First-Ever Champions

By Kyle Ratke and Josh Berhow

SAN ANTONIO — Sitting at the press table Tuesday afternoon, minutes after beating Michigan Tech to advance to the NCAA Division II semifinals, Alex Andrews said she wanted to be one of the few players who ended their career with a win.

And on Friday, the senior forward’s career-high 25 points helped her do so.

“It’s perfect,” said Andrews, fighting back tears after the Mavericks first-ever NCAA Championship. “It’s just unreal. It’s awesome.”

Led by Andrews and Heather Johnson’s 29 points, the Mavericks dropped Franklin Pierce 103-94 to be crowned NCAA Division II Champions Friday at Bill Greehey Arena on the campus of St. Mary’s University.

Andrews was one of five seniors on the Mavericks’ roster to end their college career with a win.

“My whole life has revolved around basketball,” said senior guard Joanne Noreen. “It’s everything I wanted and I’m just glad to end my career at MSU with a win.”

The Mavericks used their run and gun offense from the initial tip-off, and after totaling 58 first-half points, their lead was only two at halftime.

“What a great game for the advancement of women’s basketball,” said MSU head coach Pam Gohl, who won a national championship in her first year heading the Mavericks. “We couldn’t figure out how to stop them, but thank God we scored more than them.”

Led by Johannah and Jennifer Leedman, who combined for 30 first-half points, the Ravens kept the Mavericks on their heels. MSU’s fast-paced offense finally found a worthy counterpart, not something the Mavericks’ are used to seeing from their opponent.

“Absolutely not,” said Noreen. “We got a taste of our own medicine.”

It was the Mavericks’ third 100-point game of the season. They led for most of it, but things looked grim late in the second half as they trailed 82-74 with 10 minutes left in the game.

Heather Johnson nailed two big 3-pointers to help the Mavericks tie the game at 84 with 6:51 left. Johnson, along with Noreen and Andrews, was named to the All-Tournament Team. Johnson was named MVP, her third MVP award this season.

“We never put our heads down,” Johnson said. “Being down eight points didn’t faze us at all.”

Johnson’s team-high 29 points were aided by a 5 for 9 effort from the 3-point line. Andrews added 11 rebounds to her career-high point total and was 11 of 13 from the field. Andrews also had a game-high five steals. Tiffany Moe and Noreen had 18 points each, and had eight and six rebounds, respectively. Noreen led the Mavericks with five assists and Moe and Andrea Walsh had four assists each.

After winning 32 games and ending their career as national champions, the Mavericks will surely be remembered.

“We want to be remembered as a cohesive group that has a lot of chemistry,” Andrews said. “We are so positive and had fun together.”

But they’ll also be remembered as champions.