Morgan State's missing the point with Bozeman

Morgan State president Earl S. Richardson got creative three years ago when he hired banished coach Todd Bozeman to resurrect a destitute basketball program. Now he needs to get creative again to save his basketball program. Despite attempts to get an extension, Bozeman has completed the three years on his contract and is free to leave. That Morgan -- and Richardson -- have put themselves in this position seems unthinkable. The school had one winning season (15-14, at that) in 26 years before Bozeman arrived.

Another historic first for the MEAC -- Coach Todd Bozeman, 2009 Hugh Durham Award as the outstanding mid-major coach in the country. It's a sad state of affairs that Morgan State does not have Bozeman under contract.

The Bears have won back-to-back MEAC regular season championships the last two years, and this season went to their first-ever NCAA Division I tournament. The NCAA bid has earned Bozeman the Hugh Durham Award as the outstanding mid-major coach in the country, announced today. Morgan doesn't appear to appreciate what that means, or the attention that brought. They are quibbling over an extension that has taken far too long to resolve. Bozeman won't speak to negotiations, preferring to take the high road. But sources indicate the sticking point is more about benefits than salary.

His salary is sub-par, even by MEAC standards, however. His original contract called for $135,000 in annual salary, with a bonus of $25,000 for making the NCAA tournament. It is believed that he received a $10,000 raise last season after winning 22 games. That would put this year's earnings at $170,000.

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Six takes over HU women's program

Former Hampton High girls basketball coach David Six was named the interim women's basketball coach at Hampton University late Tuesday in a quick move by athletic director Lonza Hardy. Six will replace four-year coach Walter Mebane, whose contract expired Tuesday and was not renewed. "I'm very excited," said Six, who coached 14 years at Hampton High before resigning in May 2008 to become HU's Director of Intramurals for the 2008-09 school year. "It's a tremendous opportunity for me. I'm very appreciative for the administration at Hampton University to think that I can come in and do a good job."

Six won two Group AAA state titles (2001, 2007) and compiled a 331-93 mark in his time at Hampton High. Six also coached Gloucester's boys basketball team from 1995-97 and went 24-39. Six officially was named the interim coach for the upcoming season, but Hardy is looking beyond. "Our thought process was that this would evolve into a permanent position," Hardy said late Tuesday. "We wanted to get him started and have him get our program back on track. We have every intention of making it a full-time position after the upcoming season.

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FAMU Well Armed At QB

There is no quarterback controversy for the Rattlers this Spring. When it comes to the two play callers that led the MEAC's top scoring offense in 2008, if the system's not broken, don't fix it. "We're going to probably start the way we finished with Curtis being the guy," Head Coach Joe Taylor said. "I just feel good that you got a guy that for whatever reason, he's winded or temporarily gets knocked out of a game, you got a guy like Eddie that can just come in and keep things going. Look to see Eddie playing, but the starter is definitely Curtis."

Last season, Pulley and Battle combined for the best pass efficiency in the MEAC, and tied for the fewest interceptions. It's a duo that understands the needs of the team come before the individual. Eddie Battle says, "He comes in, he's having an equal opportunity, knowing the system, but it's never combative. We're friends first and we're teammates, and then we compete for a spot, and that makes the both of us play better." Taylor adds, "You want to be able to create an atmosphere of competitive spirit, and certainly we're hopeful that there are going to be some battles."

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HU men's basketball coach resigns

Coach Kevin Nickelberry joins the exit train of successful former HU Pirates coaches -- Patricia Cage-Bibbs, Steve Merfeld, Bobby Collins, Joe Taylor, Jerry Holmes and Walter Mebane.

Hampton University men's basketball coach Kevin Nickelberry resigned Wednesday with one year remaining on his multi-year contract. Hampton athletic director Lonza Hardy said in a release that Nickelberry resigned now so that his decision would not affect recruiting. "I want to thank coach Nickelberry for his three years of service to Hampton University," Hardy said. "While we hate to lose him, I respect his decision to resign in order to pursue other opportunities."

