WholeHogSports
GREENSBORO REGIONAL : Colonials find way to get past SEC’s Tigers
Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2008
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STANFORD, Calif. — Kimberly Beck’s teammates provided more than enough help on a day the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year hardly had her best game.
Jessica Adair had 17 points and 13 rebounds and Antelia Parrish added 15 points and 7 rebounds, leading sixth-seeded George Washington to a hard-fought 66-56 first-round victory over No. 11 Auburn on Saturday in the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Beck dished out seven assists but matched her season low with three points, shooting only 1 for 7 and missing all but 1 of her 5 three-point tries.
“We were rushing everything in the first half, not doing what we do well,” Parrish said. “We settled down a lot in the second half.”
The Colonials (26-6 ) will play in the second round of the Greensboro Regional on Monday night at Maples Pavilion against No. 3 seed California (27-6 ), which beat 14 th-seeded San Diego 77-60 in Saturday’s second game.
Parrish made four three-pointers and converted a key threepoint play with 5: 50 left after scoring on a fourth attempt in one sequence for the Colonials, who closed the regular season by winning 10 of 11 games.
“We stopped boxing out. That sequence right there might have been the ballgame,” Auburn Coach Nell Fortner said. “That probably got to us mentally. That was a tough series for us.”
The Colonials had to squeak out another close game with Auburn to stay alive in the postseason. George Washington also beat the Tigers 68-66 on the road Jan. 3 on Lisa Steele’s three-pointer with 1. 1 seconds left.
George Washington, in its sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament, reached the third round last season and has its mind on another deep run this March.
“We were really jumpy in the first half — maybe a little nervous,” George Washington Coach Joe McKeown said. “But we pulled ourselves together in the second half. The last six or seven minutes we played very well and hurt them on the glass.”
Once DeWanna Bonner found her shooting touch, Auburn (20-12 ), got back in the game after a slow start. Bonner finished with 16 points and six rebounds, while three others scored 10 points for the Tigers: Trevesha Jackson, Alli Smalley and Sherell Hobbs.
Smalley, who has filled in admirably since Whitney Boddie became academically ineligible in December, shot 4 for 16 and Bonner 6 of 18 as the Tigers hit just 35 percent from the field but stayed in the game until late with aggressive rebounding on the offensive glass.
Bonner was held scoreless over the final 13: 24 and said afterward that playing all 40 minutes and the physical style of play was “wearing on me.”
“We locked down our defense well in the second half,” Allen said. “Bonner had 5 or 6 inches on me, so I had to sit on her a lot. I figured that if I don’t let her catch the ball, she can’t score.”
Sarah-Jo Lawrence and Whitney Allen each scored 11 points for George Washington. CALIFORNIA 77, SAN DIEGO 60
STANFORD, Calif. — Ashley Walker dominated the inside with 21 points and 12 rebounds, Devanei Hampton scored 22 points and the third-seeded Golden Bears won their first NCAA Tournament game in 15 years, beating San Diego.
Cal (27-6 ) took advantage of the opportunity to play close to home on Stanford’s campus after losing in the first round the past two years in Pennsylvania.
Cal advanced to play sixth-seeded George Washington (26-6 ) in Monday’s second round.
The joy from Cal’s victory was overshadowed by a right knee injury to backup center Rama N’diaye, who hurt herself diving for a loose ball midway through the second half. N’diaye was being taken to a hospital.
Sam Child scored 14 points and Morgan Henderson added 13 for San Diego (19-13 ). IOWA STATE 58, GEORGIA TECH 55
DES MOINES, Iowa — Alison Lacey hit a running shot in the lane with 47. 4 seconds left and added two free throws to lift Iowa State past Georgia Tech.
The seventh-seeded Cyclones (21-12 ) built a 13-point lead in the second half behind freshman Kelsey Bolte’s long-range shooting, then hung on at the end.
Jill Ingram led Georgia Tech with 21 points, 17 in the second half. Jacqua Williams had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals. RUTGERS 85, ROBERT MORRIS 42 DES MOINES, Iowa — Rutgers got the fresh start it was looking for, thanks in part to an overmatched opponent. Kia Vaughn scored 22 points and secondseeded Rutgers routed 15 th-seeded Robert Morris in the first round of the Greensboro Regional. The Scarlet Knights (25-6 ), who stumbled into the NCAA Tournament on a two-game losing streak, will play seventh-seeded Iowa State in the second round Monday night. The lone bright spot for Robert Morris (23-10 ) came when Logan tied the Division I record for three-pointers in a season, 126, set by Alabama State’s Lisa McMullen in 1991. But Logan was just 3 of 15 from the field and 2 of 9 from three-point range.
Oklahoma City Regional TEXAS A&M 91, TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO 52 BATON ROUGE — Morenike Atunrase scored 19 points off the bench to lead Texas A&M to a rout of Texas-San Antonio. The second-seeded Aggies (27-7 ) had an easy time with the overmatched Roadrunners (23-10 ), taking a lead to open the game and never relinquishing it. No. 15 seed Texas-San Antonio, making its first appearance in the tournament, attempted only 15 shots in the first half. The Roadrunners committed 30 turnovers, allowing the Aggies to score 38 points off them. Monica Gibbs led Texas-San Antonio with 14 points. HARTFORD 59, SYRACUSE 55 BATON ROUGE — MaryLynne Schaefer made a three-pointer with 13 seconds left to put 10 th-seeded Hartford ahead and then added a pair of free throws to give the Hawks a victory over Syracuse.
She finished with a career-high 19 points, sending Hartford (28-5 ) into the second round against Texas A&M on Monday night.
Erica Morrow led seventh-seeded Syracuse (22-9 ) with 17 points, Fantasia Goodwin add 15, and Chandrea Jones had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The Orange are winless in four NCAA Tournament appearances.