‘DAILY HERALD Friday, February 24, 2006 ; COLLEGE BASKETBALL No. 3 LSU rompspast Alabama; Marylandcruises MEN’S TOP 25 Villanova WOMEN’S TOP 25 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. TUSCALOOSA,Ala. — Seimone Augustus scored 32 points and Sylvia Fowles had 28 points and 13 rebounds to lead No. 3 LSU to an 86-61 victory over Alabama on Thursdaynig) at least a share ofthe Southeastern Conference title for the Tigers. The duo of Augustus and Fowles took turns dominating the game for LSU (24- 2, 12-1), which led by only six at halftime. Augustus scored 20 pointsin the first half and Fowles had 22 alter that to help LSU pull away. Withthe win, LSU secured the No. 1 seed for the SEC tournament enter.ng the regular-seasonfinale against MississippiState, _ The Crimson Tide (9-17, 3-10) endured its secondstraight loss to a top-five ° team,havingfallen to No. 5 Tennessee on Sunday. gts ended the game with 2,486 careerpoints,just two behind Julie Ross for No. 2 on the school’s careerlist. She and Fowles bothsat out the final 5 minutes with the game well in hand. LaurenHill led Alabamawith 17 points, while Navonda Moorehad13 and Harriet Barnes10. No. 4 Maryland89, Clemson 63: At College Park, Md., Crystal Langhorne scored 16 points to reach the 1,000 mark quicker than any player in Maryland history, and the Terrapins extended Clemson'slosing streak to nine. Maryland(25-3,12-2 Atlantic Coast their best finish in the ACC since 1993. eastern Conference). D No. 5 Tennessee 81, Auburn 56: At Knoxville, Tenn., Tye’sha Fluker scored a career-high 22 points and Sidney Spencer added18 to help Tennessee beat Auburn. Joe Kay THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CINCINNATI — Pick.Pass. Layup.Villanova’s winning bas- ket camejust that easy. Nothingelse did. Randy Foyehad 25 points and Dante Cunningham scored off an inbounds play with 3.2 seconds left, leading No.2 Villanova to its 11th straight win Thursday night, 74-72 over Cincinnati. The Wildcats (22-2, 12-1) wasted a 12-point lead down the stretch beforepulling out a win that kept them in control o1 the Big East and gavethem a taste of what comes next. Playing with a No. 2 ranking forthe first timein 10 years,Villanovaalso extended a few notable streaks. The Wildcats matched thebeststart in schoolhistory — theyalso did it in 1937-38 — and set a schoal record with their 1Ith straight win in the Big East. Wisdom-Hylton adding 13. The Boilermakershavelost twostraight. school-record 14th homewin of the season. The Terrapins completed their league schedule assured of a second-place tie, Langhorne,a 6-foot-2 sophomore center, has scored1,010 points in 60 career games. She becamethe 22nd womanto reachthe 1,000-pointplateau at Maryland, andshedidit four games quicker than the previous record-holder, teammate Shay Doron. AmandaFrist scored 16 points and eLesha Lloyd added 12 for Clemson (8'9, 2-11). Thelast-place Tigers haven't oe ince Jan. 15 andare 0-6 on the road in the ACC. Beareats (22-5,12-3) with 19 points, with Lindsay D No. 13 Georgia 86, Arkansas 80: At Fayetteville, Ark., Sherill Baker scored 28 points and Tasha Humphreyhad 23 in the secondhalf to lead Georgia past Arkansas. Humphreyfinished with 25 for the Lady Bulldogs(19-7, 9-4 South- Conference) nevertrailed in cruising toits edges The Lady Vols (25-3, 11-2 SEC) built a big lead in the first half and never relinished it on their way to a 13th straight victory over Auburn. Auburn (13-13,4-9)led early but couldn't take advantageof its large front line that at times was bigger than Tennessee. Candace Parker had her seventh double-double of the season with 13 rebounds and11 points for the Lady Vols, though she missed a dunk attempt in the second half. Auburn'sstar DeWanna Bonner,led the Tigers with 14 points. No.6 Ohio State 67, No. 12 Purdue 58 COLUMBUS,Ohio (AP) — Jessica Davenport scored 14 of her 20 points in the second half to lead Ohio State over Purdue,giving the Buckeyes their first outrightBig Tentitle in two decades. ‘Thevictory — Ohio State’s 15th in a rowsince losing 61-59 at Purdue on Jan. 1—gave the Buckeyes (24-2, 14-l) a two-gameleadin the conference with oneto play. Brandie Hoskins added 19 points and Debbie Merrill 13 for the Buckeyes, who scored their final 14 points on foul shots. Katie Gearlds led the Boilermakers Arkansas (13-13, 5-8) p!ayed nothing like a team that’slost se en straight SEC games after a 5-1 start. Whitney Jones scored 21 points for the Lady Razorbacks,oneshort of her career high. } No. 14 Michigan State 68, Michigan 42: At AnnArbor, Mich., Liz Shimek had 22 points, movinginto second place on MichiganState’s career scoring mark, and the Spartans beat Michigan. Lindsay Bowenscored 11 points, remaining No.1 onthe scoringlist, for the Spartans (21-8,11-5 Big Ten), who fin- ished the regular season with no worse than third-placetie in the league. Entering the Big Ten tournament “Teamsplay at-anotherlevel againstus, and we're learning to handle that,” coach Jay Wrightsaid. They hadto fight off the ANN HELSENFELT/A: iated Press. Indiana guard Leah Enterline (31) lands on Minnesota guard Brittney Davis as they chasea loose ball during the secondhalf Thursday. next week, Bowenhas 1,685 career points — three ahead of Shimek. Janelle Cooper had 18 points for the Wolverines(6-21, 0-15), who remained winlesssince Dec. 23. D No. 22 Minnesota 65,Indiana 58: At Minneapolis, Jamie Broback scored 20 points to help Minnesota break a fourgamelosing streak andearna firstround byein the Big Ten tournament. Broback reached 1,000 points for her career, becoming the 16th Minnesota playerto reach that mark. Indiana (15-11 9-6) was trying to win its fourth consecutive Big Ten game for the first time since the 1985-86 season. temptationto look pastthis one. The Wildcats go to Connecticut on Sunday for a rematch with the third-ranked Huskies, the team theybeat onFeb. 