Hardy said assistant head coach Edward Joyner will be the Pirates interim head coach through the 2009-10 season.Nickelberry, 44, said in the same release that the decision was a tough one. "I want to thank Hampton University for giving me my first college head-coaching opportunity," Nickelberry said. "Everyone here has helped to work to make me a better coach." Joyner joined Nickelberry's staff when Nickelberry was hired at Hampton in 2006. Joyner, a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., served as an assistant for 11 years at his alma matter.

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FAMU Baseball Splits Doubleheader

Tallahassee, FL - The Florida A&M Baseball team split a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference doubleheader with North Carolina A&T Sunday, winning the opening game, 8-5, before dropping the second game, 10-2 here at Moore-Kittles Field. FAMU (9-12, 2-3 in MEAC) had 11 hits in Sunday's opener. Led by Derrick Shaw and Antonio Burke with two hits apiece. Gabriel Rodriguez and Adam Gordon each drove in a pair of runs.

The Rattlers erased a 1-0 A&T lead with a four-run rally in the bottom of the first, then added a single run in the second to build a 5-1 lead. FAMU extended their lead to 8-1 by the sixth inning with a run in the fourth and two more runs in the sixth. The Aggies (7-15, 3-2 in MEAC) scored once in the eighth before pushing across three more in the ninth to make the game interesting. Sophomore Anthony Espin (2-4) turned in a complete game in the opening, scattering nine hits and allowing five runs in nine innings. He struck out six and walked three Sunday.

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Jaguars slam Grambling to finish 3-game sweep

Victor Franklin and Edmond Morton both hit grand slams in a nine-run Southern second inning as the Jaguars routed Grambling State, 26-10, today at Lee-Hines ield. The Jaguars (14-7 overall, 11-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) completed a three-game sweep with their seventh consecutive victory overall.

Southern pushed its SWAC winning streak to 11. Romey Bracey drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the second to give the Jaguars a 3-2 lead. Franklin followed with his bases-clearing shot as SU took a 7-2 advantage.

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Rain can't dampen Aggies' spirits

GREENSBORO -- The sky was gray, the field green, the jerseys blue and gold. And for one day, at least, the outlook was rosy. With new head coach Alonzo Lee running the show from the sideline, N.C. A&T's Blue team defense eked out a 27-26 victory over its Gold team offense in the annual spring game Saturday at Aggie Stadium. Rising junior linebacker Brandon Jackson made eight tackles for the Blue, which came back from deficits of 14-0 and 17-10. Linnell Evans, another linebacker who redshirted as a freshman last season, made four of his six tackles in the backfield.

Carlton Fears, who will be a senior in the fall, staked an early claim to the starting quarterback job, completing 17 of 28 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns for the improved offense. But in this controlled scrimmage -- the offense scored points on touchdowns and field goals, while the defense earned points based on things like third-down stops and turnovers -- the final stat sheet didn't matter much.

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Alcorn State releases 2009 Football Schedule

by ASU Sports Information

Alcorn State, MS--- The Alcorn State University Department of Athletics announces its 2009 tentative football schedule. The schedule has a new twist to it with the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss as an opponent. This will be the first meeting between the two schools in football.

The Braves will have a three game road swing after opening up at the “Rock” in Hub City. Alcorn State will travel to the Midwest to face Central Michigan on September 19th before beginning conference play in Baton Rouge, Louisiana against Southern University. Pine Bluff, Arkansas will be the final stop on Alcorn State’s travel schedule for a while when they line up against the Golden Lions on October 3rd.

The Braves will not see the field at Jack Spinks Stadium until October 10th when they face the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley. Homecoming will feature divison rival Alabama A&M. Alcorn State will go back on the road to play Southwestern Athletic opponents Texas Southern Tigers and Alabama State Hornets. The final home game of the season will be against Prairie View A&M University. The Braves will face arch-rival Jackson State University on November 21st in the Capital City Classic.

