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PARKERSBURG -- There's no better story during the month of March than a proverbial Cinderella team making waves on the hardwood.
That's something head coach Tynesha Lewis' Vikings of Elizabeth City State hope to do as the No. 8 seed in the upcoming Division II Atlantic Regional that starts Friday inside Glenville State's Waco Center.
The 20-10 Vikings, who punched their first ticket to the NCAA tournament by winning the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association conference crown, are led in scoring by Dy'Jhanik Armfield (10.8 ppg).
ECSU, which ranks 10th in points allowed per game (55.7) and 15th in field goal percentage defense nationally, also relies on NyAsia Blango (8.6 ppg), Sireann Pitts (8.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and Maryam Hashim (7.0 ppg).
The Vikings will get to test their defense starting in the third game come 5 p.m. Friday against defending national champion and Mountain East Conference tournament victor Glenville State. The top-seeded and host Pioneers (29-2) of head coach Kim Stephens, who are led by MEC Player of the Year Breanna Campbell, rank second in D2 with an 87.3 scoring average and get better than 30 points a game off turnovers.
GSU's plus 12.1 turnover margin is also No. 2 in the country.
Campbell, who has the same number of points (541) and scoring average (17.5) as fellow all-MEC first unit teammate Mickayla Perdue, also leads the Pioneers with 4.1 assists. Perdue's average of 3.03 made 3s per game ranks eighth nationally.
Coach Stephens' squad had a near complete makeover from last year's run, but the Pioneers were strong from start to finish and enter the field of 64 ranked fourth.
Despite losing Mo Pruitt (10.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.2 spg) midway through the year, GSU has received solid production from several players including Hya Haywood (9.7 ppg, 2.4 spg), Aline Fevrier (4.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Cabria Lewis (7.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg).
The tournament gets underway at noon with Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament champ California (21-10), the No. 6 seed, squaring off against No. 3 seed West Chester (22-8).
Cal's Allycia Harris, the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year, went off for a 19-point, 20-rebound double-double in the 75-63 title game triumph versus No. 2 seed Gannon (29-4), which takes on No. 7 Charleston (23-8) in game two at 2:30 p.m.
The Vulcans ousted West Chester, which is in the field for the first time since 2018, 62-59 in the conference semifinals.
Harris (11.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg) has plenty of help from teammates Rajah Fink (15.2 ppg, 10.1 rpg), Ciaira Loyd (14.3 ppg) and Halle Herrington, who averages 13.1 points and has made 74 triples at 37.2%. Loyd is third nationally in assists at 6.8.
The Golden Rams' Leah Johnson, who is one of only 14 players with a triple-double this winter, averages 15.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.6 assists (3rd in D2) an outing.
West Chester teammate Michelle Kozicki not only puts up 13.4 points and 8.4 boards a game, but she was named the PSAC East Defensive POY. The Golden Rams are aided by Emily McAteer (15.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg) and Anna McTamney (13.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg).
Gannon, which will have plenty of motivation after losing its chance at a PSAC tournament three-peat, is in the big dance for the 14th time in school history and the eighth under head man Cleve Wright.
The UC Golden Eagles, who were the MEC tournament runner-up and have been led by Trinity Palacio (15.8 ppg), Markyia McCormick (13.1 ppg) and Dakota Reeves (11.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg), also gets nearly 10 points a game from Clarrissa Francis. Reeves shoots 43.1% (11th in D2) from deep and is three 3s away from hitting the century mark. The sharpshooter is fifth in the country with an average of 3.13 made treys a game.
The Golden Knights allow less than 60 points a game and boast PSAC West Division Athlete of the Year Sam Pirosko, who was second in the league with a 20.3 scoring average to go along with 7.6 rebounds a game.
Bri Claxon, who averages 7.5 bench points, was the PSAC West Freshman of the Year.
Coach Wright's team also features point guard Boston McKinney (4.7 apg), Emma Wright (13.7 ppg, 64 made 3s at 37%) and Delaney Dogan (6.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg). Gannon ranks sixth in free-throw shooting (78.7%) and sits ninth at 46.2% from the field.
Former Glenville State head coach Charles Marshall's fifth-seeded W.Va. State program will put its 22-6 record on the line during the final quarterfinal at 7:30 p.m. versus fourth-seeded Shippensburg (24-6).
The only team averaging more points than the Pioneers are the Yellow Jackets (91.5). The same can be said for forced turnovers per game as GSU is first at 27.9 and the Yellow Jackets second at 26.9.
Also like the Pioneers (4th in made 3s, 10.1 p/g), WVSU is top 10 in made treys (7th, 9.6 p/g) and trails the host program nationally in steals per game (15.8 to 15.5), which rank second and third, respectively.
Coach Marshall's top production has come from Anysa Jordan (13.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg), Destiny Fields (13.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg), Shelby Harmeyer (11.9 ppg, 75 made 3s at 35%), ZZ Russell (10.1 ppg) and Emyah Fortenberry (5.7 ppg, 9.1 rpg).
Shippensburg, which is back in the NCAA field for the 10th time in school history and first since 2017, will try to bounce back from a PSAC semifinal setback to Gannon.
The Raiders feature four-time all-PSAC first team and two-time PSAC East AOY Ariel Jones, whose 25.2 points per game average is second nationally.
Jones not only set the PSAC single-game scoring record with 53 points, she's tallied more than 2,700 to become the all-time PSAC career scoring leader. She also owns Shippensburg's single-season points scored record and is the D2 all-time career leader in converted charity stripe tosses.
Jones, who averages 6.8 rebounds, is supported by a cast that includes Lauren Pettis (11.9 ppg, 9.7 rpg), Treasure George (10.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Abbie Miller (8.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg).
The Atlantic Regional semifinals are slated for 5/7:30 p.m. Saturday starts.
Following Monday's 7 p.m. tip for the regional title, the winner will advance to the Elite Eight on March 20 at Missouri Western's St. Joseph Civic Arena.
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com