Teams prepare for Tip-Off Tournament

Two-day event starts Friday, November 21

(WC Press Release) Wilmington, OH (November 19, 2003) -- The Damon's/Wilmington Inn Tip-Off Tournament once again features some of the top teams in Division III. Thomas More, Methodist (NC) and Frostburg State (MD) all plan to grace the hardwood court of Fred Raizk Arena this weekend, with the four teams fighting to take home the championship trophy.

Methodist comes into the tournament after back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances over the past two seasons. The team, which is receiving votes in the latest d3hoops.com poll, returns five of their top six scorers from a year ago, including local player Megan Coe of Miamisburg. The Lady Monarchs lost their leading scorer from a year ago, LaTasha Washington, but return two double figure scorers in guards Stacey Holland (12.4 ppg) and Jennifer Dollyhigh (10.5). Coe, a 6-1 center, brings her 7.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game to the table for the team from Fayetteville, North Carolina while Christen Snyder and Allison Compton return, averaging 4.5 and 4.0 points per game a season past.

Thomas More looks to avenge the 90-51 defeat in the championship game of last year's tournament, but will be doing so without 2003 leading scorer and 2002 All-Tournament team member Holly Roberts, who averaged 17.5 points per game for the Saints. The team returns their next three top scorers, led by senior guard Joanna Bess's 9.9 points and 4 assists per game a season ago. Carrie Clift, a junior forward averaged 9.4 points and 6.8 rebounds while Jodi Schroeder and Allison Byars bring their 7.8 and 5.0 point scoring averages back for Thomas More.

Frostburg State retuns 2002-03 leading scorer and pre-season All-American Tracey Little, a 6-0 junior forward, who averaged 16.9 points and 10.0 rebounds per game last seasson. Also back for the Bobcats is 5-11 forward Kelly True, who averaged 5.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last season, along with Ashley Mellow, a 6-2 center, who put up 4.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

The Lady Quakers, host of the 2003 tournament return after back-to-back NCAA "Sweet 16" appearances. The team lost Kodak All-American Megan Woodruff to graduation, but the cupboard is hardly bare for Jerry Scheve's squad. Back for the Lady Quakers is d3hoops.com pre-season first team All-American Tara Rausch, who was the OAC Player of the Year after averaging 19.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last season. Also back for the Green and White are a pair of double-figure scorers in Amy Kincer and Siobhan Zerilla. Kincer, a 5-9 guard, averaged 10.3 points last season while pulling down 89 rebounds and dishing out 66 assists. Zerilla, a 5-8 forward averaged 10.1 points while pulling down a conference record 381 rebounds for an average of 13.1 per game last year. Rausch and Zerilla were both members of the All-Tournament team a year ago. Also back for the Lady Quakers are a pair of seniors, Emily Cummins and Brittney Morris, both guards, who averaged 6.2 and 4.0 points per game respectively for the Lady Quakers.

2003 marks the 11th year of the tournament, with the Lady Quakers bringing home the trophy eight of those years. Every season Wilmington has played in the championship game, going 11-0 in the semi-final rounds of the tournament.

Tournament action starts on Friday, November 21, when Wilmington faces off against Thomas More College starting at 6:00 while the Methodist and Frostburg State game tips-off approximately a half hour after the conclusion of the first game. Day two starts with the consolation game at 2:00 with the championship set for thirty minutes after the final buzzer of the consolation game.