Boston College

Troy Bell scored a career-high 42 points last night as No. 11 Boston College improved to 8-0 with an 86-81 victory over Iowa State (5-5) in Boston. The junior guard, who says he has yet to fully recover from off-season surgery on his right knee, was 5 of 8 from three-point range and 17 for 17 from the free throw line. Bell was coming off his previous best of 34 points in a win over Massachusetts on Saturday. "It's feeling better," Bell said of his knee. "I'm almost there. " The 42 were the most points scored by a player in Conte Forum, which opened in 1988.

Ameer Richardson, a standout running back and safety from Collingswood, has made a commitment to Boston College. Richardson set a single-season school rushing record with 1,466 yards. He also scored 18 touchdowns and had three interceptions this season for Collingswood (6-4). Richardson said that Rutgers and Temple were among the other schools he was considering. "I love the city of Boston, and the people are what make the school, and I love the coaching staff," Richardson said.

While it was tempting to choose Harvard, especially because of its academic reputation, Archbishop Wood's Frank Taylor said he couldn't pass up the chance to play Division I-A football. The 6-foot-3, 285-pound junior, a top offensive tackle, committed to play for Boston College on Wednesday afternoon at a news conference in the school's auditorium. "I could have gone to Harvard, but it's been a dream of mine to pursue college football at the highest level," said Taylor, 17. "Boston College is a school that offers both worlds.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback coach Mark Whipple has interviewed for the head-coaching job at Boston College, Steelers coach Bill Cowher said yesterday, while endorsing his assistant for the job. "I know Mark met with them [Sunday], and he said it went well," Cowher said at his weekly news conference. "He's excited about the opportunity. I think he'd be a great candidate for that school. What Mark has done has been well-documented. He's a quality person and a good football coach.

On a day when Boston College never made an outside shot and had 10 shots blocked inside, the Eagles still found a way to beat defending national champion Syracuse. BC trailed by as many as 11 points and never led until the final minute when four straight free throws by Jared Dudley and two by Craig Smith sealed a 57-54 victory over the No. 19 Orangemen yesterday in the Big East quarterfinals. The Eagles, who won their seventh straight to improve to 23-8, will face No. 6 Pittsburgh in tonight's semifinals.

In past seasons, this is the time the Villanova women's basketball team has had to figure out what is needed to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament. After last night's 75-61 victory by the No. 22 Wildcats over No. 23 Boston College at the Pavilion, the question is what horrors might befall coach Harry Perretta's squad to prevent it from making a third straight appearance in the Big Dance. "Well, we still have to play Boston College and Virginia Tech on the road, and we have Rutgers here," Perretta said.

Kathrin Ress and Jessalyn Deveny scored 15 points apiece to carry 14th-ranked Boston College (8-1) to a 65-41 victory over visiting St. Joseph's last night. Christine Roth paced the Hawks (2-9) with 11 points. St. Joseph's shot only 23.4 percent (15 for 64). The Eagles took control with a 10-0 run midway through the first half, pulling to a 27-11 edge on Ress' foul-line jumper. They pushed it to 35-16 on Shamika Jackson's breakaway layup late in the half before taking a 35-19 lead into the break.

Abington football star Russ Durham gave a not too subtle hint about his immediate future when he arrived at yesterday's news conference wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with BC in maroon and gold. Durham, a 6-foot-3, 202-pound senior who was a first-team defensive end on The Inquirer's all-Southeastern Pennsylvania team, then announced that he had made an oral commitment to Boston College, where he expects to redshirt as a freshman. "If I can get up to 220 pounds, I think I can play on any level," said Durham, who also visited West Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Three weeks ago, Shelly Hammonds was playing at the hero position in Penn State's defense. But early in the second quarter of yesterday's game against Boston College, tailback Gary Brown was knocked out with a dislocated toe. And Leroy Thompson, Brown's running mate, had been scratched before game time with turf toe. The situation was so dire that Thompson went back into the locker room at halftime to put on the pads. Hey, Leroy, never mind. In the type of story that Hollywood producers live for, Hammonds, a third- string tailback, was the hero of Penn State's 40-21 triumph over the Eagles yesterday before a sellout crowd of 32,000-plus at Alumni Stadium.

For almost 40 minutes, Villanova appeared ready for prime time. The Wildcats never trailed 16th-ranked Boston College - the defending champion of the Big East Conference - for much of the second half and appeared ready to post the biggest upset of coach Jay Wright's young tenure. But like a flu bug, the turnover bug returned to bite the Wildcats and frustrate Wright. They turned over the ball on their final possession of regulation and on their first three trips in overtime, fumbling away their opportunity to defeat one of the Big East's best.