ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9603040081
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: ROUNDUP
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND STAFF REPORTS
Tora Suber scored all of her 23 points in the first half to tie a Virginia record and the eighth-ranked Cavaliers raced past Florida State 83-50 Friday in the Atlantic Coast Conference women's tournament in Rock Hill, S.C.
Virginia (23-5), the regular-season ACC champion, scored the first six points of the game and never was threatened. The Cavaliers will play No.22 Clemson, which has beaten Virginia twice this season, in today's semifinals.
Florida State (8-20) had played less than 18 hours earlier and was unable to mount any kind of challenge. Virginia coach Debbie Ryan used 12 players in the first half while giving her starters ample rest.
Suber hit nine of 12 first-half shots, including three of four from 3-point range, to tie Nancy Mayer's school record for points in a half. Mayer scored 23 in the second half against Clemson on Feb.22, 1986.
Wendy Palmer added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Virginia and sparked the fast start. Monick Foote scored 11 points.
Suber had two jump shots and two 3-pointers as Virginia closed the first half with an 18-8 run to lead 42-23. A 12-0 run highlighted by Tiffany Bower's behind-the-back pass to Palmer for a layup stretched the lead to 70-35 with 7:04 left.
In other ACC tournament games:
No.22 Clemson 67, North Carolina 49: Jaci Stimson scored 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting and the Tigers shut down the Tar Heels in a quarterfinal game.
Clemson (20-7) broke a three-game losing streak and will play Virginia in the semifinals today.
North Carolina (13-14) had won the past two ACC tournaments but was doomed this time by poor shooting. The Tar Heels made only six of 30 shots in the second half and shot a season-low 24.6 percent for the game.
No.12 Duke 67, Wake Forest 61: Tyish Hall made all eight of her first-half shots to help the Blue Devils build an 18-point lead that held up in the second half.
Kira Orr led Duke (24-5) with 19 points, including a running one-hander from 40 feet at the halftime buzzer that gave the Blue Devils a 39-21 lead.
No.19 North Carolina St. 63, Maryland 61: The Wolfpack rallied and beat Maryland on Umeki Webb's layup at the buzzer.
Webb had missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with three seconds left and the scored tied at 61, but got another chance when Maryland (13-14) threw the ball away on its inbounds pass.
North Carolina State (19-8) then inbounded from the right of its basket with two seconds remaining and Nicole Mitchell hit Webb cutting in from the left side off a screen for the game winner, which sent the Wolfpack into today's semifinals against No.12 Duke.
Big South
UNC Greensboro 69, Charleston Southern 60: In Lynchburg, Scott Hartzell scored 17 points and handed out seven assists as the top-seeded Spartans rallied to beat Charleston Southern.
UNC Greensboro (19-9) advanced into today's championship game and a shot at an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Charleston Southern (15-13) led 43-34 with 12:41 remaining on a layup by Jeff Daniels. The Spartans then went on a 30-9 spurt to take control and build a 64-52 lead with 1:47 left.
Liberty 73, UNC Asheville 60: Peter Aluma scored 19 points and blocked three shots as the second-seeded Flames defeated the Bulldogs.
The Flames (17-11) led 38-33 at intermission and opened the second half with a 9-1 run to take a 47-34 lead with 14:31 left.
The Bulldogs (18-9) did not have a field goal in the first 6:05 of the half and shot only 23 percent (6-of-26) from the floor.
Southern
Marshall 82, Tenn.-Chattanooga 81: In Greensboro, N.C., Jason Williams scored nine points during the final 3:03 as the Thundering Herd hung on to edge the three-time defending Southern Conference champion Moccasins in the tournament quarterfinals.
The win by the Thundering Herd (17-10) broke a four-game postseason losing streak and set up a semifinal matchup with Davidson (24-3) tonight.
The Moccasins (15-12) saw their nine-game tournament winning streak snapped as Marshall shot 11-of-23 from 3-point range.
Davidson 67, East Tennessee State 43: Brandon Williams scored 20 points to help the Wildcats put away the Buccaneers in the quarterfinals.
Davidson (24-3), with the third longest winning streak in the nation at 18, led 28-22 with 15:35 left against a team it beat by 30 and 32 points this season. But a 21-4 run midway through the period helped the Wildcats bury the Buccaneers (7-20).
Williams, the team's all-conference forward, was instrumental in the run, scoring seven points. Reserve Mark Donnelly also nailed a pair of 3-pointers as the Wildcats continued to roll through the league, winning for the 15th straight time.
East Tennessee State, held to its lowest point total in a decade, went scoreless for almost five minutes during the Davidson spurt. Shahid Perkins led the Bucs with 14 points.
East Tennessee State closed the season with 10 straight losses. It was the first time the Buccaneers lost that many in a row since the 1936-37 season.
Thursday's games
No.11 Arizona 72, Washington St. 62: In Pullman, Wash., Reggie Geary scored 11 points during an early second-half run as the Wildcats (22-5, 11-4) overcame a four-point halftime deficit to defeat the Cougars (14-10, 6-9) in the Pac-10.
No.17 UCLA 68, Oregon State 66: In Corvallis, Ore., the Bruins (20-7, 13-2) narrowly avoided what would have been one of the biggest upsets of the season, holding off Pac-10 doormat Oregon State.
Toby Bailey scored eight points in the final 4:41, but missed two of four free throws to help the Beavers (3-22, 1-15), losers of a school record 14 in a row, nearly make up an 11-point deficit in the final minute.
Notes
COACH STAYS: Rutgers ended speculation about the future of men's basketball coach Bob Wenzel by announcing that it had extended his contract.
Terms were not disclosed. An athletic department news release described it as ``a multiple year contract.''
After a 5-13 start, Rutgers (9-16, 6-11 Big East) has gone 4-3, including a well-played loss to No.4 Connecticut on Wednesday night. In eight seasons, Wenzel has a 117-117 record.
COACH GOES: A week after saying he planned to remain for the last year of his contract, Drake basketball coach Rudy Washington resigned.
Washington, 44, has been Drake coach since 1990, coming from Iowa where he was an assistant to Tom Davis.
Washington, who is executive director of the Black Coaches Association, has a record of 63-101 at Drake and has never had a winning season.
WAKE LOSING FORWARD: Wake Forest forward Antonio Jackson will transfer at the end of the season and won't play anymore this year for the 13th-ranked Demon Deacons.
Jackson, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, was angered that his playing time had fallen from 14 minutes per game earlier in the year to five minutes per game in recent weeks.
He would have two years of eligibility remaining after sitting out the 1996-97 season at another school.
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