Click here to view the ASU Braves 2009 Football Schedule.

Braddy says JSU needs $500,000 to save some sports

Only four SWAC institutions, Alabama State, Southern, Prairie View A&M and Jackson State have 18 sports programs. Southern is in danger of losing men's tennis and women's golf.

Jackson State might be forced to drop some sports if the athletic department's financial situation does not improve, administrators say. Offering 18 intercollegiate sports on a $6.5 million budget, the department is scraping to get through the 2008-09 fiscal year that ends June 30. If more money is not raised through donations and sponsorships, JSU might have to eliminate two or three sports, athletic director Bob Braddy said. Braddy said the department needs to raise $500,000 by June to feel secure going into the 2009-10 school year.

Jackson State president Ronald Mason said he won't slash budgets of individual sports in order to keep all 18 programs. JSU has won the Southwestern Athletic Conference All-Sports competition two years running and a large crystal vase signifying those successes sits in the lobby of Mason's office. He said he would rather maintain success in fewer sports than fall to mediocrity in others by cutting the recruiting budget or other needs. About half of JSU's $6.5 million budget comes from student fees and general funds.

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A&M preps for spring game

There will be plenty of work to do when Alabama A&M reports for fall camp in August, but the Bulldogs will try to have some fun today as they wrap up spring practice with the annual Maroon and White Game at Louis Crews Stadium.

Kickoff is 2 p.m. and admission is free.

"Hopefully, we can go out and light it up," said quarterback Kevin Atkins. "We don't have all of our guys, but we've got some weapons and we're going to go out and try to have some fun." The Bulldogs are without three potential starters along the line and receiver Rashad Johnson is out after breaking his arm. Despite that, receivers Thomas Harris and Nate Baxter and running backs Ulysses Banks and Tony Green have been impressive. "Banks has had a good spring," running backs coach Errol Jones said. "He looks like he did two years ago when he was first-team All-SWAC."

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Howard Announces 2009 Football Schedule

by HU Sports Information

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Howard University kicks off the 2009 season with Rutgers from the Big East and will follow with games at Florida A&M and cross town against Georgetown before its home season opener against Winston-Salem State on October 3.

The Bison, who play five of their first six games at away from home, will then return to the road for conference games at Hampton and at Morgan State before hosting North Carolina A&T for homecoming on October 24. A road game at Norfolk State follows and then there are back-to-back home contests against South Carolina State and Bethune-Cookman. Howard will close out the regular season with a road game at Delaware State on November 21.

The Bison are playing Rutgers and Georgetown for the second time. Howard played Rutgers in 2006 and they played the Hoyas last season at Greene Stadium.

Date Opponent Location Time

Sept. 12 Rutgers Piscataway, N.J. TBA
Sept. 19 Florida A&M Tallahassee, Fla. TBA
Sept. 26 Georgetown (Multi-Sport Field)% Washington, D.C. TBA
Oct. 3 WINSTON-SALEM STATE WASHINGTON, D.C. 1 p.m.
Oct. 10 Hampton Hampton, Va. 1 p.m.
Oct. 17 Morgan State Baltimore, Md. TBA
Oct. 24 NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE* WASHINGTON, D.C. 1 p.m.
Oct. 31 Norfolk State Norfolk, Va. TBA
Nov. 7 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE WASHINGTON, D.C. 1 p.m.
Nov. 14 BETHUNE-COOKMAN! WASHINGTON, D.C. 1 p.m.
Nov. 21 Delaware State Dover, Del. TBA

Home games in CAPS
MEAC games in bold
All Times are EST and subject to change

% - D.C. Cup
* - Homecoming
! - Senior Day

Auburn assistant picked to coach TSU men's team

After having a positive impact on one group of Tigers this season, John Cooper hopes to carry that over. The longtime Auburn men's basketball assistant was announced Friday as the new head coach at Tennessee State. Cooper, 40, replaces Cy Alexander — who was fired in February after five-plus seasons at the TSU helm — and Mark Pittman, who guided the Ohio Valley Conference program on an interim basis following Alexander's departure.

