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SPORTS
THURSDAY MARCH 9, 2006
NCAA TOURNAMENT
woio.'L'L’wriK wiLaoN
Johnson C. Smith guards Maurice Hooper (right) and Jerome Givens embrace after the Golden Bulls beat Bowie State in the
men's CIAA basketball semifinals last week. Smith earned an at-large berth and the No. 3 seed in the South Atlantic Region
for this week’s Division II national tournament The Bulls play Georgia College & State University Saturday in Richmond, Va.
Let the chase begin
Bulls look ahead to South Atlantic after CIAA disappointment
By Herbert L. White
herbM'kUe^ thecharkHtepartrom
Johnson C. Smith lost the
CIAA tournament, but
gained seeding for the
Division II playoffs
The Golden Bulls, who lost
the CIAA championship to
Virginia Union 71-64, moved
from sixth in the South
Atlantic Region poll to a sea-
son-best third this week.
Smith (23-7) will play No. 6
Georgia College & State
University (20-8) Saturday
at the Arthur Ashe (Tenter in
Richmond, Va. Virginia
Union, last year’s national
champion, is the host school.
“We’re a mentally tough
team, we know how to move
on,” senior center Charles
Clark said. “We’ve been
through adversity We’re
going to continue to keep
working hard until the last
game.”
Smith had Union on the
ropes for most of their third
meeting of the season, but
the Panthers rallied behind a
fierce defensive rally that
forced four of the Bulls’ 12
turnovers over
the final four
minutes. The
Panthers
scored 23
points off
Smith mis-
cues, while the
Bulls convert
ed 17 Union
Joyner
See GOLDEN/2C
Once an outsider, JCSU women make tourney
First appearance since 1992-93
PHOTO/CUmT»WILSON
Johnson C. Smith guard Tiana Pope wHI
need a good outing for the Golden Bulls to
advance in the South Atlantic Regional.
«90l
By Cheris F. Hodges
chenshodges^ thechariottepa^rom
Tile season isn’t over for J.C.
Smith’s women’s basketball yet.
Despite a three-point loss to four-
time CIAA champion Shaw in last
week ‘s league championship game,
the Goldai Bulls have a shot at the
national championship.
The first step will be taken Friday in
Ralei^ at Shaw, which hosts the
Division II South Atlantic Region The
Bulls, who advanced to the national
tournament for the first time since
1993, will play at 3 p.m. in Spaulding
Gym.
The Bulls will take on No. 3 seed
Clayton State {24-4), which advanced
to the semi-finals erf* the Peach Belt
Ccaiference tournament The women’s
regiHial prfay will be held on. March
10.11, and 13.
Smith moved up finm 10th in the
regional rankings to six, quite a cen-
solation after a heartbreaking loss on
Saturday.
“I was really proud of the effort that
the young ladies fixm Johnson C.
Smith were able to give in the cham
pionship game,” said head coach
Vanessa Thydor. “At the end of the ball
game we came iq) a lit
tle short When you
have a champion, you
have to go and take it.
I said to them after the
game that I walk away
as head coach feeling
that you all left it on
the floor”
The Bulls gave Shaw
more of a challenge
than any team had all season, in a
game that saw 10 lead changes and
four ties Both teams shot under 40
percCTit.
When the two teams met in the r^-
See JCSU/2C
Taylor
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
Tameka Stephens (left) and Courtney Hunter will
compete at the USA Boxing National
Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.
ChaiMie
boxers aim
forUXiMes
Heavyweight Stephens looks to
defend crown in Colorado Springs
By Eric Bozeman
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Tbmeka Stephens and Courtney Hunter have the
same passion for boxing the men do. They train, eat,
and sleep boxing just like the men do, even though
they are female amateur boxers.
Stephens, 28, and Hunter, 25, wUl compete in the
USA Boxing National Championships in Colorado
Springs, (Tolo., March 4-11.
Stephens (6-3) competes at the heavyweight divi
sion. In the three years she has been boxing as an
amateur, Stephens has had moderate success, earning
a number two national ranking in 2004, and winning
the national championships in 2005. As a woman in a
male-dominated sport, she is boxing to advance the
credibility of both.
‘It’s just a sport that I love,” she said, “Actually I
came in wanting to be a boxer, and now I just totally
love the sport. The women are just as skillful as the
men, we’re working hard and we’re not playing.”
Stephens’ coach, James Pressley, said she has devel
oped skills in the last year that will make her tougher
to beat.
“Mentally, her strongest tool is her work ethic, and
Physically she’s strong,” Pressley said. “Thmeka’s best
punch is her jab. She won the national championship
Please see BOXERS3C
MEAC BASKETBALL
DelState team to
beat in tournament
By Herbert L. White
herb.whiiet& thecharlottepostrom
This week’s MEAC tournament has a new host and
some intrigue.
The tournament moves to Raleigh’s RBC Center in
hopes of growing the event into a sports and cultural
must-do. As far as the basketball itself, Delaware
State has a track record of success over the last two
seasons, but that’s no guarantee of a trophy Bethune-
Cookman and Coppin State are capable of steahng-the
Hornets’ thunder, but it’ll take some doing. But, hey,
it’s postseason basketball, where dreams can come
true with a couple of fortuitous bounces and a smidgen
of grit. So without further ado, meet the field
• Delaware State (18-12, 16-2)
See MEAC/2C
Korea trip more
than goodwill for
Steelers’ Ward
By Alan Robinson
THE ASSOCIATED PRFJS
PITTSBURGH - Growing up in suburban Atlanta,
Hines Ward often felt he was a victim of double dis
crimination, Not only did some of Ms wMte classmates
make tun of Ms biracial heritage, Ms South Korean
mother felt ostracized by her homeland because she
had a soti with a black American soldier.
Since the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver won the
Super Bowl MVP award last month. Ward has become
a huge celebrity in Korea - cheered by those who know
little about American football and once may have
shunned him for being less than pureblooded.
Tb learn more about Ms heritage. Ward and Ms
mother, Kim Young-hee, plan their first trip together
to Korea next month - a country he knows little about
and, until recently, knew little about Mm. Partly
because of Ms recent accomplishments. Ward said
See KOREAN)