Celebration Planned for USCAA National Champion UC Clermont Cougars

A celebration is planned for Friday, March 14 in the UC Clermont Student Lounge at 12:30 p.m. to celebrate the USCAA National Champion Cougars. The No. 2 Lady Cougars defeated the top-seeded Central Maine Community College 69-51 to earn their first national title on March 8 in Uniontown, Pa. Friday's celebration is open to the community.

“It's a great reward for the Lady Cougars who played as one, remained poised and played UC smart to bring home our first title. So awesome!” said Head Coach Mike Matthews, who has been coaching at UC Clermont for 13 years and has 182 USCAA wins in the seven years the college has participated in the tournament.

The championship game went back and forth in action. The Central Maine Mustangs used a strong shooting performance to take a 34-31 halftime lead. Keeping the Cougars in the game was Tournament MVP Stacie Lee (Lakota West), who scored 10 points and 7 rebounds in the first half.

The Cougars picked up the pace in the second half, allowing the Mustangs to shoot just 21 percent (7 of 34) and out-rebounding their opponent 30 to 17.  Lee continued her strong play in the second half with another 10 points and 7 rebounds, finishing the game with a double-double. UC Clermont took the lead for good with 16 minutes left in the game, shooting 57 percent in the half to increase their lead to double digits.

Lee, a USCAA 1st Team All-American, finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Ashley Keith (Clark Montessori), also a USCAA 1st Team All-American, contributed to the win with 18 points and 7 rebounds, followed by Dana Finney (Lockland), who had 10 points. Lee and Keith were both named to the All-Tournament Team.

For USCAA Championship highlights and recaps see links below:

Recap from March 7 67-66 win over Albany College of Pharmacy: http://uscaabasketball.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2013-14/releases/201403074r2f7i

Recap from March 6 74-45 win over University of Maine-Augusta: http://uscaabasketball.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2013-14/releases/20140306t43orc

The UC Clermont College Student Lounge is located in the Peters-Jones Building on campus, 4200 Clermont College Drive. For more information about the UC Clermont College Women’s Basketball Team, visit: http://www.ucclermont.edu/athletics/WomensBasketball.html