"First of all, it is a lifelong dream and a lifelong journey," Cooper said in a statement. As associate head coach under Jeff Lebo, the Kansas City, Mo., native helped Auburn to an NIT quarterfinals berth and a 24-12 record, tying for the second-most single-season victories in the program's history.

"I am really enthusiastic and excited about the opportunity," he said. "My goal is to obviously be successful, but also to put a product on the court that Tennessee State University is proud of, and one that is successful both on and off the court. In the future, we want to be able to say that we competed for championships in the OVC and hopefully say that we have won championships." Prior to his arrival at Auburn in 2004, Cooper served as an assistant at Oregon, South Carolina and Fayetteville (N.C.) State. Cooper inherits a program that has not posted a winning season since the 1996-97 team was 15-13.

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Taylor seeking reliable tight end for FAMU

Photo Gallery: FAMU football practice

As a tight end, the role might call for blocking on one play and making a catch on another. FAMU football coach Joe Taylor just wants to find the right player who could execute both roles well enough. If that player steps up during spring, he could very well end up with a significant role in the Rattlers' offensive scheme. Taj Jenkines proved himself to be the right fit in his final season last year, but it's a wide-open position with at least three candidates making a push.

"It takes a special kind of guy to get down there and do that three-point stance," Taylor said Thursday, following the third day of spring practice in soggy conditions. Max Purcell and Tobias Lee are the two leading candidates, but freshman Brandon Hepburn might make a case if he could mature fast enough. Fullback Mykel Benson could also be considered, Taylor said.

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Grambling's Greg Dillon enjoying solid spring after remarkable year

Photo Gallery: Grambling season wrap-up

At first, as Dillon and a retooled line gelled, he let his athleticism guide the offense. There were, for a while, as many eye-popping broken-play dashes by this gifted runner as there were forehead-slapping miscues. But Grambling kept winning, as Dillon matured. “Greg made everybody better on offense,” Broadway said. “When you have that double threat like that, it makes everybody look good.” He grew in confidence with every week, peaking along with his superlative defenders, as the campaign concluded.

Grambling earned its first three victories, before the quarterback question was settled, by an average of 10 points. The Tigers closed out the season whipping opponents by an average of three touchdowns. “Knowing I didn’t have to do it all helped me, knowing that people had my back — on offense and defense,” said Dillon, projecting a cool confidence. “Toward the end of the year, we were able to go out there and just play."

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Three-man battle could be highlight of spring

DOVER -- It is just the type of spring football camp that Delaware State University coach Al Lavan looks forward to most -- one with a bevy of competition for starting positions. The Hornets began this year's camp at Alumni Stadium on Wednesday night, ready to put in the kind of work they hope will lead them back to the top of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference this fall.
Delaware State returns 12 starters and 41 letter winners from last year's team, which finished 5-6 overall and 5-3 in the MEAC. "This camp is quite different than most of the other ones that we've had here at DSU, in that there is competition for a couple of positions that we haven't had before," said Lavan, who started his sixth spring camp at DSU. "We have a variety of experience and inexperience. Since I've been here, we've not quite had this type of team that needed to be developed."

Nowhere are those questions more evident than at quarterback. Four-year starter Vashon Winton is gone, along with his 33-14 record. There promises to be a three-man race to fill the void.

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HU Pirates, coach again adjusting

This week, the Daily Press takes a look at a few spring questions facing local and state football programs. Today, Hampton University.

1Will new coach Donovan Rose improve on predecessor Jerry Holmes' 6-5 record?

On paper, it's possible. The Pirates have plenty of experience back on both sides of the ball and get 2008 MEAC champion South Carolina State at home. But HU got off to a quick 5-1 start in Holmes' only season as head coach before losing four of its last five games in a head-scratching implosion.

2How is Rose adjusting to his new job?