13 to The Hoosiersfinish the regular season Sunday at Iowa. The winnergains firstround byein the tournamentwhile the loserplays in Thursday's opening round. Calhoun scored 12 points for Minne- take controlof the Big East. Their rematch shapes up as a gameto decide the regular-seasontitle, and the Wildcats know whatto expect. “Cincinnati plays as hard as anyteam inthe Big East, and this environmentis asdifficult as any in the Big East,” Wrightsaid. sota (18-8, 10-5). Nikki Smith led Indiana with 15 points. D No. 24 Vanderbilt 72, Kentucky 55: At Nashville, Tenn., Carla Thomas scored 17 points to lead Vanderbilt past Kentucky. “We'regoing to see the same thing Sunday.It’s like we set this upfor perfect preparation.” Ontheotherside, this one meanta lot to Cincinnati(18-10, Dee Davis added14 points for the Commodores(18-9, 7-6 Southeast- ern Conference). Nicole Jules had 13, Caroline Williams 11 and Liz Sherwood scored 10. HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL 7-7), which wentinto a nosedive after forward ArmeinKirkland tore a kneeligamenton Jan. 9. GOLF Long day, sameresult for Tiger CARLSBAD,Calif. — Tiger Woods didn’t removehis cap and shake hands on the 10th green ursday. This time, he was lucky to be leading. One day after he shattered the tournament record for the shortest match, Woods had to go the distance against Robert Allenby, squeaking by with a 7-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to advanceinto the third round of the Match Play Championship. “I'm advancing,” Woods said. “That's a good thing.” Ultimately, that’s all that matters in this most fickle golf tournament, which was reduced to 16 players after another wild day of dramatic shots and unlikelyrallies. Woods knewthathis 9-and-8 victory in the opening round against Stephen Ames meant ERIC SUCAR/Associated Press Team manager Jason McElwain is hoisted up by his teammaterafter his 20-point performance in the last four minutes of the last home gameagainst SpencerportHigh on Feb,15, in Greece, N.Y. Autistic team manager has gameto remember the coach wondered if he made the wrong move. McElwain then missed a layup. Yet his father, David, was GREECE, N.Y. — Jason : “The thing about Jason is he McElwain had done everything isn't afraid of anything,” he told he was asked to dofor the the newspaper. “Hedoesn't Greece Athena HighSchoolbascare whatpeople think about ketball team — keepthestats, him.Heis his own person.” runthe clock, hand out water McElwain didn't begin speak. On the nexttrip down the bottles. ing until he was 5. He lacked floor, McElwain got the ball Thatall changed last week social skills but things got again. This time he stroked 3, for the team managerin the easier as he got older. He found all net. final home gameof the season. manyfriends and madehis way He was just warming up. The 17-year-old senior, who “As soon as the first shot through schoolin this Rochester is autistic and usuallysits on wentin that’s whenI started to the bench in a white shirt and, suburb,although manyofhis get going,” he said. classes werelimited to a halfblacktie, put ona uniform and dozenstudents. And he found On the next attempt, he got eeea gamewith his team basketball. another 3-pointer. Then anway On thevarsity, he never other, and another.In fact, he McElwain proceeded to hit misses practice andis a jack-of- would have made one more3, six 34-point shots, finished with all-trades, but his foot was onthe line, so 20 points and was carried off “Andhe is happytodoit,” he hadtosettle for 2 points. the court on his teammates’ Greece Athena won 79-43, Johnsonsaid. “Heis such a shoulders, great help andis well-liked by and pandemonium reigned. “I ended mycareer on the McElwain signed autographs, right note,” he told The Associat- everyoneon the team.” posed for pictures and was Even 'thougl: McElwain was ed Press by phone Thursday.