Lady Monarchs

Tim Pearson scored his fourth goal with 2: 53 left to play to help Army complete a big comeback and stun No. 12 Delaware, 10-9, in men's college lacrosse yesterday at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y. The Cadets (4-3), who lost to Colgate, 11-10, in their last outing, ended a two-game winning streak by the Blue Hens (4-4). Delaware led 7-2 at the half and 8-4 after three quarters. Army scored the first five goals of the quarter and took its first lead at 9-8 with 4: 46 left. Delaware's Ryan Metzbower (St. Mary's)

Junior attackman Kyle Barrie scored three goals in top-ranked Johns Hopkins' game-opening five-goal run, helping the Blue Jays down No. 11 Hofstra, 13-6, yesterday in a men's lacrosse game at Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y. It was the fifth consecutive victory over the Pride (2-2) for the Blue Jays (4-0), who await a matchup with No. 3 Syracuse on Saturday at Homewood Field. Junior midfielder Matt Rewkowski added two goals and an assist for Hopkins. No. 17 Navy 11, Bucknell 5: The host Midshipmen (3-1, 2-0 Patriot League)

Greg Monroe delivered 14 points and seven rebounds in his college debut and anchored a suffocating defense that helped No. 22 Georgetown build a lead and then hold on to beat visiting Jacksonville in its opener, 71-62, last night. Jacksonville (0-2) missed its first eight shots from the field en route to shooting only 28 percent for the first half and 35 percent for the game. NO. 2 CONNECTICUT 99, HARTFORD 56: : Craig Austrie and freshman Kemba Walker scored 21 points each and the Huskies (2-0)

Shawntae Payne scored four points, including the game-clinching free throw with three seconds to play, during the final minute of play leading Coppin State to a 78-74 victory over North Carolina A&T in the quarterfinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday at the Lawrence Joel Veteran's Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C. With the victory, Coppin State (20-11) advances to the semifinals where it will meet top-seeded Hampton (24-4) at noon today. The Eagles built a 23-point lead in the second half only to see North Carolina A&T (15-16)

James Johnson had career highs with 28 points and 18 rebounds to lead No. 13 Wake Forest past North Carolina State last night. Ishmael Smith added a season-high 18 points and Chas McFarland had 15 for the Demon Deacons (21-5, 8-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who improved to 13-1 at home and won for the third time in four games.Tracy Smith scored 18 points to lead the Wolfpack (15-11, 5-8). Miami 62, Virginia 55: : Jack McClinton (Calvert Hall) scored 11 points, well below his average, but hit a three-pointer with 47 seconds to play to help the Hurricanes (17-10, 6-8)

Top-ranked North Carolina waited for Tyler Hansbrough to make history, then cruised to its latest lopsided victory. Hansbrough scored 20 points last night to break the storied program's career scoring record and help the Tar Heels (10-0) remain unbeaten with a 91-73 victory over visiting Evansville (7-2). The reigning National Player of the Year passed Phil Ford for the record midway through the first half. Ford, now an assistant coach to fellow Tar Heel alumnus Larry Brown with the NBA Charlotte Bobcats, finished his career in 1978 with 2,290 points.

In October, the women's college basketball season seemed like a foregone conclusion, just as it had the year before. The three-time defending champion Tennessee Lady Vols were returning all five starters from last year's unbeaten team. By Nov. 15, when Purdue ended Tennessee's 45-game winning streak, there was hope that maybe, just maybe, this could be the year that someone other than the Lady Vols wins the title. And now, with less than a month to go in the regular season, things are back to normal, as Tennessee has returned to form, with an 18-game winning streak, including victories over once and former Top 10 teams Louisiana Tech, Duke, UCLA, Connecticut, Georgia (twice)

The conversation is likely to be similar on the top floors of the Kansas City, Mo., hotel where the NCAA men's and women's basketball committees are meeting this weekend to pick the field for next week's tournaments.Besides the difficult task of figuring out which teams get invited, both committees are likely to struggle over whom to award their final No. 1 seed.Just as with the men, three of the women's top seeds appear set. Purdue (28-1), Tennessee (28-2) and Louisiana Tech (24-2), the top three teams in the national polls and in RPI ratings, are overwhelming favorites to get No. 1 seeds when the tournament pairings are announced around 5 p.m. today.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Six days ago, the Duke women's basketball team was the toast of its sport, summarily ending Tennessee's three-year reign atop women's basketball.But last night, 17,773 fans and a nationwide audience saw the Blue Devils go ablaze under the heat of top-ranked Purdue's blistering second-half performance that got the Boilermakers a 62-45 win in the national championship game.And the thing that seemed to catch Duke coach Gail Goestenkors by surprise was that the Blue Devils collapsed under the weight of the Purdue pressure after handling the vaunted Tennessee press.

CINCINNATI -- Women's basketball players may not have the speed or the leaping ability of men, but they and their coaches can duck the favorite's role just as easily as their male counterparts can.Three of the four participants in this weekend's Final Four -- Old Dominion, Tennessee and Notre Dame -- spent a good part of yesterday's media briefings, which precede tonight's national semifinals, trying to adopt the underdog mantle.Each of the four beat at least two ranked teams to make their way to the Final Four.