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Terre Haute

Coverage of the women's
NCAA Tournament

2002 season

Salisbury 67, Kean 49

By Wayne Carter Jr.
The Flyer, Salisbury University

"Bring ‘em on."

Senior Jaime Kohlenstein was already psyched for the next game and exuded the same confidence as the rest of her teammates after they throttled Kean 67-49 Saturday and earned their first ever Sweet 16 berth in the NCAA tournament.

"The last two years we couldn’t get past this round," said Kohlenstein, "to finally get past it, it’s just a monkey off our back."

The Sea Gulls didn’t play especially well on offense, but were phenomenal defensively, forcing the Kean Cougars to commit 42 turnovers, including 24 steals by Salisbury, eight by Kohlenstein.

Kohlenstein, who scored her 1,000th career point just a few weeks ago, is often lost in the shadow of the 2002 CAC Player of the Year junior Amy Campion. But when Campion struggled early in the game, it was the senior captain who made the big plays, leading the Gulls with 14 points and six boards.

"I had confidence, more so than last year, because this team has heart," said Kohlenstein, "Everyone on that bench can come in and contribute, if one person isn’t on, someone can come in and produce."

The Gulls fell behind early forcing Coach Bridget Benshetler to burn three of her timeouts just five minutes into the game. Salisbury, led by Kohlenstein and sophomore Rachel Lanning, who had 10 points, ignited an offensive surge that resulted in a 30-5 run and a 31-14 halftime lead for the girls.

Kean had trouble scoring in the first after their top player, junior center Jaquana Abdullah had to take a seat with three fouls just 12 minutes into the game. Salisbury went on a tear from that point.

In the second half, Abdullah managed to stay out of foul trouble and ended the game with 21 points. But the early deficit, a smothering Sea Gull defense and a lack of production from her teammates made Abdullah’s efforts a moot point.
Campion, who had only one point after the first half, got back in a groove in the second and finished with nine points to go along with her nine boards. She also added five assists to lead the team.

CAC Rookie of the Year Pam Kenney continued her dominant play as of late, both offensively and defensively, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
With the win the team will make it’s first appearance in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament and it tied a season record for wins with 24, making this arguably the best season in women’s basketball history at SU.

"[Making it to the Sweet 16] is a tremendous attribute not just to our program, but to the entire University," said Benshetler, "It puts Salisbury women’s basketball on the map and takes this program to a different level."

"It’s an experience you almost can’t describe," said Campion, "It’s a great feeling to be one of only 16 Division III teams still playing women’s basketball."

The key to the team’s current and future success is an impressive defensive prowess they have played with over the last month. The girls have won all nine games they played during that span and allowed an average of only 53.1 points.

"This team isn’t as experienced defensively as we were last year," said Benshetler, "but we have continued to improve throughout the entire season and I feel we are playing really good ‘D’ right now."

"I love the defense, I love the morale and I love that confidence that ‘we belong’."
The Sea Gulls will take on CAC rival Marymount. Times, dates and locations are not yet available.

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