Don't get the wrong idea. Wendorff, a 6-1 junior All-American, and the 6-1 senior Ruschmeier had their moments for the Blazers.

But so did point guard Molly Mark. So did swing player Jenny Blaser. So did guards Heidi Schwichtenberg and Mia Peterson off the bench.

The Blazers' collective effort, their speed and their size were far too much for Salem to endure on this given night.

Every place you looked on the O'Neill Center floor, St. Benedict was exceptional. Even in the first half, when they shot just 32 percent from the floor and were out-rebounded by Salem, the Blazers still led by six points.

"I felt pretty good about that," said St. Benedict coach Mike Durbin, "because I know we've usually played well in the second half."

Previously, St. Benedict competed only once in the Final Four, in 1993, but lost in the semifinals to host Central of Iowa.

Though Wendorff and Ruschmeier combined for 25 points and 15 rebounds, contributions from teammates abounded. Mark, the 5-9 junior point guard, did what Williams College guards couldn't do in last week's Northeast sectional final -- penetrate the inside of the Salem zone.

Mark scored a game-high 14 points, and added five assists, four steals and three blocked shots. She ran a marvelously precise offense that turned the ball over just eight times.

Blaser, St. Benedict's best perimeter defender, started the game marking Salem guard Dee Jackson (11 points). She switched to play Missy Smock after Smock scorched two straight 3-pointers coming off the first-half bench. Smock scored nine points in the first half, none in the second half.

Schwichtenberg was 3-for-6 from 3-point range against the Salem zone and scored 13 points in a reserve role. Peterson was 2-fo-2 from the field coming off the bench.

"That's what's good about our team," said Mark. "If other teams shut down our post, we can hit shot from the outside. We have a lot of people who can play."

St. Benedict was big, but it was also mobile, especially on its move to defense. The transition game that propelled Salem into its first Final Four appearance in five years was no where to be found. Red St. Benedict's jerseys were everywhere.

"On film (St. Benedict) didn't look that quick in transition," said Jackson. "But they were."

"We thought we could go into the game and stop (St. Benedict's) post play," said Smock. "We didn't notice their 3-point shooters so much. Then they starting shooting."

Salem, the Massachusetts State College Conference champion, was clinging to a 39-35 deficit early in the second half. That's when St. Benedict put together a 7-0 burst and opened its first 11-point lead of the game, 46-35. In addition to her defensive work, Blaser hit a 3-pointer during that span.

St. Benedict later starting knocking the ball inside to their standpoint post players. The Blazers were determined to get everyone going. The rebounding disadvantage disappeared, Salem was forced to abandon its zone and the game was over. An 11-point St. Benedict lead with seven minutes left swelled to 67-46 with 5:10 to go.

"Even with their size," said Salem coach Tim Shea, "St. Benedict was a lot quicker than they appeared to film. Molly Mark looked quick to us on film, but we thought on the whole that we'd be quicker than they were. And we weren't."

Salem was impeded throughout the game by the foul trouble incurred by its one starting post player, Kara Lunden.

"We didn't play anywhere near as well as we're capable of," said Lunden. "But they were a very good team."

NOTES: Former Western Connecticut State center Ursula Morrow sang the national anthem. . . Salem came into the semifinal round with the most previous appearances of the four teams, 16. The Vikings were last in the Final Four in 1995, when they lost to Wisconsin-Oshkosh in Columbus, Ohio. Salem also lost the consolation game that season to St. Thomas of Minnesota, which is a conference rival of St. Benedict.

Boxes
ST. BENEDICT (74): Korf 1-3 0-0 2, Ruschmeier 3-7 7-9 13, Wendorff 5-11 2-2 12, Mark 5-17 2-2 14, Blaser 3-11 2-5 9, Schwichtenberg 4-8 2-2 13, Holbrook 1-5 1-2 3, Peterson 2-2 1-1 5, Vipond 0-1 1-1 1, Heikes 0-0 0-0 0, Boettger 1-2 0-0 0, Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0, Lohn 0-0 0-0 0, Corrigan 0-0 0-0 0, Lendway 0-0 0-0 0; TOTALS: 25-67 18-24 74.

SALEM (54): Johnson 4-11 2-4 10, Niles 3-6 0-0 6, Lunden 1-2 0-0 2, Jackson 5-10 1-2 11, Duffey 1-8 0-1 3, Smock 3-9 1-2 9, O'Brien 1-2 2-2 4, McKeen 1-4 1-2 3, McCarter 3-3 0-0 6, Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Masiello 0-2 0-2 0, Lessner 0-0 0-0 0; TOTALS: 22-58 7-15 54.

Halftime: St. Benedict 37, Salem 31; 3-point goals: St. Benedict 6-22 (Ruschmeier 0-3, Mark 2-10, Blaser 1-2, Schwichtenberg 3-6, Boettger 0-1), Salem 3-6 (Niles 0-1, Duffey 1-1, Smock 2-3, McKeen 0-1); Rebounds: St. Benedict 43 (Ruschmeier 8), Salem 49 (Lunden 10); Assists: St. Benedict 19 (Mark 5), Salem 11 (Johnson 5); Totals fouls: St. Benedict 18, Salem 20; Technical fouls: none; Fouled out: none.

Second game
WASHINGTON (74): Nolan 2-3 0-0 4, Rodgers 8-13 5-5 21, Fischer 13-19 5-6 31, Tucker 3-8 1-2 7, Harold 1-5 0-1 2, Merrill 3-5 0-1 7, Ettner 1-3 0-0 2, Kramer 0-0 0-0 0, Ruether 0-1 0-0 0, Herrmann 0-1 0-0 0; TOTALS: 31-58 11-15 74.

SCRANTON (65): McGovern 5-17, 4-6 14, Dougherty 4-14 0-1 10, Milder 7-11 4-4 18, Halpin 4-9 1-1 10, Harris 3-7 4-4 10, Eibacher 0-0 0-0 0, Walsh 0-1 0-0 0, Mohrman 1-3 0-0 3, Hurleman 0-3 0-0 0, Crotty 0-0 0-0 0, Crawford 0-0 0-0 0; TOTALS: 24-65 13-16 65.

Halftime: Washington 39, Scranton 29; 3-point goals: Washington: 1-5 (Tucker 0-2, Merrill 1-2, Herrmann 0-1), Scranton 4-15 (McGovern 0-4, Dougherty 2-6, Halpin 1-2, Mohrman 1-1, Hurleman 0-2); Rebounds: Washington 42 (Fischer, Tucker 7), Scranton 33 (Milder 11); Assists: Washington 20 (Ettner 7), Scranton 13 (Harris 7); Total fouls: Washington 13, Scranton 18; Technical fouls: none; Fouled out: McGovern; Att: 1,500