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Virginia Beach

Coverage of the women's Final Four

2004-05 season

Audrey Minott, Abby Gerlesits and Kristen Trotter hoist the Walnut and Bronze for Millikin. Randolph-Macon photo by John Irby

Big Blue wins the
big one
Millikin held Randolph-Macon All-America guard Megan Silva to six first-half points and the Big Blue opened the second half with a 9-2 run to put away the Yellow Jackets 70-50 and win Millikin's first national championship.


The Big Blue led by 14 points seven minutes into the second half and Randolph-Macon never was able to put a run together. Freshman Lindsay Ippel scored a game-high 25 points and Audrey Minott added 15 in the victory.


“It takes so much luck and a window of opportunity to win a national championship and I know how difficult it is to win one,” head coach Lori Kerans said. “I tried to mentor this class like other coaches have mentored national champions. I thought this class, with Audrey, could contend for a national championship. This is a new mark for our program.”


And it also suggested to us that in searching for the most important facet of a championship contender, one must eventually settle on leadership. Mark Simon has that, plus his take on the Final Four and notes on all four teams.

Millikin wraps up the season with a 16-game win streak while the loss ended Randolph-Macon’s 23-game streak. It's the seventh title in 10 seasons for the Central Region.

The road to Virginia Beach

About the NCAA tournament
2005 tournament bracket
2005 tournament preview
Our Selection Sunday projections

Sectional previews: Calvin, Randolph-Macon, Scranton, Southern Maine