ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 1997 TAG: 9702260077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: COLLEGE BASKETBALL
SOURCE: FROM STAFF AND ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
Renee Maitland scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help Virginia Tech pull off an 83-78 upset victory over St.Bonaventure on Tuesday night in Olean, N.Y., in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Conference women's tournament.
The Hokies, seeded sixth in the A-10 West Division, used a great shooting night to top the Bonnies, the A-10 East's third seed. Virginia Tech will travel to play A-10 East No.2 seed La Salle at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Maitland scored her points on 8-of-13 field-goal shooting. Freshman Kim Seaver added 18 points on 9-of-10 accuracy. The Hokies shot 61.5 percent from the field in the first half and 53.7 percent for the game.
William Byrd High School graduate Sherry Banks added 11 points and five assists for Tech (10-20). St.Bonaventure (13-14) was led by Hilary Waltman's 27 points. Kelly Mathews pumped in 19 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
In men's games Tuesday:
No. 3 Kentucky 74, Tennessee 64: Ron Mercer scored 19 points the night before he planned to announce he was turning pro to help the Wildcats to a victory over Tennessee.
Kentucky (27-3, 13-2) tied a school record for regular-season victories accomplished twice in the 1940s. It was the Wildcats' ninth straight victory over Tennessee (11-14, 4-11).
No. 5 Wake Forest 71, Georgia Tech 55: The Demon Deacons kept the heat on Duke in the race for the ACC regular-season title, moving a half-game behind the Blue Devils with a victory over the Yellow Jackets in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Tim Duncan, playing in front of his father, William, and the governor of the Virgin Islands, scored 10 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out nine assists on a night when his No. 21 jersey retired by the Demon Deacons (22-4 overall, 11-4 conference). It was Duncan's 24th double-double of the season and 81st in 123 games.
Georgia Tech lost its fifth straight and is 0-10 against ranked teams one season after winning the ACC regular-season crown. The 16 losses tie the worst mark in 16 seasons under Bobby Cremins, and the 12 league defeats are the most in one year under the coach.
No. 9 Cincinnati 63, Southern Mississippi 49: In Cincinnati, Ruben Patterson scored 20 points off the bench, helping the Bearcats rally for a victory over Southern Mississippi that clinched at least a share of the Conference USA regular-season championship.
Cincinnati (23-5, 11-1) also earned the top seed for the conference tournament it won last year.
No. 21 Illinois 87, Penn State 65: In State College, Pa., Kiwane Garris had 27 points as the Fighting Illini handed the Nittany Lions a Big Ten loss.
Illinois (19-8, 9-6 Big Ten) led by 21 points at halftime and by 29 with four minutes remaining. Kevin Turner added 12 points for the Illini and Chris Gandy had 11.
No .23 St. Joseph's 78, Massachusetts 63: In Philadelphia, Rashid Bey scored 18 points and the Hawks held the Minutemen without a field goal for more than 11 minutes late in the second half.
Terrell Myers added 16 points for the Hawks, whose victory came one day after they broke into the Top 25 for the first time in 24 years.
Notes
TECH DUO HONORED: Virginia Tech freshman forward Kim Seaver was named to the Atlantic 10 women's All-Rookie team and teammate Renee Maitland was chosen as the league's most improved player. Seaver averaged 13.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for the Hokies.
Maitland, a junior guard, increased her rebounding from 2.6 per game last season to a team-best 6.1 in 1996-97. She also had 78 steals after swiping 13 a year ago.
DIV. III MEN'S POLL: Straight off its ODAC tournament championship victory, Hampden-Sydney leaped into first place in the latest NCAA Division III South Region men's poll. Roanoke dropped to a fifth-place tie with Christopher Newport and Bridgewater fell to seventh.
ODAC WOMEN'S TOURNEY: With a 19-1 league record, Roanoke is the No.1 seed for the ODAC women's tournament, which tips off Thursday with the Maroons playing No.8 Lynchburg at 12:30 p.m. (Pairings in Scoreboard. B4) Roanoke has won 10 tournament titles.
No.6 Washington and Lee is making its first appearance in the tournament. The Generals' program began in 1994, and this season the team set a school record with seven conference victories.
RADFORD RACKS UP: Four Highlanders men's players were honored by the Big South Conference.
Senior guard Anthony Walker made the All-Big South first team and senior center Eric Bowens made the second team. Freshman point guard Rian Everett was named to the All-Rookie team. With a 3.97 grade-point average, junior guard and chemistry major Corey Reed is the Big South men's scholar athlete of the year.
HATCHELL TOPS: North Carolina's Sylvia Hatchell, whose sub-.500 squad last year rebounded to a 24-2 record and a top-five ranking this season, was named The Associated Press women's coach of the year in the ACC.
Hatchell, whose club finished first in the ACC regular season with a 15-1 mark, was an overwhelming selection for the 1996-97 award, getting 56 of a possible 66 votes cast by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Writers Association.
SOUTHERN STARS: Tennessee-Chattanooga forward Johnny Taylor, who ranks in the top 10 in the Southern Conference in six individual categories, was named the league's 1996-97 player of the year.
Davidson's Landry Kosmalski was named freshman of the year and Marshall first-year head coach Greg White was chosen as coach of the year.
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines KEYWORDS: BASKETBALLby CNB