March 22, 2009

NCAA FIRST ROUND

GONZAGA 74, XAVIER 59

SEATTLE - Sophomore center Ta'Shia Phillips set new school NCAA Tournament records for points, rebounds and field goals with 24, 18 and 11 respectively but it was not enough as the No. 5 seeded Xavier University women's basketball team dropped a 74-59 decision to No. 12 Gonzaga on Saturday evening in first round action of the 2009 Division I Women's Basketball Championship at Bank of America Arena in Seattle, Wash. With the loss, the Musketeers conclude the season with a 25-7 record, while the Zags improve to 27-6.

Two other Musketeers tallied double-digit scoring as senior Tudy Reed and junior Dee Dee Jernigan both scored 10 points in the contest. Reed also collected nine rebounds and two assists on the night. As a team, the Musketeers out-rebounded the Zags, 47-37.

Xavier trailed by three points at the break but the Zags were able to build the lead to 11 points, 58-47, with 8:10 remaining. The Musketeers would not lie down though and cut the lead to three points, 60-57, on the strength of a 6-0 spurt over the next 3:50. Ta'Shia Phillips buried four free throws and April Phillips converted on a driving layup during the stretch.

However, the Zags scored the next six points to effectively put the game away.

The Musketeers stumbled out of the gate and trailed 9-2 after Courtney Vandersloot buried a pull up jumper at the 16-minute mark. XU started the game just 1-of-9 from the floor but quickly got things turned around and mounted a 7-0 run over the next 3:50 to knot the game up at nine.

PURDUE 65, CHARLOTTE 52

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Danielle Campbell scored 12 points, and No. 6 seed Purdue downed 11th-seeded Charlotte 65-52 Saturday for its 12th straight first-round win, this time in the Oklahoma City Regional.

Purdue (23-10) hasn't lost in the opening round since 1996, and the Boilermakers improved to 18-2 in the first round.

"When you have been here before, it helps," Purdue senior Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton said. "You've been here and you're experienced. Every team at that first game, your nerves kind of get to you and you kind of work out the kinks as this tournament goes on. We're going to get more and more confident."

Charlotte (23-9) missed on making school history with an NCAA win in its second trip, and the 49ers can blame themselves. A team averaging 19.4 turnovers per game had 20 in the first half alone and finished with 28, one off its worst of the season.

"It was a mixture of nerves and overexcitement for us, as well as the pressure, that got us," Charlotte senior Traci Ray said. "We were just a little antsy. We were shooting too fast. We didn't get into our offense very well and didn't reverse the ball."

Aysha Jones had a game-high 24 points for Charlotte, and Danielle Burgin had 10.

Purdue's roster is loaded with experience thanks to five seniors, led by Wisdom-Hylton, the Big Ten's active career scoring leader. And these seniors want more than just making a regional final, something they last did in 2007.

Brittany Rayburn and FahKara Malone each had 11 points, and Wisdom-Hylton finished with 10. Rayburn's points came in 14 minutes off the bench before she fouled out.

This was Charlotte's eighth straight postseason appearance, and the 49ers thought they were ready to take the program to a new level with an NCAA win. But the Atlantic 10's best shooting team - 17th in the country - couldn't match its 45 percent average and couldn't hit the boards hard enough to make up for their mistakes.

Jones called it a wonderful experience.

"We'll be back next year and make a statement. It's a wonderful experience for this year and a learning step for next year," she said.

At least four 49ers had three turnovers apiece in the first half, and Purdue made them pay, turning the mistakes into 16 points. The Boilermakers finished with 26 points off those turnovers.

The 49ers led 20-17 on a layup by Erin Floyd at 9:55 when Purdue took control with 15 straight points in a run highlighted by three 3-pointers from Rayburn.

"It hurt us," Charlotte coach Karen Aston said. "It hurt our momentum. We were playing pretty well in a good flow, and that got us out of sorts and probably scarred our confidence a bit. Then they started rolling."

Floyd ended the more than five-minute drought for Charlotte with a jumper at 4:28. But Purdue still led 34-25 at halftime despite Jones' 3 with 2 seconds left.

Purdue didn't give Charlotte any chance to make a run in the second half, scoring 10 of the first 13 points. Danielle Campbell's second bucket in that stretch gave Purdue its biggest lead at 44-28 with 15:59 to go. The Boilermakers led by as much as 20 before Charlotte tried to whittle away at that margin behind Jones.

The 49ers just ran out of time.

Xavier would tie the score twice more in the first half but was unable to get over the hump. XU trailed by five points, 29-24, when Heather Bowman scored her fourth consecutive point with under a minute to go but Tudy Reed pulled XU to within three-points, 29-26, after she converted on a layup with 20-seconds left.

Ta'Shia Phillips led the way for XU with 12 points and 10 rebounds. She registered her 15th double-double of the season with 1:40 remaining in the first half.