Sarah Hansen

Sarah Hansen already was a standout for the Florida Gulf Coast University women’s basketball team when she led the Eagles to a 27-7 season.

Now Hansen is getting caught up in the fervor over FGCU’s men’s basketball team. The Eagles (26-10) have advanced to tonight’s NCAA Sweet Sixteen game against Florida.

The Florida Gulf Coast campus is going crazy over its team, and Hansen is one of their biggest fans. Read more about Hansen’s long road trip to the NCAA Tournament game with teammates.

Mercyhurst Prep graduate Kirsten Olowinski‘s college career came to a close and General McLane grad Sarah Hansen‘s junior season ended Thursday in the first round of the WNIT women’s basketball tournament.

Olowinski, a 6-foot 1-inch senior forward, had a game-high 14 rebounds to go with eight points, but her Miami (Ohio) team lost at Illinois 73-60 Thursday. Olowinski helped the RedHawks to a 42-31 rebound advantage, but Miami shot just 33.9 percent from the field.

Olowinski finished with 1,154 career rebounds, good for first in Miami history and second in Mid-American Conference history. She also closed with a school-record 177 career blocks and ranked ninth with 1,311 career points.

Meanwhile, Hansen had 12 points and 11 rebounds, but Florida Gulf Coast lost to Winthrop 65-51 in the WNIT. Hansen, a 5-foot 10-inch junior guard, led the Eagles in scoring and rebounding for the third straight season.

Meanwhile, Duquesne beat Akron 71-66 Thursday, as Girard graduate Raegan Moore saw her junior season continue.

– from staff reports

Kirsten Olowinski

Sarah Hansen

Kayla McBride

Villa Maria grad Kayla McBride and the Notre Dame women’s basketball team received the expected No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Monday.

The Fighting Irish (31-1) will play 16th-seeded Tennessee-Martin, the Ohio Valley Conference tournament champion,  at 5:05 p.m. Sunday in Iowa City, Iowa. The game will be televised by ESPN2.

Meanwhile, General McLane graduate Sarah Hansen and Mercyhurst Prep grad Kirsten Olowinski will continue their seasons in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

Hansen, a junior guard, and Florida Gulf Coast (27-6) will host Big South Conference member Winthrop (20-11) in a first-round game Thursday at 7 p.m. The WNIT has a 64-team field.

Olowinski will conclude her college career with Miami (Ohio) in the WNIT. The RedHawks (19-12) will visit Big Ten member Illinois (16-13) Thursday at a time to be determined today

Kirsten Olowinski

Sarah Hansen

Kayla McBride

Three area women’s basketball stars and their teams will wait to see where they fit into the Division I postseason picture tonight.

Villa Maria graduate Kayla McBride and her Notre Dame teammates are guaranteed to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, thanks to their 31-1 record and No. 2 national ranking. Tonight they’ll find out their opponent, in addition to the site, date and time of their opener. The Fighting Irish have been the NCAA Division I runner-up the past two seasons.

General McLane grad Sarah Hansen and Florida Gulf Coast University are hoping to earn their second straight berth to the NCAA Tournament. However, the Eagles (27-6) are on the bubble after losing in the championship game of the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. Florida Gulf Coast is currently ranked No. 11 among mid-major teams, but the Eagles might have to settle for a WNIT berth. The WNIT also is scheduled to announce its field tonight.

Mercyhurst Prep grad Kirsten Olowinski is seeking to prolong her career at Miami (Ohio) by at least one more game. The RedHawks (19-12) lost in the Mid-American Conference tournament and will hope to claim a spot in the WNIT or the Women’s Basketball Invitational. Both are scheduled to announce their invitees tonight.

Kirsten Olowinski

Mercyhurst Prep graduate and Miami (Ohio) forward Kirsten Olowinski was named to the Mid-American Conference all-star team’s second team Friday.

It marks the third time that Olowinski, a senior, has made the all-MAC team after being selected to the third team as a junior and making honorable mention as a sophomore. She also made the MAC’s all-freshman team in 2009-10.

The 6-foot 1- inch forward ranks second on the Miami team with an 11.7 points per game average, and she leads the MAC in rebounding with 10.5 per game. Olowinski became the ‘Hawks all-time leading rebounder earlier this season and currently ranks third in MAC history with 1,123 career rebounds — one behind the No. 2 rebounder.

Olowinski and the Redhawks will open play in the MAC tournament today at 2 p.m. when sixth-seeded Miami hosts 11th-seeded Ohio.

Olowinski became the third former Erie County high school star to make an NCAA Division I women’s basketball all-conference team this week. She follows Kayla McBride in the Big East and Sarah Hansen in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Sarah Hansen

Sarah Hansen added several more honors to a long list Tuesday when she was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year and she claimed the A-Sun’s Scholar Athlete of the Year award for the second straight year.

She can also reach a major milestone today.

Hansen, a General McLane graduate, has a chance to break the Florida Gulf Coast University career scoring record tonight when the No. 1-seeded Eagles face No. 8-seeded Kennesaw State in the Atlantic Sun Tournament at Mercer’s Hawkins Arena in Macon, Ga.

The 5-foot 10-inch redshirt junior guard ranks second in Florida Gulf Coast career scoring with 1,395 points, just 20 points shy of the record of 1,415. She leads the A-Sun in scoring at 17 points per game. In addition to being named player of the year Tuesday, she earned a spot on the all-conference first team for the second straight year. She made the second team as a freshman.

A chemistry major, she has compiled a 3.94 cumulative grade-point average. She also earned a spot on the A-Sun’s academic all-conference team Tuesday after earlier earning a second-team spot on the Capital One Academic All-America team.

Hansen has led the Florida Gulf Coast women’s basketball team in scoring and rebounding the past three years while helping the Eagles win three straight A-Sun regular-season titles.

She also ranks in the top-15 in the A-Sun points, rebounds, field goal percentage, assists, free-throw percentage, steals and blocks.

Check out the Atlantic Sun Conference video:

Sarah Hansen

The Associated Press recently circulated a story about the success of the Florida Gulf Coast University women’s basketball team. General McLane graduate Sarah Hansen has been a major part of that success during the past three seasons.

Check out the Florida Gulf Coast story, which was published in Sunday’s Erie Times-News. Included with the story is a note about two recent conference awards that Hansen received — two of many this season.

Today’s On Campus notebook in the Erie Times-News features items on Harbor Creek graduate Jessica Zoltowski, General McLane grad Sarah Hansen, Fairview grad Carolyn Eckendorf and Corry grad Eric Fairchild, among others.

Sarah Hansen

General McLane graduate, Sarah Hansen, a redshirt junior at NCAA Division I Florida Gulf Coast University, has been named to the Capital One Academic All-America women’s basketball second team.

“This is a tremendous honor for Sarah,” FGCU coach Karl Smesko said. “Sarah epitomizes the term ‘student-athlete’. She works very hard on the court and in the classroom and is very deserving of such recognition.”

Hansen is the first student-athlete in Florida Gulf Coast history to earn the Capital One Academic All-American honor. She was the only basketball player from the Atlantic Sun Conference to earn the status.

Hansen is a chemistry major who has a 3.94 cumulative grade-point average. She earned a 4.0 GPA for the fall 2012 term. She leads the Eagles in scoring (17.0 points per game) and rebounding (7.9) for the third consecutive season.