Honors aplenty, but title eludes Moran

By John Manley

Susan Moran was bestowed with all manner of honors last week, but the St. Joseph’s (Pa.) senior from Tullamore, Co. Offaly, would probably give it all up to make up the five-point differential that separated the Hawks from a win in the championship game of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. St. Joe’s lost the title tilt to Temple, 63-58, as Moran was held to just 14 points and 3 rebounds. The Hawks must now wait to see whether they are NCAA-bound or if they will have to settle for the women’s NIT.

The Hawks advanced with a quarterfinal win over Fordham, 70-48, as Moran scored 24 points on 11 of 16 shooting from the field (1 of 2 from long range) and 1 of 2 from the foul line. She also had 8 rebounds and 6 steals.

St. Joe’s eliminated Xavier, 90-80, in the semifinal round. Moran led the way with 32 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the floor and 12-for-13 from the stripe. She also had 7 rebounds.

Moran was named Atlantic 10 Women’s Player of the Year, as well as first team All-Conference and Women’s Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year for the second year running. Moran’s scoring average of 23.2 points per game leads the Conference and is fourth in Div. I. Her 8.9 rebounds per game is third in the Atlantic 10. Moran was also named as a Verizon Academic All-District 2 selection. She is also up for a national honor, the Senior Class Award. Voting takes place over the Internet and those wishing to cast a ballot for her may go to http://shagenhaus.no-ip.com/johnson/scripts/women.

Meanwhile, McKendree College advanced to the final round of the American Midwest Conference tournament with victories over Harris-Stowe, 112-31, and Hannibal-LaGrange, 75-71. Freshman Niamh Dwyer, from Thurles, Co. Tipperary, co-led McKendree with 20 points in the Harris-Stowe romp. She led all scorers in the Hannibal win, putting 20 points on the board. She also scored the last three points of the game, all from the foul line. McKendree was to meet Columbia College in the championship game on Tuesday evening, after the Irish Echo went to press.

Kate Maher had 4 points for Sacred Heart in their semifinal loss to Long Island, 73-56, in the Northeast Conference tournament. The Waterford sophomore shot 2-for-4 from the field and had 4 rebounds. The Pioneers finish the season 18-11.

Men’s basketball

Davidson is going to the NCAAs. The Wildcats won the Southern Conference tournament with a 62-57 victory over Furman. Senior guard Michael Bree has been hampered by an injury (he sat out the quarterfinal win over The Citadel) and played only 11 minutes, scoring 3 points, having hit on 1 of 2 bombs that he launched. The Sligo native saw more action in the 68-58 semifinal win over UNC-Greensboro. He hit 2 of 4 from long range, and converted two free throws for 8 points. Freshman teammate Conor Grace, from Dublin, came off the bench to score 2 points for Davidson. First-round brackets will be announced this weekend.

Azusa Pacific has used some strong play down low from Clondalkin, Co. Dublin, senior Gary Dredge to advance to the final round of the Golden State Athletic Conference tournament. The Cougars took out California Baptist, 80-66, in the first round. Dredge shot 5-for-10 from the floor and was 2-for-2 from the foul line for 12 points. He also grabbed 8 rebounds and had 2 steals, although he was limited to 20 minutes, due to foul trouble. He did foul out eventually.

Azusa then knocked off Westmont, 80-64, in the semifinal game. Dredge had 6 points, shooting 3-for-3 from the floor. He led the Cougars with 10 caroms.

The championship game was scheduled for Tuesday evening, after the Irish Echo went to press.

Golf

South Alabama’s Gareth Maybin shared second place with three others at the Ron Smith Invitational, played over the University of South Florida Golf Course in Tampa. The Co. Antrim freshman was well down the leaderboard after he opened with a two-over-par 73. He fired the second best round in the second and closing stanza, when he shot 68. His final 141 left him three strokes behind Florida Southern’s Steve Sokol, who claimed the championship. South Alabama tied for third among teams, and was eight strokes behind Georgia Southern.

Kent State’s Martina Gillen is still looking to find her groove. She tied for 43rd place in the Central District Challenge, held at the River Wilderness Country Club in Parrish, Fla. The Dublin sophomore posted an 18-over-par 234 (78-79-77) for 54 holes. Michigan State’s Stacy Snider topped the field with 216. Michigan State was the top team, while Kent tied for sixth place.

Tennis

California’s Catherine Lynch was successful in both her matches at fourth singles last week. The Dublin sophomore dropped San Diego State’s Katalina Romero, 6-2, 6-2, as the Golden Bears prevailed, 6-1. Lynch also handled Oregon’s Vickie Gunnarson, 6-0, 6-1, as Berkeley shut out the Ducks, 7-0.