Women's Bookstore: Who's Getting Lucky Tonight? advances to final 4
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Senior Staff Writer
No. 4 Who's Getting Lucky Tonight? finally met its match athletically in No. 5 Tanned Mullets Thursday afternoon, but still pulled out a 21-15 win.
Lucky, with four current or former Welsh Hall interhall football players, were challenged by the height and athleticism of five members of the Notre Dame women's soccer team.
"They were obviously great athletes," said Vanessa Lichon of Lucky. "Easily the most athletic team we have played in the tournament so far."
Both teams played strong pressure defense and looked to run when they had openings. Lucky was a little more successful, in large part thanks to the gritty play of Lichon. With her team leading 7-6, Lichon went on a tear. She scored the next five points for Lucky to build a 12-10 lead.
Kelly Tulisiak, Kate Morrell and Liz Wagner traded buckets with Alex Callan and Anna Benjamin of Lucky to get Tanned Mullets back within one at 14-13.
Lichon then drove through the lane and hit a one-handed runner to spark a 5-0 run for Lucky. Lichon and Callan each scored two, while Benjamin chipped in one.
Benjamin finished off Tanned Mullets with a jump shot from just inside the foul line an few possessions later.
The Tanned Mullets, named for women's soccer coach Randy Waldrum's unique sense of style, forced Lucky to shoot mostly from the outside. Mullets' tight 2-3 zone stopped Lucky's usually strong interior passing.
"We're not really strong shooters so we have to rely on defense," Wagner said.
The Mullets' strategy was in part aided by Lucky's downgraded roster. Post player Mary Murphy missed her second game in a row while attending her grandmother's funeral. Benjamin has filled in well for Murphy, but Lucky's lineup is much smaller without Murphy.
"It's tough playing against those packed in zones without our post player," Lichon said, "We are trying to play high-low with five guards."
Lucky advances to the final four to play No. 1-seeded Sindone's Slamming Divas. The Divas defeated unranked Almost Famous, 21-6.
Almost Famous was playing its second game of the day with it lost to the Divas after surviving a 22-20 game against the Sharks earlier Thursday afternoon. Because of the thunderstorms Wednesday, the Sharks and Almost Famous suspended play with the game tied 8-8. They continued the game Thursday.
The Sharks jumped out to a 17-11 lead and seemed to be in control of the game before Almost Famous made a run. Scoring eight of the next 10 points, it knotted the game at 19.
With the score tied 20-20 and headed for overtime, Almost Famous point guard Christa Gray drove the lane twice and hit running one-handers to win the game.
Despite trailing for most of the game, Gray said her team never lost confidence.
"All of our games have been close so we know we are never out of it," she said.
The second-seeded Hardcore Strokers advanced to the final four by running Team 7 into the ground for a 21-14 win.
The Strokers, led by point guard Katie Miller's defense and passing score most of its points on fast breaks and off turnovers.
All Sports Stories for Friday, April 26, 2002
