George Mason

Towson defender Julie Ondrako looks forward this weekend to playing one -- and maybe both -- of the teams the Tigers lost to during the Colonial Athletic Association regular season. In the four-team CAA tournament at top-seeded William and Mary, the Tigers open tomorrow night with George Mason. If they get by the Patriots, they could face No. 1 seed William and Mary on Sunday. The Tigers (11-5), who finished 5-2 in the CAA and earned the third seed, let a four-goal lead slip away and lost to No. 2 seed George Mason, 13-10.

Towson's women's lacrosse team had no problem with close conference games last weekend, getting a big lead and holding it to beat Drexel and coming from behind to beat Hofstra, each by a single goal. Last night was a different story. The No. 16 Tigers jumped out to a four-goal lead, but No. 12 George Mason slowly came back and pulled away late to take a 13-10 victory in a physical Colonial Athletic Association game at Johnny Unitas Stadium. The Tigers (9-4, 3-1 CAA) had too many turnovers at critical moments and too often forced their offense while the Patriots (9-2, 2-1)

In April, make-or-break weekends come around pretty regularly for Towson's women's lacrosse team. This weekend might be the biggest when the No. 16 Tigers host a pair of Colonial Athletic Association rivals - No. 12 George Mason tonight and James Madison on Sunday afternoon. A couple of wins could have the Tigers, who are in first place, in strong position to win the CAA regular season, which would bring the CAA tournament to Johnny Unitas Stadium on May 2-4. With CAA games on Fridays and Sundays all through the month, the Tigers (9-3, 3-0 CAA)

Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt said she feels really good about Candace Parker's chances of playing against Louisiana State in a Final Four matchup this weekend. Still, Summitt is taking few chances of further injuring her two-time All-American or wearing out any of her other players before then. The Lady Vols were off yesterday and planned only a light practice for today before traveling to Tampa, Fla. Parker dislocated her left shoulder in Tennessee's 53-45 win over Texas A&M in the Oklahoma City Regional final Tuesday night.

The art of filling in a bracket you can be proud of is all about picking the right upsets. Take at least one No. 11 seed and probably a No. 12 seed in the first round, right? Probably find a sleeper that could go deep. Maybe the key is restraining yourself and not thinking too hard, letting your basketball mojo flow, as you go from line to line. But after last season, a different question needs to be asked - will the Cinderella team even return this season? The 2007 NCAA tournament was seriously lacking in major surprises.

Will Thomas might be playing his last college basketball game tonight, in George Mason's first-round NCAA tournament game against Notre Dame in Denver. Of course, there's a good chance this won't be his final game, even though Mason is a No. 12 seed and from the Colonial Athletic Association and Notre Dame is a No. 5 seed and from the Big East. But the fact that no one, including Thomas and his teammates, is convinced of an inevitable Mason loss tells you everything about the kind of player Thomas has been for four years there.

It was the biggest game in the school's history - its first conference championship, largest home crowd and first nationally televised contest - and there were several ways UMBC could have handled the inevitable pressure and nerves. The Retrievers could have come out edgy, which is how Hartford appeared as it committed eight costly turnovers in the opening half. Or they could have emerged in a black-and-gold frenzy, which is what happened yesterday as UMBC soaked up the TV cameras and the din from the crowd and stormed to the first NCAA tournament in its 22-year Division I history by routing the Hawks, 82-65.

Haliena Snowden (Seton Keough) shot 7-for-7 from the field and scored a career-high 15 points as host Towson won its ninth straight, 65-38, over George Mason yesterday. The Tigers (13-3, 5-0 Colonial Athletic Association) broke the school record for consecutive Division I wins and are tied for first with Drexel and Old Dominion. Towson held the Patriots (7-9, 1-4) to a season-low in points and forced 23 turnovers. The Tigers took the lead for good on Kandace Davis' layup that fueled a 13-2 run with 6:32 left in the first half.

WASHINGTON -- In Virginia Commonwealth, Maryland faced just the sort of "mid-major" that - like Butler or George Mason - can send shivers through the souls of major-conference opponents. The Atlantic Coast Conference will long remember VCU for its upset of Duke in last season's NCAA tournament. So Maryland had a sense of what was coming last night - a competitive game (it was) likely to come down to the finish (it did). Morgan State@Maryland Thursday, 8 p.m., Comcast SportsNet, 1300 AM, 88.9 FM

Rashauna Hobbs made a three-pointer with 1:19 left to hold off a late rally by the visiting UMBC women's basketball team as the Retrievers fell to George Mason, 58-57, last night. The Retrievers (1-4) trailed by one at the half before taking a 52-51 lead with 2:17 left on Chantay Frazier's layup. The Patriots (2-2) scored five in a row in the final minute to seal the win. The Patriots' Lateisha Wade led all scorers with 19 points. Carlee Cassidy had 17 for UMBC. George Mason has a two-game winning streak, and the Retrievers have a three-game losing streak.