Boston College Athletics
Eastern Michigan-Boston College Preview
March 19, 2004 | Women's Basketball
March 19, 2004
From the Associated Press
GAME: No. 14 Eastern Michigan (22-7) vs. No. 3 Boston College (25-6).
REGIONAL: Mideast, First Round.
TIME: Saturday, 1:30 p.m. EST.
SITE: St. John Arena; Columbus, Ohio.
Boston College won its first Big East tournament last week. Now the Eagles have their highest seed in the NCAA tournament.
The third-seeded Eagles, who are making their fifth appearance in the last six seasons, open with a first-round matchup with No. 14 Eastern Michigan.
"We're very excited," Boston College coach Cathy Inglese said. "Our goal is to make the NCAA tournament when the season starts."
The Eagles enter the postseason coming off one of the biggest victories in school history, a 73-70 win over Connecticut in the semifinal round at the Hartford Civic Center which snapped the Huskies' 110-game home winning streak in conference games. They followed that by beating Rutgers to capture the tourney title.
"We showed the Big East what we're all about," senior guard Amber Jacobs said. "I think winning the Big East tournament has given us enough confidence that we can go all the way to New Orleans (site of the Final Four)."
Jacobs scored 22 points, and junior guard Jessalyn Deveny added 20 to lead the Eagles to a 75-57 rout of Rutgers on March 9. Boston College, seeded fifth, became the first team to win the tournament without a first-round bye.
"It's an unbelievable experience," Jacobs said. "We've believed since day one. We had to fight through being a fifth seed and not getting a bye in the first round. We just persevered every game."
Jacobs and the Eagles will now take a similar approach to the NCAA tournament.
While Boston College will be trying to duplicate last season's run to the round of 16, Eastern Michigan - also nicknamed the Eagles - will be making its first appearance in the NCAAs.
Junior guard Ryan Coleman, a first-team All-Mid-American Conference selection, had 14 points and nine rebounds to lead the Eagles to a 65-56 win last Saturday over Bowling Green for their first MAC tournament championship.
"We have tons of tradition on the men's side," Eastern Michigan coach Suzy Merchant said. "It was time for the women to get the big trophy with the big ball on it."
In the only previous meeting between the schools, Eastern Michigan beat Boston College 62-52 on Nov. 29, 1991.
The winner of this game will meet either sixth-seeded Ohio State or No. 11 West Virginia in the second round Monday.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Eastern Michigan - F Nikki Knapp (12.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg), F Melis Ulker (6.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg), G Marion Crandall (9.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg), G Erika Ford (7.2 ppg, 5.8 apg), G Coleman (13.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg). Boston College - F Kathrin Ress (9.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg), F Clare Droesch (8.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg), C Maureen Leahy (3.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg), G Deveny (16.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg), G Jacobs (14.9 ppg, 4.4 apg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Eastern Michigan - Automatic bid, Mid-American Conference champion. Boston College - Automatic bid, Big East champion.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Eastern Michigan - first appearance. Boston College - 4-4, 4 years.
