You name

it – Khadijah did it.

Rushdan poured in a game-high 30 points,

grabbed 18 rebounds, dished out five assists and snatched seven steals to lead

the Vikings to their first championship game appearance since 1998. The state's

reigning player of the year was unstoppable, shooting 11-for-19 from the field,

including 4-for-7 from beyond the 3-point arc.

On one

play, Rushdan took a pass out top and backed down a defender, sending her

sliding across the court, before stepping back and knocking down a 3-pointer to

the delight of the Vikings' fans.

"She

stepped it up to another level once the tournament started," St. Elizabeth's

coach Tom Ferrier said. "Tonight it was obvious.

"She's

unbelievable. Its still at that point where she'll do something and I'll look

over at coach (Dan) Cooney, and we're like WOW."

The lead

changed hands ten times early on, with St. Elizabeth's taking the lead for good,

at 19-17, on two free throws by Danielle Smulski with 4:42 left in the

second quarter.

From

there, the Vikings completely dominated the game as Rushdan repeatedly

electrified the crowd with her spinning drives to the basket and some

spectacular no-look passing.

When the dust settled, the Vikings had a

30-point victory and had earned a date with defending champ Ursuline, who beat

Caravel 78-42 in the nightcap, in Friday's highly anticipated championship

showdown.

"It

doesn't mater who we get," Rushdan said. "I think we're ready for anybody.

We've come together tremendously and when we can put our offense and defense

together, we can do a lot."

The

Vikings talented contingent of role players also contributed mightily to the

victory and seems to have a keen sense of how to play around their star player.

"Its

tough because you want to get her as many shots as possible," Ferrier said.

"Like Iverson or Shaquille you want her to touch the ball every time down, but

you have kids like Angel Henderson (11 points, 3 rebounds) that can kill

you with the three, and I've talked about Jen O'Connor (7 points, 4

rebounds) all year long and her defensive play.

"Jen has

been our defensive stopper and she did a great job on (Brittani) Shells.

That was our biggest concern."

Caesar

Rodney, which finished the season with a 22-4 record, was led by Nakia

Henderson, who scored 12 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Shells added 11

points, three assists and three steals for the Riders.

Shells

5-19, 0-0, 11 Anderson 4-9, 4-4, 12 Younger 0-4, 2-6, 2 Victory 1-3, 0-0, 2

Everson 1-5, 1-3, 3 D'Apollo 0-0, 0-0, 0 Aldridge 1-6, 0-0, 2 M. Smith 0-2, 0-0,

0 E. Smith 0-0, 0-0, 0 Alexander 0-0, 0-0, 0 Totals 12-48, 7-13, 32

3pt FG

1-9 (Shells 1-6, Aldridge 0-3)

Rebounds

32 (Anderson 15, Younger 6, Shells, Everson 3. Alexander 1) Assists 5 (Shells 3,

Younger, Victory 1) Steals 7 (Shells 3, Everson 2, Anderson, Younger 1) Blocks 1

(Younger)

Rushdan

11-19, 4-6, 30 O'Connor 3-3, 1-2, 7 Henderson 4-9, 2-2, 11 Woody 4-10, 0-1, 8

Hudock 0-4, 0-0, 0 Dotson 1-1, 0-0, 2 Ogden 0-1, 0-0, 0 Dimichele 1-2, 0-0, 2

Malin 0-0, 0-0, 0 Fegans 0-4, 0-0, 0 Smulski 0-0, 2-2, 2 Totals 24-53, 9-13, 62

3pt FG

5-16 (Rushdan 4-7, Henderson 1-6, Hudock 0-1, Dimichele 0-1, Fegans 0-1)

Rebounds

39 (Rushdan 18, O'Connor 4, Henderson, Woody 3, Malin, Fegans 2, Hudock, Dotson,

Ogden 1) Assists 12 (Rushdan 5, O'Connor, Henderson 2, Woody, Ogden, Fegans 1)

Steals 13 (Rushdan 7, Woody 2, O'Connor, Henderson, Malin, Smulski 1) Blocks 2

(Woody 2)