INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Committee announced today the field of 63 teams for the 2008 championship.

Thirty-nine conferences have been awarded automatic qualification for the 2008 championship. Three teams were selected from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions and institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification. The final 21 berths were reserved for Pool C, which are institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that are not the conference champion and any remaining Pool B teams.

One first-round game will be conducted March 5, one second-round game will be conducted March 8 and 15 first/second-round games will be conducted March 7-8. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites March 14-15. Winners of the four sectional games will advance to the national semi-finals March 21-22. All games, except the finals, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The finals will be conducted at DeVos Fieldhouse, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.

Conferences and Teams Receiving Automatic Qualification (39):

Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference – Medaille
American Southwest Conference – Howard Payne
Capital Athletic Conference – Mary Washington
Centennial Conference – Muhlenberg
City University of New York Athletic Conference – Baruch
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin – Ill. Wesleyan
Commonwealth Conference – Messiah
Commonwealth Coast Conference – Colby-Sawyer
Empire 8 – Utica
Freedom Conference – DeSales
Great Northeast Athletic Conference – Emmanuel (Mass.)
Great South Athletic Conference – Piedmont
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference – Manchester
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Simpson
Liberty League – St. Lawrence
Little East Conference – Eastern Conn. St.
Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference – Bridgewater St.
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Hope
Midwest Conference – St. Norbert
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Carleton
New England Small College Athletic Conference – Amherst
New England Women’s and Men’s Athletics Conference – Wheaton (Mass.)
New Jersey Athletic Conference – Kean
North Atlantic Conference – Becker
North Coast Athletic Conference – Denison
North Eastern Athletic Conference – D’Youville
Northwest Conference – Puget Sound
Ohio Athletic Conference – Baldwin-Wallace
Old Dominion Athletic Conference – Bridgewater (Va.)
Pennsylvania Athletic Conference – Cabrini
Presidents’ Athletic Conference – Thomas More
Skyline Conference – Mount St. Mary (N.Y.)
St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Maryville (Mo.)
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – La Verne
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference – DePauw
State University of New York Athletic Conference – Brockport St.
University Athletic Association – Chicago
USA South Athletic Conference – Greensboro
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Wis.-Stevens Point

Pool B Berths (3):
Chapman
Juniata
Scranton

Pool C Berths (21):
Albright
Bowdoin
Brandeis
George Fox
Gust. Adolphus
Marymount (Va.)
McMurry
Oglethorpe
Rochester
Salem St.
Southern Me.
St. Thomas (Minn.)
TCNJ
Trinity (Tex.)
Tufts
Washington-St. Louis
Wilmington (Ohio)
Wm. Paterson
William Smith
Wis.-Eau Claire
Wis.-Whitewater

The complete bracket and pairings will be announced via webcast (audio only) on www.ncaa.com at 9 a.m. Eastern time Monday, March 3. The selection announcement will be made through Hoopsville, the weekly Internet radio show, run through D3hoops.com. The announcement and the full bracket will be posted at www.ncaa.com.

source www.phily.com

By Bill Iezzi

Inquirer Staff Writer

Wildwood\’s Latifah McNeal is known around the Tri-County Conference as a basketball player who is difficult to stop in the paint.

McNeal, a senior center, lived up to that reputation yesterday at Gloucester when she scored on a layup at the buzzer to lead Wildwood to a 41-39 upset of the host Lions in an NJSIAA South Group 1 semifinal.

Wildwood (19-7), the fourth seed, will meet second-seeded Salem for the South Jersey Group 1 title tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Southern Regional High.

McNeal, who scored nine points and grabbed 13 rebounds, was swarmed by her teammates after she led them to their first victory over their Classic Division rival in three tries this season.

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Related: HS Boys Basketball Tournament Results

March 2, 2008

source http://www.pittsburghlive.com

Bill\’s Note: Pitt Basketball Coach Agnus (McGlade) Berenato is a former resident of Gloucester City, and a graduate of Gloucester Catholic High School where she was star basketball player.

It began with promises.

With all of her Gloucester City gusto and Jersey jargon, Agnus Berenato sold The Big Girl on dreams of winning a Big East Conference title and NCAA championship. The fast-talking Pitt women\’s basketball coach then vowed to The Big Girl\’s grandmother that she would become the first in their family to earn a college degree.

Never mind that the Panthers were about to finish 6-20 that season, not even qualifying for the Big East tournament, let alone the NCAA. Nor that people were pushing Walker toward Rutgers if she qualified, junior college if she didn\’t.

The Big Girl found herself drawn to Berenato and her magnetic personality during a relentless recruitment. The 6-foot-3 center took a leap of faith after one final assurance.

