Seven Points

The defending-champion Old Mill girls basketball team advanced to the Class 4A state championship game by defeating fourth-seeded Gaithersburg, 40-27, yesterday at Catonsville Community College.Cindy Davenport scored a season-high 17 points, and Stacy Himes added 12, as the top-seeded Patriots (24-1) won their 19th straight game. The onlyother Patriot to score was Christine Baer, who had seven points.The Trojans (20-6) were led by Jenny Higgins' seven points.The Patriots can retain their state title with a win over second-seededBowie in Saturday's 3 p.m. final at Catonsville.

The last time the Ravens were in the Super Bowl, Michael Phelps was a 15-year-old boy who had just gone to his first Olympics but had yet to win any of the 22 medals that last year made him the most decorated Olympian of all time. Plus, on the day his beloved Ravens were playing in Tampa -- Jan. 28, 2001 -- Phelps was across the Atlantic Ocean. "I was in Paris for a swim meet," Phelps recalled Friday, when he dropped by the Super Bowl media center. "And we tried to set the alarm to wake up in the night, but we slept through it. " Phelps, who retired from swimming after his fourth Olympics in London last year, cleared his calendar to make sure he could attend this year's game.

The Anne Arundel Community College women's basketball team went 0-2 in a pair of Maryland JuCo League contests in Western Maryland.Yesterday, the Pioneers were edged by Garrett, 53-50, despite Tiffany Clayton's 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Nikki Beall added 11points and four rebounds, and Stacey Dent and Ann Heiser (seven rebounds) tallied nine and seven points, respectively.Rhonda DeShaw grabbed eight rebounds and scored three points.On Sunday, Anne Arundel suffered a 67-48 setback to Allegany.

Americans are 20 times more likely to be killed by guns than people living in other developed countries. Nine out of 10 children who die of gunshot wounds in wealthy nations lived in the United States. People under 40 are more likely to be killed by a bullet than by any single disease. These were among the findings presented by a national panel of gun policy experts Monday at the Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. The summit, organized after a gunman massacred 26 people at a Connecticut elementary school last month, will conclude Tuesday as scholars draft a list of recommendations for lawmakers to stanch gun violence.

The Loyola women earned their second victory of the season by surviving a Towson rally to come out on top, 51-48, yesterday at home. Loyola (2-5) was led by Katie Scherle with 11 points. Kelly Robinson of Towson (5-2) scored a game-high 19. Robinson also led the Tigers in rebounds with six. Krystle Harrington followed Scherle in scoring for the Greyhounds with seven points. Brittany Dunn contributed six rebounds and four assists for Loyola.

On July 31, 2003, MARGARETFREIDENWALD, 86, of Irving, TX; born November 27, 1916, in Pine Bluff, AR, formerly of the U.S. Government Army Corps of Engineers. She is survived by three sons, John Skinner of Tool, TX, Jerry Skinner of Pella, IA and Bob Friedenwald of Vancover, WA; a brother, Jack Kleinpeter of Richmond, WA and nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Memorial service Tuesday, August 12, 10 A.M. at the chapel at the Tomlinson Funeral Home, Seven Points, TX. Officiating by Rev. John Cullen.

Jana Francis and Dionne Marsh scored 17 points each as the No. 23 New Mexico women rolled past visiting Morgan State, 101-22, last night. The Lobos improved to 10-1, and the Bears fell to 1-8. Morgan State's offense struggled, shooting 8-for-57 from the floor. Sarissa Gaskins led the Bears with seven points and five rebounds. Whitney Johnson added six points. Liberty 80, Loyola 69: The host Greyhounds (2-9) were led by Lauren Troupe with a season-high 21 points. Krystle Harrington added a season-high 18. Misericordia 49, College of Notre Dame 35: Gators guard Brynn Miscavige scored seven points.

Jason Buris scored 17 points, including four three-pointers, to lead the visiting Perry Hall basketball team to a 67-60 upset of No. 17 Catonsville last night. The Gators' Dale Seward added 16 points, including nine in the second quarter, when Perry Hall (11-0) gained the lead. Steve Roblin had 12 points to lead the Comets (7-4). No. 3 Annapolis 65, Arundel 53: Thomas Hawkins had 17 of his game-high 27 points in the second half as the host Panthers (9-0) rallied to beat the Wildcats.

OMAHA, Neb. -- Edward St. Fleur scored a game-high 16 points, including six from the free-throw line in the last 4:07, as Creighton downed Morgan State, 63-56, last night before 3,802 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.The Bears (1-4) tied the game at 47 on Scott Deas' jumper with 4:36 left, but the Bluejays (4-1) scored the next seven points -- all on free throws -- to take a 54-47 lead with three minutes left.Morgan State, which was led by Paul Grant's 10 points, forcedCreighton into a season-high 21 turnovers and held the Bluejays to 37 percent shooting.

