Murphy powers Eagles
BC advances past St. John's
Stefanie Murphy scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lift Boston College over St. John's, 68-63, in the third round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament last night in New York.
Carolyn Swords had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles (22-11) and Jaclyn Thoman added 10 points and three assists.
The Eagles cruised into the second half with a 35-23 lead, shooting 50 percent from the field.
St. John's switched to a zone in the second half that gave the Eagles problems. The Red Storm went on a 6-point run, cutting the lead to 4 points before Murphy and Brittanny Johnson brought the Eagles' back to a 10-point edge with 3:03 left.
Sky Lindsay led the Red Storm (19-15) with 16 points.
BC will host Georgetown (20-13), 65-49 victors over Richmond, in the quarterfinals Sunday at 5 p.m.
If No. 1-ranked Findlay (35-0) wins tomorrow, it will set a Division 2 record for victories by a team that finishes unbeaten. The Oilers will play unranked Cal Poly Pomona (25-7) in the championship game.
Parker's shot from the left wing with 42 seconds left gave Findlay a 66-65 lead.
After Parker's basket, Central Missouri committed a turnover. Nathan Hyde hit one of two free throws with 13.3 seconds left. De'Andre Byrd missed an off-balance baseline jumper with 4 seconds left, and his halfcourt heave at the buzzer fell short.
Morgan Lewis had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Findlay, which trailed, 32-27, at halftime. The Oilers had overcome an 8-point halftime deficit to beat C.W. Post in overtime in the quarterfinals.
Sanijay Watts scored 18 points for Central Missouri (30-5).
Cal Poly Pomona 74, Augusta State 70 - Larry Gordon had 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Broncos (25-7) withstood a late Jaguars rally.
Tobias Jahn, Walter Thompson, and Robert Summers scored 11 points each for Cal Poly Pomona, which had a 36-31 rebounding edge despite the presence of Garret Siler, Augusta State's 7-foot senior.
Siler scored 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting, and had nine rebounds. Fred Brathwaite led the Jaguars (30-5), who had won 16 straight, with 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting.
Augusta State lost to Winona (Minn.) State in the 2008 championship game.
Trailing, 61-50, with six minutes to play, Augusta State briefly took the lead when Daniel Dixon's 3-pointer made it 66-65 with 3:16 left. The teams exchanged baskets before Jahn, a 6-9 sophomore from Germany, scored to give Cal Poly Pomona the lead for good at 69-68 with 1:35 left.
Frank Hassell had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Monarchs (24-10), who will travel to Bradley for Tuesday's final.
Old Dominion's Marsharee Neely made 4 of 6 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.
Devon Moore scored 13 for the Dukes, who were outrebounded, 51-21. 