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source www.philly.com

A total of 23 districts, including five locally, are projected to get more basic aid than was projected in December due to changes to the data used to compute their funding.

The local districts and their additional aid amounts are: Beverly City, Burlington County, $86,114; Willingboro Township, Burlington County, $732,882; Brooklawn Borough, Camden County, $291,642; Gloucester County Vocational, $1.4 million; South Harrison Township, Gloucester County, $7,700.

Statewide, districts were slated to receive at least two percent more state aid and in some cases, as much as a 20 percent increase depending on criteria like the number of students they served who are poor, non-English speaking and in special education.

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ATLANTA, Ga. – No. 22 Georgia Tech used a five-run sixth inning to break a scoreless tie and surge past Rutgers in the series finale in baseball action Sunday afternoon before 1,547 fans at Russ Chandler Stadium.

The Scarlet Knights (2-3) won the opener on Friday but were defeated in the final two contests as the Yellow Jackets (7-1) took the series from RU.

The early portion of the game was highlighted by a combination of great pitching and excellent defense as the Scarlet Knights and Yellow Jackets were scoreless through the first five innings.

RU starter Matt Giannini (Millington, N.J.) worked himself out of a jam in the second when GT put runners on the corners without recording an out. He struck out the next two hitters and induced a groundout to get out of the frame unscathed.

In the Georgia Tech third, with a man on first and one out, center fielder Luis Feliz (New Brunswick, N.J.) ran down a ball at the wall in center field for the catch and threw out the runner on first base from deep in the outfield for a double-play to end the inning.

Senior Jon Gossard (Harrington Park, N.J.) led off the fourth with a double to center field but the Scarlet Knights could not get him home as Georgia Tech starter Zach Von Tersch retired the next three batters in order to get out of the inning.

A pair of nice defensive plays kept Rutgers off the base paths in the fifth as sophomore Jayson Hernandez (Belmar, N.J.) lined out sharply to third base and sophomore Brett Garlick (Livingston, N.J.) hit a line drive to right field that was caught by a diving Charlie Blackmon in similar fashion to Saturday\’s game-sealing catch by the Yellow Jacket outfielder.

Georgia Tech broke the scoreless tie, exploding for five runs in the sixth. After giving up a single to the Yellow Jackets\’ Chris House to lead off the frame, Giannini followed a sacrifice with a free pass to yesterday\’s hero for Georgia Tech, Blackmon. Tony Plagman made the Scarlet Knights pay with a three-run home run over the left-field fence. A Luke Murton double then signaled the end of Giannini\’s day as reliever Kevin Lillis (Fair Haven, N.J.) came in for RU. After another RBI double, senior lefty Matt Patterson (Passaic, N.J.) made his third relief appearance in the series. GT countered the Patterson move with its second pinch hitter of the at-bat to a right-handed hitter and the move resulted in an RBI single for the Yellow Jackets to complete a five-run, five-hit inning for the home team.

Georgia Tech added a run in the seventh to make it 6-0 and Von Tersch (1-0) handed the ball over to the bull pen after a seven-strikeout, three-hit, scoreless outing in seven innings of work for the Yellow Jacket starter.

Giannini (0-2) worked 5.2 innings with five strikeouts to go along with four runs on six hits. Junior Tony Wargo (New Providence, N.J,) became the fourth Scarlet Knight pitcher as the righty recorded a scoreless eighth frame for Rutgers.

Several Scarlet Knights made their first plate appearances of the season as redshirt freshman Joey Ianiero (Bloomsburg, Pa.), true freshman Brandon Boykin (Teaneck, N.J.) pinch hit for RU in the eighth and ninth innings.

Rutgers travels home where it will host Temple and head coach Rob Valli, a former Rutgers assistant coach, on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. at Bainton Field in the 2008 home opener.

Joseph M. Spencer passed away at his home in Barrington on February 28, 2008 at the age of 80.

Born in Gloucester City, Joe served in the Korean War under the Army\’s 21st Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division from 1950-1952. He was then discharged from the Army Reserves in 1956. Joe began working for NY Shipyard and continued with South Jersey Port as a key member and on the corporation management staff there for 31 years. His career began in 1968 and he retired as the Facilities Manager in 1992. He was well respected and admired for his outstanding work ethic. Joe belonged to the Townsend C. Young VFW Post 3620 in Gloucester City.