Rose, the Pirates' defensive coordinator last season after 17 years as their secondary coach, ascended abruptly to the top job when Holmes and Hampton parted ways in January. A week into spring practice, he's focusing on more details than ever before, monitoring players' on- and off-field actions. "You put in a lot of time and you want to make sure that everything is right," Rose said. "When you're in this position and you see it — I don't think, as a whole, coaches get enough credit, because they're the ones that do all the work."

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UMES and DSU makes NCAA 2009 National Collegiate Bowling Championship Field

A Historic First: Two MEAC teams in NCAA Women Championship Bowling Field of Eight

INDIANAPOLIS - The eight-team field competing for the 2009 National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship was announced today by the NCAA Women's Bowling Committee. The field includes the following teams, all selected at large:

Arkansas State University
University of Central Missouri
Delaware State University
Fairleigh Dickinson University
University of Maryland, Eastern Shore
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
New Jersey City University
Vanderbilt University

Competition begins with a qualifying round in which each team bowls four five-person regular team games and five four-game Baker matches. Total pinfall during the qualifying round determines each team's seed in bracket play. In the Baker format, each of the five team members, in order, bowls a complete frame until a complete (10-frame) game is bowled. The fifth Baker match serves as the position round. The pinfall from the position round serves as a tiebreaker, if necessary.

Based on the qualifying round, teams are placed in two four-team double-elimination brackets. Teams compete against each other in a best-of-seven games Baker match. Ties within a Baker game will be decided by another full Baker game. During bracket play, the higher seed receives starting lane preference for the first game of the match, the seventh game of the match and any tie-breaker game that must be played.

The Detroit Metro Sports Commission and the University of Detroit Mercy will host the championship, which will be held April 9-11 at Super Bowl Lanes in Canton, Michigan. Tickets can be purchased by calling 734/459-6070 prior to the championship.

The University of Maryland, Eastern Shore sport a 115-39 record, the second best in the country. The Lady Hawks defeated Arkansas State University, 4-2, to capture the 2008 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship at Thunder Alley in Omaha, Nebraska. The win marked Maryland-Eastern Shore's first women's bowling national championship and first NCAA national title in any sport in the institution's history. The victory also made Lady Hawks' head coach Sharon Brummell the first woman and first African-American to lead a team to the title since the NCAA established the championship in 2004.

This is DSU's first trip while UMES, Nebraska, Central Missouri and New Jersey City are all making their sixth trip. Delaware State is ranked 4th in the country and have earned a bid for the first time in the 10-year history of the team.

“This is such a thrill for the team and the university,” said Delaware State second-year head coach Kim Terrell-Kearney, who has led the Hornets to a 117-36 overall record this season. The Hornets are 25-18 this season versus the other tournament teams with wins over No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 2 Nebraska.

For more information about the National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship, log on to http://www.ncaa.com/ .

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ASU football: Players, new coaches coming together, Barlow says

Spring practices at Alabama State so far have been an odd sort of meet-and-greet. For the third straight year, sweeping coaching changes in the off-season have left the players and coaches using the early portions of spring camp as a time to get acquainted with one another. This year, new faces in the Hornets' camp include two coordinators, an offensive line coach, a running backs coach, a receivers coach and a linebackers coach. All of the new personalities and new coaching styles made the first practices a little clunky.

But head coach Reggie Barlow feels like things are moving along. "It's been different -- lot of new guys out there -- and it's taking some time for everyone to get used to one another," Barlow said. "But I think the guys are responding well to the new coaches. It's going pretty good, actually."

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Former star Moton becomes NCCU's coach

DURHAM -- LeVelle Moton described the past month as a bit "overwhelming." Two weeks ago, his wife gave birth to their first child and on Wednesday officials at N.C. Central appointed him as the Eagles' 17th basketball coach -- his first NCAA Division I head-coaching position.

"I really have to pinch myself," said Moton, the former Enloe High standout who later was a star guard for the Eagles. "March 2009 will be a month and year I will always remember. With the birth of my firstborn and just the opportunity to come back home and be the coach of my alma mater. ... This university was my father, it's a culture, it raised me. ... I owe this university an awful lot."

