Southern Jaguars Sweep SWAC Basketball
Men, Women capture regular season and tournament; both
to face Duke University
March 13, 2006
Southern University has a lot to celebrate less than 48 hours
after the completion of the 2006 SWAC Basketball Tournament.
Not only did both the men and women basketball teams sweep
the tournament, but the teams also were successful during the
regular season. While the Southern women shared the regular
season title, the Southern men captured the regular season
crown with room to spare.
Southern Men
The Southern men captured the 2006 SWAC Basketball Tournament
with a Saturday night victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in front
of a national television audience. Peter Cipriano (named Tournament
MVP) had 21 points and nine rebounds and Southern University
beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 57-44 to win its first Southwestern
Athletic Conference tournament championship in 13 years. Southern
held the Golden Lions to just 27 percent shooting in the first
half and led 25-17 at halftime. Arkansas-Pine Bluff went 1-for-6
from 3-point range before the break.
Chris Alexander scored 13 points and Deforrest Riley-Smith
grabbed 12 rebounds for Southern, which out rebounded the Golden
Lions 47-32. Cipriano scored 15 points in the second half,
going 5-for-5 from the floor and connecting on all five of
his free-throw attempts.
Southern (19-12) advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first
time since 1993, when it upset Georgia Tech in the first round.
The win marked the third SWAC tournament title for Spivery,
who also won the tournament in 2001 and 2004 as coach of Alabama
State.
The Jaguars will travel to Greensboro, North Carolina to take
on the overall #1 seed Duke Blue Devils (30-3) on Thursday,
March 16 at 8:30 p.m. Central Time. This will mark the first
time these two programs have met. Duke last played a conference
institution in 2004 when they defeated the Alabama State Hornets,
led by Rod Spivery, 96-61.The last time a SWAC school in Greensboro
was in 1986 when the Duke Blue Devils defeated Mississippi
Valley State 85-78.
Southern Women
The Jaguars (20-10) captured the 2006 SWAC Tournament title
with a 61-58 victory over the Alabama State Lady Hornets. The
win was the third SWAC tournament title and the Jags third
straight trip to the SWAC Title Game.
The Jaguars were led by Fredrieka Lewis (Tournament MVP) with
16 points, four blocked shots and six rebounds while All-American
nominee Rolanda Monroe had 17 points, three assists and two
steals.
Head coach Sandy Pugh garnered her second 20-win season in
six years in Baton Rouge. Her first was a 26-5 mark en route
to the program’s first trip to the Big Dance.
The Southern women will travel to Norfolk, VA to face the
Duke Blue Devils (26-3) in the Bridgeport, CT regional. The
Blue Devils fell in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament and
finished the season ranked #4 (ESPN/USA Today and Associated
Press polls) in the country.
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