MORGANTOWN, W. Central Michigan won its season opener for the first time since 2002. The Crusaders responded with 19 straight points over the first 3: 46 of the second half and built their lead to 23 points with 7: 55 remaining. The Rockets' Quinton Broussard rushed 17 times for 136 yards, including a 2- yard touchdown run. Alysha Clark led Belmont with 12 points and 13 rebounds, but the Bruins were just 1- for- 25 on 3- pointers " We had wide- open shots, we just couldn' t knock them down " Clark said " If we would have been hitting our shots, it would have been a different game " The game looked like a monumental mismatch on paper, with Georgia making its 24th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and Belmont here for the first time That' s not all. But Fox took a pass from O' Neil and made a 14- footer to put the Cyclones back on top, Kansas missed its last seven shots and Iowa State survived, thanks to O' Neil' s cool performance at the line. 2 Kansas built an early 30- point lead and coasted to a 96- 51 victory in a mismatch that guaranteed the outmanned visitors$ 50, 000.
Jim Rice ended the longest home run drought of his 14-year career with a two-run shot into the center-field bleachers for a 2-0 Boston lead in the second inning. The 49ers led 11- 9 after Alexander hit a 3- pointer at the 12: 58 mark of the opening half, with Burrell answering at the other end with a 3- pointer to ignite an 8- 0 run. Connecticut has won 23 consecutive games against Seton Hall by an average of more than 32 points. "He just played too good for me today" said Leconte, who had only 54% of his first serves go in "When he plays the way he did, he makes me play bad.
The Gophers regained the lead at 17- 15 on a steal and basket by Calhoun and a 3- pointer by Roysland. Stan Williams? He'd dig you a hole" One story concerns Hall of Famer Dizzy Dean He watched as a hitter dug in at the plate "Dig it deep" Dean supposedly yelled from the mound. Kyle Hines and Mikko Koivisto each scored 18 points for the Spartans( 12- 10, 9- 3 Kevin Oleksiak had 12 points. Mardy Collins scored 26 points, Mark Tyndale added 14 and Antywane Robinson had 11 as the Owls defeated a depleted Rhode Island team 74- 54 on Wednesday " These are the games we need if we want an at- large bid to the NCAA Tournament " said Collins, who shot 11 of 15 and added four steals " We lost to Fordham earlier this season, and we can' t afford losses like that. Fast Facts# 8226& nbsp; UNC improved to 4- 0 in the head- to- head series and has outscored the Citadel 149- 27 all- time# 8226& nbsp; UNC is 1- 0 for the third straight year, the first time its won its season opener in three straight seasons since 1989- 94, when the Tar Heels won six straight# 8226& nbsp; UNC rushed for 260 yards, its most since 2004, including a game- high 118 from Shaun Draughn, his fourth career 100- yard game- ESPN Stats& Information " Great way to start a season " Draughn said " It didn' t even feel like I had that many yards " T J. The Irish led 60- 36 at the 13: 31 mark of the second half then the Hawks chipped away and cut it to 12 But the Irish closed the game with an 18- 11 run Chris Thomas had 16 points and six rebounds for the Irish. Samford trailed 41- 38 with 43 seconds left on a 3- pointer by Curtis West, but Brock hit three free throws and Rose had two to seal the win.
C( AP- Kyle Hines had 16 points, 10 rebounds and tied a school record with seven blocked shots to lift UNC Greensboro to a 75- 63 victory over winless Furman on Saturday night. "I didn't think we were playing very well when the lights went out" Oiler co-coach John Muckler said. Randie Wirt added 14 points and six assists for Colorado( 6- 1. Session, who finished with 20 carries, scored on a 1- yard run to put the Black Bears( 2- 0, 1- 0 Colonial Athletic Association) ahead 10- 7 in the second quarter.
Wisconsin( 6- 2) had won seven of the previous nine meetings between the schools, and had not lost at home to Marquette since 1997. Erika Arriaran added 15 points for Texas( 6- 0, which matched its best start since 2003- 04 and will play Florida Atlantic in Sunday' s championship game. Fitzpatrick' s touchdown passes came on a 1- yard pass to Jason O' Neill in the first quarter and a 7- yard pass to Corey Mazza in the third quarter. And, the Rangers have quietly moved into second place in the West, seven games behind Oakland. In women's voting, Brinton, the Division II Player of the Year in volleyball, was second to distance runner Sylvia Mosqueda of Cal State Los Angeles. Despite Fairbanks' efforts, the Wolverines( 10- 3) had to hold off a late rally by Montana State( 5- 6.
In his rookie season, Washburn averaged just 10 minutes of playing time a game and 3. 4 points a contest. "We always picked an all-state team, and then the kids didn't have anybody to play So we asked Texas. It was the first meeting between Tennessee and Ole Miss since 1997, and the Rebels haven' t beaten the Volunteers since 1983. Five players scored in double figures for Northwestern( 3- 4. 1 seconds to play to put Arizona ahead 65- 62, but Jackson' s pass to Markson sailed out of bounds. The Red Raiders have lost seven of eight against Oklahoma State and 18 of the last 23 meetings.
