Eagles able to cruise by Hokies

Compared with its dramatic overtime victory over No. 22 Georgia Tech last Thursday, this was a Sunday drive for Boston College.

Carolyn Swords (19 points, 10 rebounds) notched her sixth double double of the season, Mickel Picco hit six 3-pointers en route to 18 points, and Ayla Brown contributed 10 points and four assists as the Eagles rolled past Virginia Tech, 73-62, yesterday before 3,247 at Conte Forum.

BC, which needed Picco's last-second layup to beat the Yellow Jackets last week, took a 47-27 lead after Swords scored 9 points in the first four minutes of the second half.

The Eagles (13-3, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) outrebounded the Hokies, 41-24. Sophomore LaShaunda Pratt scored 9 points on a 3-for-3 shooting in nine minutes, and freshman Mia Nickson snared seven rebounds, added 5 points, and blocked a shot.

Utahya Drye led the Hokies (8-7, 0-2) with 18 points.

Boston College led by 25 with less than seven minutes to play. The Hokies then took advantage of some sloppy play by the Eagles, hitting 8 of 9 free throws during a 15-0 run.

But a layup by Corey Rusin with 55 seconds left ended the BC drought and Picco's 3-pointer secured the victory.

Old Dominion 66, Northeastern 56 - Despite a game-high 18 points from Kim Carr, the Huskies (4-10, 1-2 Colonial Athletic Association) fell to the Lady Monarchs (8-5, 3-0) at Solomon Court.

Jasmine Parker scored 17 points and Tiffany Green added 12 points and 11 rebounds for Old Dominion, which scored 32 points off 30 Northeastern turnovers.

N. Carolina 75, N.C. State 66 - Rashanda McCants scored 16 points and her second-ranked Tar Heels (16-0, 2-0 ACC) dominated overtime to beat the visiting Wolfpack (8-8, 0-1), making Sylvia Hatchell the fourth women's coach to reach the 800-win mark.

"I was about to think [the victory] wasn't going to happen there for a while," Hatchell said with a chuckle while addressing the crowd after the victory.

Hatchell joined Pat Summitt, Jody Conradt, and C. Vivian Stringer after improving to 800-274 in 34 seasons, with 528 of those victories coming in 23 seasons in Chapel Hill. While at North Carolina, she has won eight ACC championships, reached three Final Fours, and won the 1994 NCAA title.

Bonae Holston scored 19 points to lead N.C. State, which was playing its first game since Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow announced she would not return to the team as she continues her long fight against cancer.

The 66-year-old was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987. The disease recurred in the 2004-05 season, forcing her to miss two games that year and 16 more two seasons ago.

Her presence was still felt in Chapel Hill. Before the game, fans applauded in support of Yow, while one fan carried a sign that read, "Pull'n 4 the Heels, pray'n for Kay." Afterward, Hatchell asked the fans to pray for Yow.

Vanderbilt 74, Tennessee 58 - In Nashville, Jessica Mooney led five Commodores in double figures with 15 points, and 24th-ranked Vanderbilt (13-4, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) beat the No. 7 Lady Vols (12-3, 1-1) for their seventh win in this interstate rivalry and coach Melanie Balcomb's first in her seventh season with the team.

Tennessee had won the last 16 and 52 of the first 58 games between the teams, by the Lady Vols' count. The loss kept coach Pat Summitt stuck on 995 wins.

"I'm really disappointed in our team," Summitt said. "I don't want to take a thing away from Vanderbilt. I thought they did a super job. They were a lot tougher than us defensively and a lot more aggressive offensively."

Auburn 81, Florida 65 - DeWanna Bonner scored 29 points, leading the ninth-ranked Tigers over the visiting 18th-ranked Gators.

Sherell Hobbs had 23 points and Whitney Boddie added 14 for the Tigers (17-0, 2-0 SEC), who beat a ranked opponent for the second time this season.

Marshae Dotson had 13 points and Sha Brooks had 11 on 3-of-18 shooting for Florida (15-2, 1-1), which dropped its first game since its season-opening loss to Florida Gulf Coast. The 15-game winning streak was the longest in team history.

Louisville 64, Rutgers 59 - Angel McCoughtry scored 31 points - including four free throws in the final 20 seconds - as the host 10th-ranked Cardinals (16-1, 3-0 Big East) held off the 17th-ranked Scarlet Knights (8-5, 0-2).

The Cardinals won their 11th straight behind their All-America forward and a suffocating defense that forced 21 turnovers.

California 62, Washington 34 - Ashley Walker scored 14 of her 20 points in the first half and pulled down 10 rebounds as the 13th-ranked Golden Bears (13-2, 4-0 Pac-10) rolled at home.

Virginia 77, Wake Forest 59 - Monica Wright scored 20 points and the 15th-ranked Cavaliers (14-2, 1-0 ACC) rebounded from a sluggish start to beat the visiting Demon Deacons (12-3, 0-2).

Northeastern 4, Niagara 1 - Kristi Kehoe scored her team-leading 13th goal and added two assists and Leah Sulyma made 21 saves as the Huskies (10-8-2) completed a weekend sweep of the Purple Eagles (4-16-2) at Matthews Arena.