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.
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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.