The eight 3s tied a school record last matched by Watende Favors on Dec 6, 1997. In addition to crowning division champions, Saturday's competition served as a spring board to the Masters Meet, which picks the top athletes in inter-divisional competition. Nobody else in the field figured to run head-and-head with the filly, so Forty Niner was going to have to do it. LSU then went nearly seven minutes without scoring, however.
And center fielder John Shelby extended his hitting streak to 24 games with a hard-hit ball that handcuffed Astro shortstop Craig Reynolds and trickled into left field for a double. Another Dodger win over the Houston Astros, this time by a 4-2 score Thursday behind Orel Hershiser's solid pitching, has made Los Angeles' position atop the National League West a more comfortable 2 1/2 games Pedro Guerrero's situation is not quite so comfortable. The Lady Vols have six players 6- foot- 2 or taller while Arkansas has one They outrebounded Arkansas 45- 28. Kiefer shot 9- for- 10 from the floor and 5- for- 8 from the line, and Purdue used a 15- 0 run midway through the second half to put the game away " Scoring in the paint is something we' ve tried to get accomplished and it paid off for us today " said Booker, who missed a few practices this week while he finished his school work for the semester " We were clicking " David Simon led IPFW( 2- 7) with 19 points, but the Mastodons didn' t have enough height down low to compete with the bigger, quicker Boilermakers " It' s hard enough to match up with them " Mastodons coach Doug Noll said of Kiefer and Booker " We just don' t have enough to combat them " The Mastodons, who are playing just their second full season in Division I, made a game of it early, shooting 50 percent in the first half, including 4- for- 7 from 3- point range, to stay close " The mountain' s pretty big for us, but we' re climbing it " Noll said " I think we have a pretty good basketball team " While the rest of the Boilermakers struggled from the field, Kiefer was solid. And some of the rival managers in the National League are beginning to show respect for Dunston, the No.
Conover, who barely lifts his knees in his short, quick stride, showed both mettle and speed late in the trials race. SAN FRANCISCO — Little-known marathoner Mark Conover was about to have his car repossessed. 9 Associated Press) survived a scare Saturday with an 82- 76 victory over gutsy Cleveland State. But he picked up his second foul and spent the rest of the half on the bench. You just gotta know that you have to earn the right to play the next day in March " UConn( 28- 2) got double- doubles from junior forward Charde Houston, who scored 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds and freshman center Tina Charles( 18 and 10) to earn the right to play No 20 Louisville in the semifinals on Monday The Cardinals beat West Virginia 68- 56 earlier in the day The Huskies opened slowly. Cotelia Bond- Young, the ACC' s second- leading scorer at 17 9 points per game, finished with six points. In other City 4-A quarterfinal games: El Camino Real 6, Banning 1-Lisa Huffaker hit a two-run home run in the second inning to key a five-run rally at El Camino Real. The ball sailed just long of Butler, who fell forward in the end zone and appeared to catch the ball just before it hit the ground.
The Tigers' 15 wins under first- year coach Joe Scott were the school' s fewest in a season since 1992- 93. 15 of last season, Diogu had 15 points before fouling out with 4: 29 remaining. The Huskies scored the game' s first 13 points and kept coming at Montana in waves, rotating players off the bench like it was a hockey game, pressuring the Grizzlies into mistakes and pushing the pace at every turn. This year, I' m playing with a lot more confidence " Wayne Marshall had 10 points and eight rebounds for Temple, which led 64- 24 with 10: 14 remaining " It was a good win for us " said Temple' s Mardy Collins, who had eight points and six assists " We came out with intensity and played well throughout the game " Marcus Stout led Fordham with 14 points while Bryant Dunston added 12 for Fordham, which converted just 4- of- 22 field goals in the first half( 18 percent) and 16- of- 56( 29 percent) for the game. The Spartans lead the all- time series 22- 3 and are 14- 0 against the Lions in East Lansing. Collins' emphatic dunk shortly after put the finishing touches on the win Robert Hite scored 18 points for Miami.
Nevada, which opens Western Athletic Conference play Saturday against Utah State, has won 30 of its last 32 home games Stanislaus has lost four in a row. Florida State then needed a 46- yard run by Booker on third- and- 10 and a 14- yard pass from Sexton to Robinson on third- and- 6 to set up the winning field goal. He had it dug about two feet into the ground, partly for privacy, partly for acoustics. The round of 16 is as far as any Cal Lutheran women's team has advanced. Mark Lohuis added 11 in the second half, putting Stetson up by as many as six. WACO, Texas( AP- Baylor coach Kim Mulkey was concerned about the 12- day break for final exams her Lady Bears had before facing Oregon on Wednesday night It took a few minutes to shake off the cobwebs, but No.
