Dwyer, Hawks stay in NEC title hunt

The Hawks advanced to Saturday’s final game against St. Francis (Pa.) with a 64-60 win over Sacred Heart. Dwyer, a sophomore from Thurles, Co. Tipperary, scored 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the floor, including 2-for-4 from long distance and 2-for-3 from the foul line. She also got her hands on nine rebounds. Sacred Heart’s Kate Maher, a senior from Waterford, had a double-double, scoring 10 points on 5-for-10 shooting, while grabbing 11 caroms.
Monmouth defeated Wagner, 72-54, in a quarterfinal game. Dwyer, who was named to the All-NEC second team, posted 13 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the floor, including 1-for-4 from 3-point territory, and 2-for-3 from the foul line. She also had 6 rebounds. The Hawks’ championship match is slated for Saturday at Wagner College at 2 p.m. The game will be televised by Fox Sports New York.
Sacred Heart won its quarterfinal match with Long Island University, 51-48. Maher chipped in with 6 points on 3-for-8 from the floor. She had 12 boards and 4 assists. Unless they receive an NIT invite, the Pioneers finish the season 21-8.
Quinnipiac also took part in the NEC tournament. The Bobcats needed two overtimes to dispatch Fairleigh Dickinson, 80-76, in the quarterfinal round. Waterford junior Kim Fitzpatrick went all the way for Quinnipiac. She scored only 5 points, but held Natallia Marchanka, FDU’s prime scoring threat, to only 12 points. The Bobcats were then eliminated by St. Francis, 69-62, to complete the season at 18-11. Fitzpatrick scored seven points on 3-for-7 from the floor and 1-for-2 from the foul line. She also earned credit for 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
The Michelle Fahy era came to an end at Iona, but not without the Galway senior giving it her all. Fahy scored 30 points as the Gaels (7-21) lost to St. Peter’s, 71-62, in the first round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. Fahy shot 7-for-14 from the floor and 16-for-18 from the foul stripe. She also was credited with 7rebounds and 4 assists.
Fahy finished the season leading Iona in scoring with 18.9 points per game. She was second in assists, with 3.1 per game, and averaged 5.5 boards per contest. Fahy was also honored as a first-team All-MAAC selection. She finished her Iona career with 1,415 points and 706 rebounds, making her only the second player in the program’s history to crack the 1,400 and 700 plateaus, respectively.
Laura Mullally scored a game-high 30 points as Dowling came back from a 20-point second-half deficit to defeat Southampton, 73-65, in overtime in a first-round New York Collegiate Athletic Conference game. The junior from Athlone, Co. Westmeath, accounted for 21 of her points from outside the 3-point arc. Mullally tied the game with a trey with 29 seconds left on the clock in regulation, then scored what proved to be the game-winner in the extra period. Dowling (16-13) then lost to St. Thomas Aquinas, 51-47, in a semifinal match. Mullally was held to just 3 points here.
Aine O’Dwyer scored 5 points and had 5 rebounds as New Jersey Institute of Technology was walloped by University of Sciences, Philadelphia, 92-52, in the first round of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference tournament. NJIT finished the season 12-16. O’Dwyer, a freshman from Killenaule, Co. Tipperary, led the team in rebounding, averaging 7.6 caroms per game. She was fourth in scoring, good for 8.6 points per game.

MEN’S HOOPS
Conor Grace pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds as Davidson pushed aside Elon, 68-61, in a Southern Conference quarterfinal game. The junior from Dublin put four points on the board and assisted on three buckets. The Wildcats (17-12) were eliminated in the semifinal round by East Tennessee State, 96-84. Grace was held scoreless, while picking off 7 caroms. Grace finished the season second on the team in rebounding with 6.7 boards per game. He also averaged 6.5 points.
Paul Butler contributed 9 points, all from bonus land, but St. Thomas Aquinas (12-15) came up short in a first-round NYCAC game, losing to C.W. Post, 78-61. Butler is a sophomore from Ballymena.

TRACK & FIELD
The Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame found a pair of Irish runners trying, unsuccessfully, to qualify for this weekend’s NCAA meet. De Paul’s Gavin Kennedy, a junior from Waterford, finished 19th in the mile, which he finished in 4:08.73. He needed 4:04.90 to qualify provisionally. Butler’s Thomas Frazer, a Belfast junior, gave 3,000 meters a shake. His fifth-place finish netted an 8:17.30 clocking, well shy of the 8:08 he needed.
Providence College’s men’s team won the Distance Medley Relay at the IC4A Indoor Championships in Boston. The Friars’ team, which included Liam Reale, a junior from Hospital, Co. Limerick, and Martin Fagan, a sophomore from Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, broke the tape in 9:45.57. Connecticut was second in 9:47.30.
Providence’s Deirdre Byrne ran second in the 800 meters at the ECAC Indoor Championships in Boston. The junior from Avoca, Co. Wicklow, was timed in 2:09.31. Buffalo’s Allison Laske ran a winning 2:07.62.

GOLF
East Tennessee State’s Noel Kavanagh tied for 23rd place in the Seminole Intercollegiate, played at the Golden Eagle Country Club in Tallahassee, Fla. Kavanagh, a sophomore from Westport, Co. Mayo, was 12 over par at 228 (76-73-79), which was 14 strokes off the winning number of 214. ETSU placed seventh in the 12-team field, which was led by Georgia State.

TENNIS
California racked up wins over Arizona, 6-1, and Arizona State, 5-2. Dublin senior Catherine Lynch provided victories at third singles over Arizona’s Debbie Larocque, 6-1, 6-4, and State’s Vana Tomas, 6-2, 6-2.
San Diego’s Emma Murphy has won three of four recent matches, all at second singles. The Cork sophomore started by sweeping Valparaiso’s Monika Danko, 6-0, 6-0, as the Toreros cruised to a 6-1 victory. Murphy’s win over Boston College’s Nida Waseem, 6-1, 6-3, was critical as the Toreros downed the Eagles, 4-3. Murphy then lost to Washington’s Claire Carter, 7-6, 6-3, with the Huskies prevailing, 6-1. Murphy and her teammates then bounced back with a 4-3 triumph over Washington State. Murphy downed Orsolya Sallai, 7-6, 6-4.
Concord College defeated West Virginia State, 9-0, with Mark O’Neill providing a win at first singles. The junior from Dublin polished off Jeff Thomas, 6-0, 6-0.
Pacific’s Alan Kelly, a freshman from Dublin, split a pair of recent matches at fifth singles. He knocked off Loyola Marymount’s Matt Phillips, 6-2, 7-6 (2), to help the Tigers to a 6-1 win. Pacific then eked out a 4-3 victory over Sacramento State, although Kelly lost to Peter Farkas, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Georgia Southern’s Ciara Finucane recovered from two losses to lead the Eagles to consecutive victories last weekend. The Dublin freshman, who plays first singles for GSU, fell to Elon’s Evin Prelec, 6-3, 6-4, and then Jacksonville’s Emese Sulyos, 6-3, 6-0. GSU won the Elon match, 6-1, but lost to Jacksonville by the same score. They then defeated Western Carolina, 6-1, with Finucane handling Kristin Munn, 6-2, 6-2, followed by a win over Chattanooga, 5-2, with Finucane prevailing over Charlotte Goude, 6-2, 6-4.