Women's College Basketball: Delaware loses again to Old Dominion in CAA tourney

Delaware's nightmarish experiences this season against top-seeded Old Dominion continued yesterday in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball tournament in Harrisonburg, Va.

The fourth-seeded Blue Hens came up short for the third time, losing to the Monarchs, 50-49, after holding a 12-point lead at the half.

The result came on a day when Nebraska (30-1), ranked third in the Associated Press women's poll, was upset by 11th-ranked Texas A&M, 80-70, in the semifinals of the Big Twelve Conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo.

That left top-ranked Connecticut (33-0) the only unbeaten team heading into the NCAA tournament.

Old Dominion (18-12) advanced to today's championship game against second-seeded James Madison (25-6), the host school. The winner will get an NCAA automatic bid.

The Dukes (25-6), who lost to Drexel in the title game a year ago, nearly blew an 18-point lead over third-seeded Virginia Commonwealth (20-12) before emerging with a 79-70 win in the other semifinal.

Elena Delle Donne scored a game-high 30 points for Delaware (21-11), which lost its two previous games against ODU in the final seconds.

Big Twelve. Danielle Robinson and Amanda Thompson hit big free throws in the final seconds, lifting No. 12 Oklahoma past No. 20 Oklahoma State, 74-69, and into the Big 12 title game against Texas A&M.

MAC. Lauren Prochaska scored 29 points to lead Bowling Green to a 62-53 win over Toledo in the Mid-American Conference championship game.

Big West. Amber Cox's 27 points led UC Riverside to a 71-67 victory over UC Davis in the conference championship game in Anaheim, Calif.

Mountain West. Quenese Davis' 22 points and Jene Morris' 21 helped San Diego State beat Utah, 70-60, in overtime in Las Vegas for the tournament title.

Patriot League. Alex Ross scored 13 points and Lehigh earned its second straight NCAA trip with a 58-42 win over American in Bethlehem, Pa.

Pac-10. Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 18 points and 10 rebounds and No. 2 Stanford routed Cal, 64-44, in Los Angeles in the semifinals of the conference tourney. . . . Darxia Morris scored 16 points, and No. 23 UCLA held on to beat Southern California, 59-53, in the second semifinal game.

Southwest Athletic. Ashley Augerson scored 19 points, Hannah Kador added 15, and Southern beat Alabama State, 60-47, in Bossier City, La., for the conference championship.

Mid-Eastern Athletic. Melanie Warner's 17 points and 16 rebounds led Hampton past South Carolina State, 57-46, in Winston-Salem, N.C., in the conference championship game.

Big Sky. Claire Faucher scored 26 points on eight three-pointers to lift Portland State to a 62-58 win over Montana State in Cheney, Wash.

Western Athletic Shanavia Dowdell had 20 points and 19 rebounds, and Jasmine Bendolph hit an 18-footer with 33 seconds left as Louisiana Tech upset top-seeded Fresno State, 68-66, in Reno, Nev., in the tournament title game.

America East. Courtney Pilypaitis scored 20 points, and Vermont earned an NCAA tournament berth with a 55-50 upset of No. 21 Hartford in West Hartford, Conn.

Division II - Second-seeded Holy Family advanced to the East region final with a 64-47 win over No. 3 Stonehill in Fitchburg, Mass., as Catherine Carr scored 17 points. The Tigers will play top seed Franklin Pierce tomorrow night for a berth in the national Elite Eight.