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Colleges
Notre Dame beats USF in tournament
By JEFF GOLDBERG
Published March 5, 2006
HARTFORD, Conn. - USF coach Jose Fernandez thought the winner of his Big East tournament first-round game against Notre Dame would be assured of an NCAA Tournament bid. And with six minutes to go Saturday night at the Hartford Civic Center, it appeared the Bulls would be that team.
Instead, South Florida will be at the mercy of the NCAA Tournament selection committee after Notre Dame used a 16-4 closing run to secure a 73-66 victory.
USF (19-11), which entered Saturday's game ranked No. 33 in the RPI, finished 9-8 in its first Big East season.
"We played a tough nonconference schedule and had nine Big East wins," Fernandez said. "I think we should get in, but I'm a little biased. Right now, we're not in a good position to be in, but hopefully come Selection Monday (March 13), they'll take into consideration what league we play for and not base it on one game."
The tournament's seventh seed, USF led 62-57 with 6 minutes, 5 seconds to play, but the Bulls committed four turnovers and shot 2-for-8 down the stretch as No. 10 Notre Dame (18-10) blew past them.
Jessica Dickson, who was held to a season-low six points by UConn at the Civic Center on Jan. 24, had 16 points on 6-for-21 shooting and added 10 rebounds. Freshman Shantia Grace, left off the Big East all-freshman team Friday, had a career-high 24 points.
Megan Duffy led five Notre Dame players in double figures with 16 points. Duffy scored Notre Dame's final eight points, all in the final 2:35, after Lindsay Schrader (14 points) put Notre Dame ahead 65-64 with two free throws with 3:19 left.
USF, which led by as many as eight in the first half, trailed 69-66 with a minute left, but Rachael Sheats and Grace each committed turnovers, the last with 22 seconds left, allowing Notre Dame to advance to tonight's quarterfinals against No. 2-seed UConn. USF totaled 19 turnovers.
"We're on the bubble and we wanted to get this win and not leave it up to the committee," Dickson said. "But we beat ourselves with turnovers and a lot of mental mistakes."
WEST VIRGINIA 54, LOUISVILLE 45: Britney Davis-White scored 17 of her 19 points in the first half as 12th-seeded West Virginia upset No. 5 Louisville. It was the biggest first-round upset since 1996, when No. 13 Pittsburgh defeated No. 4 Miami. The Mountaineers play fourth-seeded St. John's today.
PITTSBURGH 77, CINCINNATI 62: Marcedes Walker and Mallorie Winn scored 21 apiece to lead Pittsburgh. The victory snapped a seven-game tournament losing streak for the sixth-seeded Panthers (19-9), who earned their highest finish in the league in 11 years. The Panthers take on third-seeded DePaul.
VILLANOVA 68, MARQUETTE 46: Liad Suez-Karni scored 22 and Jenna Viani had 18 to lead eighth-seeded Villanova. The Wildcats (19-9) advance to play top-seeded Rutgers in a quarterfinal today.
NO. 3 LSU 79, KENTUCKY 52: Seimone Augustus scored 29 to keep Kentucky out of striking distance in North Little Rock, Ark. LSU plays No. 8 Tennessee, a 89-79 winner over No. 12 Georgia, in the tournament title game today. Candace Parker had 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Vols.
NO. 4 MARYLAND 78, NO. 2 DUKE 70: Laura Harper had 17 points to help Maryland end a 14-game losing streak to Duke. Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver each scored 16 points for the Terrapins (28-3), who advanced to today's final against No. 1 North Carolina in Greensboro, N.C.
NO. 1 UNC 90, N.C. STATE 69: Ivory Latta scored 11 of her 17 points in the first half and North Carolina cruised. The Tar Heels extended their record for tournament victories to 43.
PAC-10
NO. 13 STANFORD 77, ARIZONA 50: Brooke Smith had one of her best all-around games this season to help Stanford advance to the semifinals of the tournament in San Jose, Calif. Smith had 11 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, four blocks and two steals for the Cardinal (22-6).
NO. 11 ARIZONA ST. 74, OREGON ST. 66: Danielle Orsillo scored nine of her 15 points in the final eight minutes and Arizona State overcame a 16-point deficit. The Sun Devils meet UCLA in today's semifinals. The Bruins beat California 80-63.
TOP 25
NO. 19 LA. TECH 91, HAWAII 52: Erica Ray-Boyd scored 25 points and Tasha Williams became the third player in Louisiana Tech history to record a triple double.
No. 21 NEW MEXICO 74, NO. 18 BYU 49: Reserve guard Julie Briody scored 16 points and New Mexico hit seven straight 3-pointers in the first half.
NO. 22 TEMPLE 70, DAYTON 55: Candice Dupree, from Tampa, had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Khadija Bowens scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half to lead host Temple in the Atlantic 10 tournament.
[Last modified March 5, 2006, 00:54:10]
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