Nec

The sixth-seeded Mount St. Mary's women's basketball team saw its Northeast Conference tournament run come to an end with a 63-56 defeat at the hands of top-seeded Quinnipiac in the semifinals Wednesday night at the TD Bank Sports Center. Jacqueline Brewer hit a career-best six 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 20 points for the Mount.  The Mount (15-16), playing in the NEC semifinals for the first time since 2001, led 34-29 at halftime. Quinnipiac (29-2) increased its lead to six points with six minutes to go in the game before a layup by Rachel Mathews and Brewer's sixth 3-pointer cut the Mount's deficit to 53-52.

Bryant's men's lacrosse team is one step closer to winning the Northeast Conference's first automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament after knocking off Sacred Heart, 11-9, on Thursday in Providence, R.I. For the Bulldogs, one of the more impressive turnarounds is nearly complete after the preseason NEC favorite started 0-7, losing six of those games by one or two goals, including two near misses vs. likely tournament teams Bucknell and Albany....

Shawn Atupem scored 15 points and Will Holland had 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead host Mount St. Mary's past Saint Francis (Pa.), 67-51, on Thursday night. The win marks the ninth straight for the Mount (14-14, 11-6) and secures home-court advantage for the Northeast Conference tournament. The Red Flash (11-17, 9-8) saw their winning streak end at four. Mount St. Mary's, which has won by double figures in seven straight games, led by 15 points in the first half, but Saint Francis (11-17, 9-8)

Alex Love scored the game-winning goal with 2:13 left to play as visiting Hobart stunned fifth-ranked Syracuse, 13-12, in men's lacrosse Tuesday at the Carrier Dome. The Statesmen (6-6) got the final four goals, including a pair from Derek Akner , in a span of 5:04. Hobart was led by six goals from Love, who added an assist, in beating their in-state rival for the first time since 2006 and the second time since 1986. Dylan Donohue had three goals and Derek Maltz and JoJo Marasco scored two apiece for the Orange (9-3)

Senior guard Jeremy Goode , who leads Mount St. Mary's in scoring (14.0), assists (4.4) and steals (2.5), was named to the All-Northeast Conference first team for the second consecutive season. More honors: St. Mary's senior guard Camontae Griffin (Dunbar) and junior guard Alex Franz (Cardinal Gibbons) and Salisbury senior guard Greg Palmer were named to the All-Capital Athletic Conference first team. Hood junior center Tyler Snoots made the second team, and St. Mary's Chris Harney was Coach of the Year.

Site -- Campus sites When -- Today through March 12 Web site -- northeastconference.org TV -- Championship game (March 12, 7 p.m.) will be on ESPN2. Favorite -- Top-seeded Robert Morris (25-6, 16-2 NEC). State entry -- Fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's (15-14, 11-7). Outlook -- In addition to being the top seed, Robert Morris also enters the tournament as the hottest team in the Northeast Conference, having won its past 13 games, a streak that spans more than two months. Sacred Heart, the number three seed, was the last team to defeat the Colonials and could pull off another upset should the two teams meet in the finals.

Tara Lonergan and Sydney Henderson each scored 10 points to lead host Mount St.Mary's to a 51-39 win over LIU Brooklyn on Monday night that clinches  a spot in the Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament. After a sluggish start to the first half, the Mount scored five points in the final minute to take a 19-17 lead at the break.  Jessie Kaufman drained a 3-pointer and Henderson scored a basket in the paint to give the Mountaineers (13-14, 9-7 Northeast Conference) their only lead in the opening half.

  Mount St. Mary's lost to Bryant, 12-6, in the Northeast Conference men's lacrosse championship game Sunday afternoon at Robert Morris. Andrew Scalley had two goals and two assists to pace the Mount in the loss. The Mount (6-9), the defending NEC champion, was looking for its third consecutive conference title. Mount St. Mary's won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title in 2010 before winning the first NEC championship last season. But Bryant (14-4) took control of the game early, scoring six times in the opening 10:25 for a 6-0 lead.

Monmouth scored 10 unanswered goals to defeat Mount St. Mary's, 11-3, in the Northeast Conference women's lacrosse championship game on Sunday in Fairfield, Conn. Lindsay Diaz (Dulaney), Hannah Gutcher (Mount de Sales) and Gabe Little (North Carroll) scored for the Mountaineers (9-10). Brigid McTavish (South Carroll) made 10 saves in the loss. Little, McTavish, and Meaghan Conlon (Liberty) were named to the All-Tournament team. Sam Lillo scored four goals for the Hawks, who won their fourth NEC championship.

Kiel Butler scored 16 points as Mount St. Mary's earned a spot in the Northeast Conference tournament for the first time since 1999-2000 with a 68-62 victory over visiting Monmouth. Blake Hamilton converted a three-point play with 1:39 left to bring Monmouth (18-11, 12-6) to 62-60, but Antonio Johnson hit a 15-footer with 1:06 left to give the Mountaineers (10-18, 8-10) some breathing room. Wagner helped the Mountaineers earn the final spot in the tournament by defeating Sacred Heart.

