Boilermakers capture 15th straight victory
Shereka Wright had 21 points to lead fourth-ranked Purdue to its 15th straight victory with an 84-55 rout of Iowa last night at West Lafayette, Ind. Katie Gearlds added 15 points for the Purdue (24-2, 14-1 Big Ten), which will play No. 6 Penn State Sunday for the conference championship.
Wright dominated the opening half, scoring 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting. She also finished with six rebounds.
Freshman Gearlds took over in the second half, scoring 12 points. Her 3-pointer with 15:54 to play gave the Boilermakers a 51-34 lead.
Penn St. 63, Michigan St. 51 -- Kelly Mazzante had 23 points and Jess Strom 18 to help the sixth-ranked Lady Lions beat the No. 22 Spartans (19-7, 9-6) at East Lansing, Mich. Strom had 10 points in the first 7:04 as the Lady Lions (22-4, 14-1) took a 21-8 lead. Mazzante -- the league's top career scorer -- took over from there, getting 15 points in the last 20:03 and boosting her four-year total to 2,771.
Jess Brungo added 11 points for Penn State, which never trailed and built a 50-24 cushion.
North Carolina 71, Florida St. 58 -- Camille Little scored 16 points, helping the visiting No. 11 Tar Heels clinch the second seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Little had 10 of her points in a crucial 18-3 second-half run by the Tar Heels (21-5, 11-4), who never trailed and beat the Seminoles (14-13, 7-9) for the 15th time in 16 meetings.
St. Francis 65, Central Conn. St. 46 -- Marjorie Prado pumped in 19 points, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc, in the contest at New Britain, Conn. Prado was 5 for 7 from the field and 6 for 8 from the free throw line in 27 minutes for St. Francis (6-19, 5-11).
Kristen Gonsalves led the Blue Devils (4-21, 2-14) with 21 points. Commonwealth Coast Conference -- K.J. Krasco had five 3-pointers for 15 of her game-high 22 points in the first half as Colby-Sawyer gained tomorrow's finals at New London, N.H., with a 68-55 win over U. New England. The Chargers (20-6), reached the 20-win level for the sixth time in the last seven years and avenged their only two conference season losses to the Nor'easters (16-10). Krasco was 8 for 12 from the field and 6 for 9 from the arc. Junior Jaime Peterman had 11 points and 16 rebounds for the Chargers. Senior Amanda Brown led the Nor'easters with 16 points, including her 1,000th career point . . . Lindsay Frederick scored 19 points and corralled 22 rebounds to lead host Salve Regina to a 58-57 win over the Fighting Scots at Newport in the other semifinal. Frederick was 8 for 12 from the field and 3 for 4 from the free throw line and had 16 defensive rebounds for the Seahawks (23-4). Salve Regina rebounded from a 31-25 halftime deficit, scoring at a 43.8 percent rate in the second half while limiting the Fighting Scots (19-8) to 24.1 percent after they had a 43.3 percent rate in the opening period.Men's basketball
Southern N.H. 79, Stonehill 78 -- Sophomore Jon Baiano's lay-in with 2.5 seconds left lifted the Penmen in the regular-season finale for both teams at Easton. Baiano's bucket gave the Penmen (20-7, 15-7 Northeast-10) second place in the conference standings.
The Chieftains (9-17, 5-17) used a 20-8 run in the first nine minutes of the second half to take a 1-point lead (55-54) on a lay-in by senior Ricardo Scott, but the Penmen got 6 straight points to pull away from a 70-70 tie.
Vermont 77, Albany 45 -- Alex Jensen and Scotty Jones combined for 33 points to lead the Catamounts in an America East conference game at Burlington. Jensen had 17 points, Jones had 16 and 10 rebounds, and T.J. Sorrentine chipped in with 14 points and eight rebounds for Vermont (19-7, 15-2).
The Catamounts limited Albany (5-21, 3-14) to 15 points in the first half. Jon Iati, with 16 points, led the losers.
Florida Atlantic 95, Campbell 80 -- Earnest Crumbley scored 39 points to become the Owls' all-time leading scorer (1,525 points) and help his team snap a nine-game losing streak by beating the visiting Camels. Crumbley was 12 of 22 from the field -- including an 11-for-18 effort from 3-point range.
Mike Bell and Jeff Cowans each scored 14 points for Florida Atlantic (9-17, 6-13), which clinched the eighth and final spot in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament.