Moton, who is third on the Eagles' career scoring list (1,714 points), was a shooting guard from 1992 to 1996. He helped the team win an NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional title in 1993.

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SU’s Chatman getting reps at strong safety

Gary Chatman is nobody’s bum. At 6-foot-3 and a shade under 220 pounds, he looks more like a smooth-sailing missile than a rumbling, rolling fire hydrant. He is the kind of rare athlete who’s well-suited to not only play the drop linebacker position at Southern, but excel at it. Chatman had 57 tackles last year, 11 of them behind the line of scrimmage in playing one of the most important positions.

Yet as the Jaguars wrapped up their second week of spring football practice, Chatman ran with the second-team defense. On purpose. Spring practice is often a time for experiments, grand and small — and for now, Chatman is practicing as a strong safety. “I’m still trying to get the feel for it,” he said. “But it’s coming along all right.”

From the first day of this offseason, SU coach Pete Richardson said he wanted to look at Chatman in a different role. And as Richardson noted, there really aren’t many differences between Southern’s strong safety and drop linebacker. “He’s struggling with the instincts of playing two different positions, even if they’re similar,” Richardson said. “The more he goes through it, the better he’ll get at it.”
The move is something of a risk, but it’s not really a risk.

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SSU starts spring drills down one

Offensive coordinator Alan Hall accepts post at Winston-Salem State

Savannah State's football team began spring practice Tuesday without an offensive coordinator. Alan Hall resigned Monday after one season to take the same position at Winston-Salem (N.C.) State, a historically black college and member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. "It's tough when you get close to your kids, but that's the business side of it," Hall said Tuesday night via cell phone as he drove to Winston-Salem, N.C. "It's a move I felt I needed to make, professionally. I'm looking to be a head coach, and I need to put myself in a position to make that happen.

"(WSSU) is where Savannah State is working to be at in the coming years. (WSSU) is in its infancy in the MEAC, but they're a larger school with twice as many students, so they've got a larger revenue stream." Hall, who turned 36 last Tuesday, also served as SSU's quarterbacks coach. He came to SSU from East Mississippi Community College, where he served as offensive coordinator for two years.

WSSU offensive coordinator, Alan Hall

"Your window in coaching doesn't stay open very long," said Hall, a member of the Miami Hurricanes' 1991 national championship team and a backup to Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Gino Torretta. "It was a tough decision. I got the call (from WSSU) Sunday night. It was so close to the start of spring (practice) that I felt bad about the timing. But you don't get that call very often, and it was the time to strike."

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Delaware State Bowling Team Takes MEAC Title

Dover, DE-- The Delaware State bowling team is the new Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champion. The Hornets defeated surprising Florida A&M four-games-to-none to capture the first MEAC title in team history this afternoon at Gate City Lanes in Greensboro, N.C., outscoring the Rattlers 792-to-706 in the four games.

DSU was undefeated in four Baker matches the last two days to claim the title. Florida A&M upset Maryland-Eastern Shore (UMES) this morning to advance to the championship round. UMES, the defending NCAA champion, had won the previous three conference titles. "This is a great achievement for our team and the university," said Delaware State second-year head coach Kim Terrell-Kearney. "Our girls have worked so hard all season, and its great to be rewarded with a conference championship. The MEAC is well respected in women's bowling, so winning the championship means so much to our program. Winning the conference and earning a NCAA Tournament bid were among our top goals this season."

Although there are no automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament, the Hornets are among the favorites to reach the eight-team tourney for the first time is team history. The NCAA will announce its tournament selections on Wednesday (Mar. 25) at 5:00 pm. The 2009 NCAA Women's Bowling Tournament is set for April 8-11 in Detroit, Michigan.

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Paris, OU too much for Prairie View A&M

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Simply put, Courtney Paris is a force of nature. Paris scored 11 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked four shots to help the Oklahoma Sooners blow past Prairie View A&M 76-47 in the opening round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday night. “Courtney Paris proved tonight that she’s the anchor of her team,” Prairie View coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke said. But Paris did not have to carry the load alone.