Joe met his loving wife, Ann, in 1951. His kindness, dedication, and devotion to his family will be remembered by all who knew him.
Joe is the beloved husband of 54 years to Anna L. (nee Traini). He is the loving father of Joseph (Nancy) Spencer, Kathy (Rick) McMahon, Maryanne (Richard) Darlin, Ann (Gary) Razler, Michael (Kathy) Spencer, Patrick (Marylou) Spencer, Karen (Jody) Cooper and David (Stephanie) Spencer. He is survived by 16 grandchildren and his two brothers, James and Mathew Spencer. He was predeceased by his brothers, Bill, John and Dan. He is the longtime friend of Steve and Terry Frame as well as Grace and the late, Alan Rosenfeld.

Relatives and friends are invited to his viewing Monday evening from 7:00 – 9:00 PM and again Tuesday morning from 9:15 – 10:15 AM at the HEALEY FUNERAL HOME, 9 White Horse Pike (at Kings Hwy.), Haddon Heights.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday morning 11:00 AM at St. Francis de Sales Church, 199 Willmont Avenue (at West Gloucester Pike), Barrington, NJ 08007. Entombment New St. Mary\’s Mausoleum, 515 W. Browning Road, Bellmawr.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Church at the above address.

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs announced on Friday that
Gloucester City has been awarded Small Cities Grants by the state Department of Community Affairs.

Gloucester City will receive $400,000 to upgrade the roadway and water and sewer infrastructure along Essex Street from Broadway to the railroad crossing.

 

Recent \”Students of the Month\” at Gloucester Catholic High School include, from left, senior Dan McAteer, sophomore Kelly Bonner and freshman Ryan Casey. Missing from the photo is junior John Mealey. These students were selected by a faculty committee because of their outstanding leadership, scholarship, spirituality and service to the community.

Gloucester High Lady Lions dream for a South Jersey championship title was broken today by Wildwood in a heartbreaker that was played at the Gloucester High Field House.

Gloucester, who beat Riverside on Thursday night to advance in the tournament, was down by nine at one point in today\’s game against Wildwood.

But the Lions kept fighting. As time started to wind down in the fourth quarter the score was tied 39-39 with seconds left on the clock. It appeared to the fans that the game was going to go into overtime.

With five seconds left Wildwood has possession. As the seconds ticked down a Wildwood player shoots and the ball drops in the basket as the buzzer sounded.

The final, Wildwood 41-Gloucester High 39.

Report submitted by Ken MacAdams

New York, NY…Fresh off of their 11th straight New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships earlier in the week, The College of New Jersey women’s indoor track and field team was back on the track competing at the New York University. The Lions had plenty of qualify performances at the event with three NCAA provisional marks and a host of ECAC worthy times. The event held at the 168th Street Armory.

Junior Stephanie Herrick (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) placed fourth in the one-mile run with a school-record time of 4:56.25 and was the top NCAA Division III finisher in the race. That time was also a NCAA provisional cut.

Junior Kristen Tricocci (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) posted a NCAA provisional distance of 5.45 meters in the long jump to place seventh overall and was also part of TCNJ’s 4×400 relay team that met NCAA provisional standards. She was joined on that team by senior Jessica Bonelli (Sewell, NJ/Gloucester Catholic), sophomore Jianna Spadaccini (Butler, NJ/Butler) and freshman Meryl Wimberly (Farmingdale, NJ/Colts Neck) as the quartet combined for a time of 3:57.55.

Junior Martine McGrath (West Long Branch, NJ/Shore Regional) placed second overall in the 5,000 meters with an ECAC worthy time of 17:39.31, while Wimberly took 10th in the 800 meters in 2:19.11 and Spadaccini was 16th in 2:20.16. Both of those times met ECAC standards.

The Lions received another top-10 finish in the weight throw as sophomore Ashley Krauss (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) had a personal-best and ECAC distance of 13.48 meters.

TCNJ had three more ECAC qualifiers as Bonelli posted a time of 59.86 seconds in the 400 meters, Michelle Wallace (Emerson, NJ/Emerson) in the 3,000 (10:49.64) and junior Justine Carnevale (Oceanport, NJ/Shore Regional) in the 1,000 (3:08.96).

Junior Kirsten Gerbehy (Califon, NJ/Voorhees) had a solid meet for the Lions with a personal-best effort of 9.67 seconds in the 600-meter high hurdles and cleared a height of 1.5 meters in the high jump.

Men’s 4×400 hits ECAC mark…
TCNJ’s 4×400 relay team boasted season-best and ECAC qualifying time of 3:20.18 to place eighth overall in the event. Running the event for the Lions were junior Rob McGowan (Monroe Twp., NJ/Monroe Twp.), sophomore DeShard Stevens (Jersey City, NJ/James T. Ferris), senior Steve Murray (East Windsor, NJ/Hightstown) and freshman Kyle Gilroy (Oak Ridge, NJ/West Milford Twp.).

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