College Roundup Offaly’s Moran is double trouble for St. Joe’s opponents

By John Manley

St. Joseph’s of Philadelphia made Fordham pay for two close defeats the Hawks suffered the previous week by thrashing the Lady Rams, 66-37, in women’s basketball. Freshman sensation Susan Moran, from Tullamore, Co. Offaly, recorded her fifth double-double of the season in that game, then repeated the feat in a subsequent 69-42 romp over Temple. Moran saw 28 minutes of playing time in the Fordham blowout, clicking on 5 of 12 from the floor, while converting all three free throws, for 13 points. She slapped the mitts on 10 rebounds, managed three steals and dished out a pair of assists.

The Temple game wasn’t as "close" as the score would indicate. The Hawks left the floor at halftime ahead 35-10, after running up a 16-0 lead to start the festivities. The Owls then played St. Joe’s nearly even in the second half. Moran found the basket on 7 of 11 field goal attempts and 4 of 6 foul shots for 18 points. She again had 10 boards. St. Joe’s is now 13-7 overall and 8-2 in Atlantic-10 competition.

Men’s basketball

It’s beginning to look as if the end of the season can’t come soon enough for Rider, which continues to fall farther under the .500 mark. The Broncs lost a heartbreaker to Niagara, 86-85, on a three-point shot at the buzzer. Rider’s Ken Lacey scored 13 points on 4 of 6 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the foul line. He also had 9 rebounds.

The Broncs then lost their fifth straight when they were defeated by Iona, 81-76. Lacey, an Irish national team player with junior eligibility, posted 20 points, connecting on 6 of 12 from around the key and 8 of 12 from the foul stripe. He also had 10 rebounds. Rider is now 7-11 overall and 3-7 in Metro Atlantic play.

Tennis

California’s Claire Curran was bounced out of the flight 1 singles bracket in the first round of the Pacific-10 indoor championships, but the Dublin junior turned a lemon into lemonade by advancing to the finals of the consolation round. Curran disposed of Washington State’s Patrycja Gajdzik, 6-3, 6-2, then did likewise with Oregon’s Sarah Colistro, 6-3, 6-3. The final round found Curran falling to Washington State’s Erica Perkins, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Curran then racked up two victories in a dual match against none other than Washington State. She took care of business at the No. 6 singles spot with a victory over Moniek VandVen, 6-7, 6-0, 6-4. Curran also teamed with Anita Kurimay at first doubles to defeat Perkins and Sarah Burrows, 8-4. California won the match, 8-1, to improve to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in Pac-10 play.

Swimming

North Carolina State’s Gina Galligan finished second in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke in a dual meet against Virginia Tech. Galligan, a senior from Dublin, covered the distance in 1 minute, 7.08 seconds. Tech’s Kate Keeton won the race in 1:06.32. N.C. State won the meet 171-129.