“I in uniform for the Feb. 15 game, hoisted by his teammates. was really hotter than pistol!” The Trojans begin sectional there was no guarantee he In recent days, McElwain’s play Saturday and McElwain would play — Athena was batphonehas hardly stopped ringwill be on the bench again, tling fora division title. ing. Whenhis family went out wearing his usual shirt andtie. Thefans, however, came for a meal, he was mobbed by It doesn't bother him. More prepared, One section of stuwell-wishers. A neighborhood important,he said, is “trying boy camebyto get a basketball dentsheld up signs bearing his \ nickname “J-MAC" and cutouts to win a sectional title for the autographed. team.” McElwain,5-foot-6, was con- of his face placed on Popsicle sticks. McElwain will soon be done sidered too small to make the with high school basketball, The Trojans opened a large juniorvarsity, so he signed on lead against the team from the then enroll in business manageas team manager. Hetook up nearby Spencerport. With four eae Coleg fall . Monroe Comthe samerole withthe varsity, minutes left, McElwain took the doing anything to stay near court to déafening cheers. meng ot carepoole and I'll theapartba loves, Coach Jim try ‘chantare” he said. “I The ball came to him almost Johnson was impressed with his right away.His 3-point shot just loveit, it's one of the greatsailed completely off course, and est sports in the world.” suiting up McElwain for the Ben Dobbin HE ASSOCIATEDPRESS homefinale. His performance was jawdropping:20 points in four minutes, making 6-of-10 3-point shots. The crowd wentwild. “It was as touching as any momentI haveever had in sports,” Johnsontold the Daily Messenger of Canandaigua. nothing whenheteed off against Allenby. That muchwas clear to everyone else when he bo- geyed three of thefirst five holes, “That's the beauty of match play,” Woods said. “Start again. What youdid yesterdayis no consequencefor whatyou're going to do today. Whetherit was a good day or a bad day, your opponentis right in front of you.” Allenby,thefirst player to sweep Australia’s three majors, stayed in frontof him all day. All square comingtothelast hole,it turned into a battle of 3-woods from 246 yards away. Woods wentleft, away from the flag,into a bunker.Allenby wentright, short-siding himself and catching a bad lie in trampled rough. “Atleast I madeit interesting,” he said. Evenmoreinteresting is how the Accenture Match Play jionship was shaping up after twodays,withsix of the top eight seeds still alive for the $1.3 million payoff Sunday.It’s the first time in the eight-year history of this tournamentthat so many top seeds advanced through two rounds. Vijay Singh is among them,a minor surprise even as the No.2 seed. He had never advanced beyondthe second roundin seven previous attempts, overcoming a slow start to beat Miguel Angel Jimenez. Third-seeded Retief Goosenalso won,but not before Ben Crane made a hole-in-one on the 16th hole to make him sweat.Phil Mickelson missed severa! 5-foot putts, but he holed a 25-foot eagle putt on the 1ith that sent him on his wayto a victory over John Daly,a match that might havecarried more buzz had it not’beenplayed in the Thebestrally came from Padraig Harrington, who birdied the last three holes to sendhis matchinto overtime, then beat Angel Cabrera with a par on the first extra hole. Woods hadtolabor to join them. Heopened withsix straightbirdies and smoked Ames in the first round, a victory so resounding that the matchlasted the minimum 10 holes. Against Allenby,it took him thatlong: simply to get his first lead, stuffing an approach into a foot on the 10th for a l-up edge. D AP, LPGA talk further about credential issue; no resolution yet: Backed by several other news organizations, The Associated Press made progress Thursdayin talks with the LPGA about newrestrictions on press credentials, but was unableto resolve the disputein time to cover the start of the Fields Open tournamentin Hawaii. if an agreement, the AP did not have a reporter or photographeron the course when ‘ CHRIS CARLSON, Associated Press Tiger Woods reacts to just missing a long birdie putt on the 17th hole that wouldhavegiven hima leadin his second round-matchagainst RobertAllenbyat the Accenture World Golf eee on Thursday: play began Thursdayin Kapolei, Hawaii. The newsagencyplannedto sendouta list of scores at the end of the round, Honolulu’s two daily newspapers, both spon- sorsof the tournament, also withdrewfrom coverageof the eventafter their reporters and photographers refused tosign the LPGA’s coverage agreement » PGA, Chrysler Classic: At Tucson, Mark Wilson shot an opening-round64 to takethe lead at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson, twoshots ahead of Doug Barron,Gabriel Hjertstedt, Jerry Kelly, John Riegger and Duffy Waldorf. Wilson's 8-under was anchored bya 30 on the front nine. He started the tournament on the 10th tee, made the turn at 2-under and got rolling with an eagle on No.2, a tricky par-5 witha narrowfairway andan undulating green. Wilson drained a 28-foot putt and then logged birdies on the third, fourth, seventh and ninth holesat par-72 Tucson National. A bogey at No. 18 wasthe only blemish on whathecalled one of the best rounds ofhis career. » New Zealand PGA: At Christchurch, New Zealand, Jason Dufner wasatop the leaderboard whenplay was suspended inthe first roundof the New Zealand PGAtournament. Dufner overcame strong winds, a 23-degree windchill and a twohour weather delayto shoot a 5-under 67, good for a two-strokelead overfellow American Chris Tidland and Gareth Paddison of New Zealand. ) { ’