Women: VCU too much for W&M in CAA tournament

HARRISONBURG -- Virginia Commonwealth University put its best foot forward and punted William and Mary out of the Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball tournament.

The second-seeded VCU Rams, chasing the first CAA championship and the first NCAA Tournament bid in program history, dashed to a 25-point halftime lead and coasted thereafter while pounding the Tribe 72-52 in yesterday's tournament quarterfinals at James Madison University. In this afternoon's 2:30 semifinal, VCU (26-5) will face JMU, a 51-49 quarterfinal winner over Northeastern. VCU swept its two games with JMU during the regular season. Drexel will challenge Old Dominion at 1 in the other semifinal.

VCU performed with lethal efficiency for the first 20 minutes. The Rams, playing free-wheeling and at times ebullient basketball, outscored W&M 18-4 over the final 7:17 before intermission.

"We got beat by a better team; a bigger, stronger team; a team that has been our nemesis all year long," said W&M coach Debbie Taylor, whose club lost to the Rams for the third time this season. "We can play with the other three teams" in the CAA's top four. "But we can't seem to play with VCU. They're very, very good."

Certainly they were last night. Rams post player Quanitra Hollingsworth delivered a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double, her 17th of the season and the 54th of her career. Guard La'Tavia Rorie added 16 points and eight rebounds. Guard Radoslava Bachvarova contributed 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Rams coach Beth Cunningham said tournament openers are invariably a grab-bag because of the wait -- 10 days, in the Rams' case -- that separates the end of the regular season from the tournament tipoff. She needn't have worried.

"We came out with a great sense of urgency," Cunningham said.

VCU's signature weapons are defense and the presence in the paint of Hollingsworth, a 6-5 senior. When the Rams shoot as accurately as they did last night, they are very difficult to defeat. They shot 52.9 percent from the floor (18-34) and 57.1 percent from 3-point range (4-7) while constructing their 43-18 halftime lead.

Cunningham said that when Rorie and Bachvarova shoot as well as they did in this game, "it takes a lot of pressure off Q."

VCU's incandescent first half permitted the Rams to withstand, without a great deal of discomfort, a 16-2 W&M run at the start of the second half. The 10th-seeded Tribe closed to 45-34 with 15:26 remaining before VCU restored order by scoring on six of seven possessions.

Players "don't like to believe it or admit it, but I think it's true," Hollingsworth said. "I do think you tend to relax when you've got a big lead."

In the other quarterfinals:

OLD DOMINION 61, UNC WILMINGTON 56: The Lady Monarchs beat back a fierce challenge to their streak of 17 CAA championships. The Seahawks trailed by only two, with possession, when ODU's Jen Nuzzo tipped and then intercepted an inbounds pass with 27.2 seconds remaining. Jessica Canady scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for fourth-seeded ODU (17-12), Greta Luksyte led the fifth-seeded Seahawks (16-15) with 16 points.

DREXEL 53, TOWSON 48: The top-seeded Drexel Dragons (22-8) needed a strong showing from CAA player of the year Gabriela Marginean to repel the eighth-seeded Tigers. Marginean scored 19 points, including a crucial three-point play with 2:02 remaining. She delivered eight of her club's 19 field goals. No other Drexel player reached double digits. Towson (17-13) was led by all-CAA first-team guard Shanae Baker-Brice (25 points).

JAMES MADISON 51, NORTHEASTERN 49: The Dukes led by nine on two occasions in the second half but had to hang on down the stretch. Northeastern (12-19) closed to 43-42 before Dukes guard Dawn Evans drilled a 3-pointer at 3:14. Evans scored 23 points for third-seeded JMU (22-8). Kim Carr scored 14 points for the Huskies.

WILLIAM AND MARY (14-17)

Kell 7, Benson 18, Pye 14, Portell 4, Aldridge 9, Heath 0, Barton 0, Aadland 0, Flynn 0. Totals: 20 7-16 52.
VCU (26-5)

Waller 11, Bachvarova 13, Hollingsworth 20, Lane 4, Rorie 16, Patterson 0, Solomon 0, Taylor 2, Watts 2, Snyder 0, Hurt 4. Totals: 30 7-11 72.

Halftime: VCU 43-18; 3-point goals: WM Aldridge 3, Kell, Portell. VCU Rorie 3, Waller, Bachvarova.