March 6, 2010

2010 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

Game 5 - Xavier 61, Richmond 52

Box Score |   Photo Gallery  |  Postgame Interview - Xavier  |  Postgame Interview - Richmond

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - April Phillips scored a team-high 17 points and Amber Harris posted her 38th career double-double to lead the No. 5 Xavier University women's basketball team past Richmond, 61-52, in quarterfinal action of the 2010 Atlantic 10 Championship at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. With the win, XU advances to the semifinal for the 10th time in the last 13 years and improves to 25-3 on the season. No. 8 seeded Richmond slips to 18-12 on the season.

The top-seeded Musketeers will square-off against either No. 4 Charlotte or No. 5 Saint Joe's on Sunday for the right to go to the Championship Game. Tip off for that contest is set for 12 p.m.

The win was Xavier's 16th straight and marks the second-longest winning streak in program history. XU has now won seven of its last eight games in the Atlantic 10 Championship and improves to 23-10 all-time during the event. The 25 wins are tied for the fourth most all-time.

April Phillips' 17 were only two points off her career high and came on 6-of-10 shooting. The senior also collected seven rebounds and was a solid 5-of-6 from the free throw line.

Game 6 - Charlotte 87, Saint Joseph's 85 (OT)

Box Score |  Photo Gallery  | Postgame Interview - Charlotte

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - The Charlotte 49ers (17-12) behind five double-figure scorers defeated the Saint Joseph's Hawks (17-14), 87-85, in overtime for their fourth straight Atlantic 10 Tournament win. With the victory, the 49ers advanced to face #5 Xavier in the A-10 Tournament semifinals, Sunday, March 7 at 12 pm.

"You can tell that Saint Joseph's had a lot of experienced players on their team," Charlotte coach Karen Aston said. "They never let us pull away from them in the second half. However, I am so proud of our team today. We had a lot of different players step up and make plays today. Our bench gave us quality minutes. Our seniors Erin Floyd, Ashley Spriggs and Aysha Jones made plays for us. Kendria Holmes was a huge difference for us in the game."

Holmes led the 49ers in scoring with a game-high 19 points. She also recorded five steals and four assists with no turnovers. Jones scored 18 points including 7-for-8 from the line. Spriggs tallied 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the game. Floyd scored 12 points including a perfect 8-for-8 from the line in the game. Jennifer Hailey scored 10 points off the bench to round out the 49ers double-figure scorers. Shannon McCallum scored nine points in the game so she enters tomorrow's game needing to score four points for 1,000 career points.

Game 7 - Dayton 83, St. Bonaventure 66

Box Score |  Photo Gallery | Postgame Interview - Dayton  | Postgame Interview - St. Bonaventure

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - The University of Dayton prevailed over St. Bonaventure 83-66 in its quarterfinal game of the 2010 Atlantic 10 Championship Saturday at The Show Place Arena. With the victory the Flyers, the No. 2 seed, improve to 24-6 this season, just one off the modern-era record of 25 set by the 2007-08 squad.

"I feel like we beat a very good team today. It was not an easy game by any stretch. I think St. Bonaventure is one of the best coached teams in the country," said UD Head Coach Jim Jabir. "I thought our defense was a little suspect, and they took advantage of it. We were able to get enough points on the board to compensate."

UD's sophomores accounted for 54 of the Flyers' 83 points. Justine Raterman scored a team-high 20 points to go along with nine rebounds to pace Dayton, and fellow sophomore Patrice Lalor put up a career-high 18 points to go with a game-high six assists. Kayla Moses came off the bench and provided a huge spark with 10 points. Casey Nance tallied five points and Elle Queen also notched a point.

Game 8 - Temple 63, Duquesne 54

Box Score |  Photo Gallery | Postgame Interview - Temple  | Postgame Interview - Duquesne

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - Sophomore Kristen McCarthy, a first-team All-Conference member, notched a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead Temple to a 63-54 win over Duquesne in the last quarterfinal contest of the Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship in The Show Place Arena.

Duquesne led by two points at the half, 33-31, and led by as many as seven points in the second half but Temple used a 22-2 run to open a 60-47 lead midway through the half and never looked back.

The owls shot 12-of-31 from three-point range and outrebounded the Dukes 46-42. Duquesne was led in scoring by senior Samantha Pollino who netted 17 points.