The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Plenty of state reps in women’s tournament
Plenty of Connecticut players participating
The Nutmeg State flavor in the Bridgeport region of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball isn’t limited to the presence of four-time national champion UConn.
Five of the eight Connecticut natives on teams in the tournament field happen to be in the region where the Final Four representative will be determined on March 27 at Webster Bank Arena.
The most productive of the Connecticut natives is former Career High star Tanaya Atkinson, the American Athletic Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year.
Atkinson scored a career-high 30 points in seventh-seeded Temple’s win over Cincinnati late in the regular season. That was one of her seven 20-point games. She also had 11 double-doubles during her junior season, even though she came off the bench for most games.
Atkinson was part of Temple teams which played in the WNIT during her freshman and sophomore seasons before the Owls broke through and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011.
“Freshman year we were crossing our fingers to get into the NIT, last two years we were crossing our fingers to get into the NCAA, but I think we put a stamp on it and deserve it to be in
the NCAAs,” Atkinson said during Temple’s run to the semifinals at the AAC tournament. “I think everything we have been doing in practice, in games, even shootaround is getting us prepared for everything we need to do.”
No. 10 seed Temple plays No. 7 seed Oregon in Durham Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
While Atkinson, Maryland forward Kiah Gillespie of Meriden and Hampton guard Dejane’ James of Hartford would love to earn spots in the regional semifinal game in Bridgeport by winning two games at other sites, former Capital Prep star Desiree Elmore won’t need to wait that long.
Elmore, a freshman guard for Syracuse, will be at Gampel Pavilion when Syracuse faces Iowa State in a first-round game on Saturday with a potential second-round matchup against UConn with a victory.
Gillespie, the former Capital Prep standout, is part of a Maryland team that is seeded third.
Hampton is the 15th seed and plays No. 2 seed Duke in Durham Saturday.
The subregional at Gampel will mark the final home game(s) for Ansonia native Tierney Lawlor, a former walk-on who has appeared in 120 games for UConn.
The only Connecticut products not in the Bridgeport region are Quinnipiac’s trio of Carly Fabbri, Adily Martucci and Morgan Manz who lead the Bobcats against Marquette on Saturday in Coral Gables, Florida.