After more than a month of retooling the offense into a well-oiled machine, the Ravens found themselves spinning their wheels in the mud against the Cincinnati Bengals. The offense, which had averaged 22.2 points and 338.2 yards in five consecutive wins since head coach Brian Billick took over the play-calling duties before the Oct. 29 victory over the New Orleans Saints, looked out of sync Thursday night, recording just seven points and 316 yards in a six-point setback to Cincinnati. Ravens@Chiefs Dec. 10, 1 p.m., Ch. 13, 1090 AM, 97.9 FM

Midfielder Steven Brooks scored the tying and winning goals Saturday night to lead the Chesapeake Bayhawks past the host Denver Outlaws, 18-16, and into a first-place tie with the Boston Cannons in Major League Lacrosse. "This was a real character win and I'm very proud of our players," Chesapeake coach Dave Cottle said. "Hopefully, a big road win like this will make our team tighter. " Chesapeake (4-1) trailed 15-13 and had been shut out for the entire fourth quarter when Brooks cleared the ball across midfield, stopped just outside the 2-point arc and rifled a shot past Denver goalie Jesse Schwartzman (Johns Hopkins, Pikesville)

The Salisbury men's lacrosse team got national championship No. 10. But it wasn't easy. SUNY-Cortland nearly matched the Sea Gulls goal-for-goal for the first three quarters before Salisbury awoke in the fourth quarter to secure a 14-10 victory in the NCAA tournament final at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon. An announced crowd of 17,005 watched the Sea Gulls successfully defend the national title they won last year, improve to 23-0, and become the seventh squad under coach Jim Berkman to complete a perfect season.

As if a fourth preseason game that featured few Ravens starters couldn't get less compelling, any intrigue for this one was sent to the locker room midway through the first quarter when rookie quarterback Tyrod Taylor injured his shoulder. That denied Taylor one last opportunity to try to secure the backup spot behind Joe Flacco, who did not play Thursday. It also made it tough for us to evaluate the Ravens' young receivers. I somehow managed to stay awake for the rest of the game.

Here is what is on my mind after the Ravens opened the preseason with a sloppy 13-6 loss to the Eagles: 1. I know this one was ugly to watch, but don't fret. Not only was it the first preseason game, it was the first preseason game after a lengthy lockout. (Side note: I guess it wouldn't have been such a bad thing had the lockout ended a week or two later and we missed preseason games.) The Eagles, who like the Ravens experienced a significant roster turnover, were slightly sharper, but it's not like they were a well-oiled machine out there.

Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers know exactly how to beat the Cincinnati Bengals - with or without Chad Ocho Cinco. The Steelers limited the depleted Bengals to six first downs after an early touchdown drive and found just enough offense themselves amid the snow flurries to control the clock behind Roethlisberger and beat Cincinnati, 27-10, last night. Pittsburgh (8-3) wasn't dominating - except defensively - in winning its fifth in a row over Cincinnati (1-9-1), its longest streak since an eight-game run in the early 1990s.

Freshman Grant Catalino stole the show on Senior Day in No. 9 Maryland's 16-10 win over Yale yesterday at Chevy Chase Bank Field. The attackman led all scorers with a career-high seven points on four goals and a career-best three assists. Catalino's seven points are the most by a Terp since March 20, 2007, when Michael Phipps had seven in a win over Mount St. Mary's. Scott Tompkins (Gilman) started things off for the Terps when he received a pass from Catalino and ripped a shot into the Bulldogs' goal for a 1-0 lead.

Fallston played well defensively but couldn't convert on the offensive end, as Williamsport ended the Cougars' surprising state title bid with a 34-21 victory in the Class 1A championship game yesterday at Catonsville Community College.The Cougars (18-6) held top-seeded Williamsport well below its 58-point scoring average, but couldn't score themselves. They hit nine of 48 shots, including one of 14 in the third quarter."Some of that is being tired," said Fallston coach Nancy Ferguson. "We weren't getting any lift on the ball and that's legs.

PHILADELPHIA -- Senior guard Brian Holden scored 25 points and Drexel shot a season-high 50.9 percent last night to defeat Navy, 82-64, for its fifth straight victory.Holden shot 8-for-11, including 2-for-3 on three-point attempts, and was 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. The Dragons' Mark Rose had 22 points and 14 rebounds, the 39th double-double of his career.Navy (3-3) led by as many as seven points in the first half but Drexel (5-1) rebounded to gain a 10-point halftime lead.Wes Cooper led the Midshipmen with 18 points and five rebounds.