The top-seeded Sooners (29-4) have a treasure trove of talent and put it all on display in an ESPN-televised game. Starters Danielle Robinson and Ashley Paris combined for 29 points, and Oklahoma’s bench outscored the Lady Panthers’ 20-3. The Lady Panthers (23-11) planned to play an up-tempo style to throw the Sooners off-balance. It was Oklahoma, however, that largely dictated the pace of play.

PVAMU Panthers athletic director Fred Washington

The Sooners went on a 20-8 run midway through the first 20 minutes, but Prairie View managed to hang around. Dominique Smith, who matched Gaati Werema as the Panthers’ leading scorer, scored 13 of her 15 points in the first half, and Prairie View trailed just 38-28 heading into intermission. Prairie View struggled in the second half, shooting just 18.2 percent (6-for-33) from the floor

Stats Notes View gallery

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A&T embraces challenge: Coach and two stars have been here before

DULUTH, Ga. -- The NCAA women's basketball tournament selection committee finally gave the MEAC a little respect Monday night, designating N.C. A&T as a No. 14 seed rather than the usual No. 16. That doesn't mean the Aggies won't have a major first-round challenge when they face third-seeded Florida State at 2:30 p.m. today in the Arena at Gwinnett Center. The Seminoles (25-7) are ranked No. 12 nationally and shared first place in the ACC with Maryland during the regular season. The Terps got a No. 1 seed for the tournament, as did Duke, the team that knocked off FSU in a semifinal of the ACC tournament.

A MEAC team has never won a women's NCAA tournament game in the event's 28-year history. N.C. A&T, though, showed what it is capable of with a victory over A-10 champion Charlotte this season, and the Aggies (26-6) have a couple other things in their favor. Although this is N.C. A&T's first NCAA trip since 1994, coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs joins senior standouts Amber Bland and Brittanie Taylor-James with March Madness experience.

This is the seventh tournament for Cage-Bibbs, who previously guided Grambling and Hampton to the tournament. Bland played on a NCAA team as a freshman at Penn State, while Taylor-James did the same at UC-Santa Barbara. "Our kids deserve to be here and they are going to do their very best," Cage-Bibbs said.

GAME TIME: 2:30 P.M. EDT TODAY--ESPN2

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All-MEAC Brittanie Taylor-James, 6-0 senior forward from Evanston, IL makes a return to the NCAA Tournament.

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OU Griffin overwhelming vs. Morgan State Bears

Post Game: The Sooners dominated in just about every way, outrebounding the Bears 45-36, shooting 60 percent while holding Morgan State to 29 percent and drawing only 11 fouls to Morgan State's 24.

Game Photo Gallery

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Morgan State's first visit to the NCAA tournament lasted only as long as likely national player of the year Blake Griffin wished for the Bears to linger around. The 15th-seeded Bears quickly learned a lesson that the bruised Big 12 absorbed all season: Griffin is one of the few players in the country capable of eviscerating an opponent on his own. The sophomore forward scored 28 points and added 13 rebounds while shooting 11-for-12 from the floor as second-seeded Oklahoma cruised to an 82-54 victory in a South Region first-round game at Sprint Center before 17,398.

With little hope of containing Griffin, the Bears resorted to tactics usually reserved for the realm of professional wrestling. Morgan State's Ameer Ali got tangled with Griffin chasing a rebound, then reached behind and slammed Griffin to the ground to earn an immediate ejection with 7:41 remaining. The Sooners (28-5) advanced to a second-round meeting with 10th-seeded Michigan (21-13) on Saturday.

Reggie Holmes scored 14 points to lead the Bears (23-12), the MEAC champions whose first NCAA appearance coincided with coach Todd Bozeman's return. He was just a few years removed from a decade in exile from the college game after incurring a show-cause penalty for infractions committed at California.

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