Former St. Frances star Angel McCoughtry will lead fourth-seeded Louisville into the tournament.
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 By Brandon Hopp

March Madness is now in full swing after the NCAA revealed the 2008 NCAA and NIT Tournament brackets last night.  Ten former stars from the Baltimore Metro Area will participate with their respective teams for the ultimate prize, the coveted NCAA championship.  Two more will take a shot at bringing home the NIT title.

Five of the former standouts from the area once played in the IAAM.  Juniors Angel McCoughtry (Louisville) and Dawnnae Roberts (Temple) played at St. Frances Academy while Chandrea Jones (Syracuse) tore up the court at the Institute of Notre Dame.  Freshmen Marah Strickland (Maryland) is a graduate of Towson Catholic and Brittany Mallory (Notre Dame) impressed at McDonogh.

McCoughtry is one of the top scorers in the country and has averaged 23.6 points per outing while grabbing 8.8 rebounds.  The star forward scored 20 points to lead the Cardinals to a big upset over Rutgers in the Big East Tournament semifinals that gave Louisville it's first trip to the Conference Tournament Championship Game.  The Cardinals were downed 65-59 to #1 ranked UCONN in the finals.

Jones is averaging a team-high 15 points per game and grabbed 7.7 board per game while starting all 30 games for her Syracuse squad while Roberts has come off the bench in 20 games for Temple this season.

Strickland has moved flawlessly from the tiny gym at Towson Catholic to the big lights at the University of Maryland and has started all but Senior Night for the Terps this season.  The guard has averaged close to nine points a game for Maryland, which garnered a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Mallory as played in 30 games this season coming off the bench. She has scored 6.6 points per game in her freshman campaign for the Irish.

Keep your eyes peeled to the television because you never know when one of these former IAAM players will hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer or lead her team to the title.


LOCAL WOMEN IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Maryland – ACC

Marah Strickland (Mt. Airy, Md. Towson Catholic)

Coppin State – MEAC

Whitney Cunningham (Baltimore, Md. Western)

Temple – Big East

LaKeisha Eaddy (Columbia, Md. River Hill)

Kristie Watkins-Day (Millersville, Md. Old Mill)

Dawnnae Roberts (Baltimore, Md. St. Frances)

Notre Dame – Big East

Brittany Mallory (Baltimore, Md. McDonogh)

Syracuse – Big East

Chandrea Jones (Baltimore, Md. Institute of Notre Dame)

Louisville – Big East

Angel McCoughtry (Baltimore, Md. St. Frances)

Robert Morris – NEC

Tiffany McMillion (Baltimore, Md. Catonsville)
Latava Vails (Odenton, Md. Arundel)

LOCAL WOMEN IN THE NIT TOURNAMENT

Virginia Commonwealth – CAA

Krystal Vaughn (Baltimore, Md. Lake Clifton)

St. John's – Big East

Sheree Ledbetter (Baltimore, Md. Southside Academy)