The No. 6 Notre Dame men's lacrosse team overcame a slow start at home to defeat Big East rival Georgetown, 10-8, on Sunday afternoon. Senior attackman Sean Rogers paced the Fighting Irish offense with two goals and two assists. Notre Dame (9-2, 3-1) fell behind 4-0 by the 6:46 mark of the first quarter but responded with a 6-1 run to claim its first lead of the game early in the third quarter. The Hoyas (5-7, 2-2) became the first team to score five goals in a quarter against Notre Dame since Syracuse on May 1, 2010.

The sixth-seeded Mount St. Mary's women's basketball team saw its Northeast Conference tournament run come to an end with a 63-56 defeat at the hands of top-seeded Quinnipiac in the semifinals Wednesday night at the TD Bank Sports Center. Jacqueline Brewer hit a career-best six 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 20 points for the Mount.  The Mount (15-16), playing in the NEC semifinals for the first time since 2001, led 34-29 at halftime. Quinnipiac (29-2) increased its lead to six points with six minutes to go in the game before a layup by Rachel Mathews and Brewer's sixth 3-pointer cut the Mount's deficit to 53-52.

Ashley Christie's contested layup with eight seconds left in overtime led sixth-seeded Mount St. Mary's to a 59-57 win over third-seeded Monmouth in the Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament quarterfinals on Sunday. The playoff win for the Mount is the program's first since the 2000-01 season. The Mountaineers (15-15, 10-8) trailed by five points at 54-49 with 3:42 left in the overtime period, but outscored the Hawks (15-5, 12-6) 10-3 the rest of the way to come away with the win. With the score tied at 57, Tara Lonergan stole a Monmouth inbound pass with 35 seconds to go to set up the final possession in overtime.

Mount St. Mary's certainly looked the part of a rebuilding program as it limped to a 2-6 start in Northeast Conference play this year. Coming off an 8-21 season a year ago, the slow start in NEC play this winter seemed predictable to just about everyone other than first-year coach Jamion Christian, who issued his team a challenge after a 76-68 loss at Robert Morris on Jan. 26. "We set a goal … to be the best [NEC] team the last 10 regular-season games," Christian said Monday.

Fifth-seeded Mount St. Mary's upset top-seeded Robert Morris, 69-60, in the Northeast Conference tournament semifinals Saturday. Junior Rashad Whack scored 26 points to pace the Mount, which advances to the NEC championship game Tuesday night at LIU-Brooklyn. With the Mount leading 35-27 early in the second half, point guard Julian Norfleet went down with an ankle injury with 15 minutes, 22 seconds remaining. However, Mount St. Mary's responded with a 12-2 run to take control of the game.

Fifth-seeded Mount St. Mary's upset top-seeded Robert Morris, 69-60, in the Northeast Conference tournament semifinals Saturday. Junior Rashad Whack scored 26 points to pace the Mount, which advances to the NEC championship game Tuesday night at LIU-Brooklyn. With the Mount leading 35-27 early in the second half, point guard Julian Norfleet went down with an ankle injury with 15 minutes, 22 seconds remaining. However, Mount St. Mary's responded with a 12-2 run to take control of the game.

Mount St. Mary's freshman guard Chris McGuthrie and coach Jim Phelan were named major award winners yesterday by the Northeast Conference.McGuthrie was selected the NEC's Newcomer of the Year after averaging 19.9 points, third in the league, and 5.1 assists, which ranked second.The Silver Spring native also made the All-NEC second team and credited Phelan for his success."Coach Phelan surprised me when he went with me," said McGuthrie. "I just really played with a lot of confidence, which I never had before.

EMMITSBURG -- This has been a turnaround season for Mount St. Mary's basketball, highlighted by a third-place finish in the 10-team Northeast Conference, a Co-Coach of the Year award for Jim Phelan and a Newcomer of the Year honor for the team's exciting freshman guard, Chris McGuthrie.But one thing has troubled Phelan all year: subpar success at Knott Arena.A 6-6 home record (including 4-5 in the NEC) has tempered the rejuvenation and defied the conventional logic that a team should thrive at home and play .500 on the road to be a championship contender.

Rashad Whack scored 17 of his team-high 19 points in the second half to lead fifth-seeded Mount St. Mary's to a 75-69 win at fourth-seeded host Bryant in the Northeast Conference tournament quarterfinals Wednesday night.  The Mount (17-13) rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit. Trailing 39-32 early in the second half, the Mount went on a 7-0 run to even the score at 39.  Shivaughn Wiggins started the streak with a three-point play, and Kristijan Krajina and Whack added baskets to cap the run. Whack made a 3-pointer to put the Mount ahead 42-41 with 13:42 left in the game.  It was the Mount's first lead since 4-2.  After a 3-pointer by Frankie Dobbs gave the Bulldogs (19-11)

Senior guard Selina Mann tied a season high with 20 points, but Mount St. Mary's lost to host Monmouth, 71-63, Monday evening. With the defeat, the Mount (14-15, 10-8 Northeast Conference) dropped to the sixth seed in the Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament, meaning it will visit the Hawks again Sunday at 3 p.m. in the quarterfinals. The Mount started the game with a 6-0 run fueled by four points by Rachel Mathews. The Mountaineers also rattled off an 8-2 run after Monmouth (15-14, 12-6)