Duquesne

Darrell White scored 23 points and Collins Dobbs added 21 yesterday to lead eighth-seeded Duquesne to an 81-75 victory over ninth-seeded Massachusetts in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament in Morgantown, W.Va. Duquesne (11-20), which will face top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Temple in a quarterfinal game at 6 tonight, outscored Massachusetts by 14-3 to take a 66-47 lead on a free throw by Clayton Adams with 8 minutes, 13 seconds left. Massachusetts (10-17)

Drexel coach Bill Herrion is one of two finalists - and the leading candidate - for the head basketball coaching job at Duquesne, sources in Pittsburgh said yesterday. The other candidate is Indiana of Pennsylvania coach Kurt Kanaskie, a former player at La Salle, who interviewed late for the Dukes job. Indiana lost in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II tournament last week. Officials at Duquesne had planned to name their coach this weekend, with Herrion said to still be the top choice to succeed John Carroll.

SHEY PEDDY SCORED a game-high 32 points to lift Temple past Atlantic 10 rival Duquesne, 67-64, in women's basketball action at the Liacouras Center last night. Peddy, who was 7-for-14 from the field, added 11 rebounds, and BJ Williams added 14 for the Owls (9-8, 3-1 Atlantic 10). Jocelyn Floyd scored 18 in the loss for Duquesne (13-5).   In other games * At Hagan Arena, Saint Joseph's got 22 points from Samira van Grinsven and 11 apiece from Michelle Baker and Ashley Prim, as the Hawks beat Fordham in overtime, 57-46.

Kevin Anderson scored 22 points to lead sixth-seeded Richmond to an 65-49 win over No. 11 St. Bonaventure in the second game of last night's opening-round doubleheader at Boardwalk Hall. David Gonzalvez added 18 points and Ryan Butler had 10 for Richmond (18-14), which will play third-seeded Dayton at 9 p.m. tonight in the final quarterfinal game of the day. Anderson added six assists for the Spiders, who were eliminated in the first round each of the last 3 years. Andrew Nicholson and Jonathan Hall paced St. Bonaventure (15-15)

The student critics were out in force. "We Deserve Better" was one of the milder signs wielded by a group sitting about halfway up the bleachers at center court at the A.J. Palumbo Center. And they were protesting a lack of overall success by the winning team - Duquesne, which held off a La Salle rally for a 60-55 victory last night. La Salle (10-14, 4-9 Atlantic 10) essentially lost because of two stretches, one in each half, when its offense was cold enough to freeze all three of Pittsburgh's rivers.

Many college basketball coaches like to limit talk about a possible NCAA invitation because they fear their players will lose sight of the opponent right in front of them. Not La Salle's John Giannini. "The way to get to the NCAA tournament is to win games, and [our players] understand that," Giannini said Saturday after the Explorers took care of business with a 97-64 drubbing of Duquesne at Tom Gola Arena. "Frankly I'm surprised no one wouldn't understand it. It's just plain as day. You've got to win. " La Salle (20-7, 10-4 Atlantic Ten)

Duquesne, the Atlantic Ten team that threatened, but never beat, Temple this season, gets a shot at another Big Five school tonight. Villanova will visit the Dukes at their gym for a second-round game in the National Invitation Tournament. The winner moves on to the quarterfinals to meet the winner of tonight's Xavier-Northwestern game. The Dukes are led by forward Derrick Alston, who scored 21.4 points per game and also averaged 7.5 rebounds. The Duquesne frontcourt also includes Ricky Lopes, a 7-foot-2 senior.

Any young basketball coach who has some success generally begins to consider his next move a move up. Drexel coach Bill Herrion was no different. And when Duquesne athletic director Brian Colleary called Herrion about the vacant Duquesne job three days after Drexel had been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, Herrion listened. He went to Pittsburgh for an interview. He made calls to his friends in the business. He tried to learn everything he could about the job. Late Friday night, Herrion, who was in Seattle for the coaches convention, called Colleary and removed his name from consideration.

St. Joseph's is handling the women's basketball title chase in the Atlantic Ten as if it were a steeplechase event in track. Yesterday, the Hawks had to hurdle several obstacles on the way to a 66-58 victory over visiting Duquesne at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. Neither illness, nor a pair of technical fouls, nor a 22-point performance by Duquesne freshman Korie Hlede were enough to keep St. Joe's (17-4 overall, 9-2 conference) from remaining a game behind front-running Massachusetts and George Washington in the A-10 standings.

Former Eagles receiver Terrell Owens , 39, told the NFL Network's NFL AM show that he's more mature and can help a team but has not heard from any since the Seattle Seahawks released him last August. NHL: The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Dan Bylsma , the second-winningest coach in franchise history, to a two-year extension through 2016. COLLEGES: The La Salle men's basketball team will play two games against city rival St. Joseph's next season according to the Atlantic Ten Conference.

PITTSBURGH - A federal judge in Pittsburgh has dismissed lawsuits by three former Duquesne University basketball players who sued the school, claiming it was responsible when two men shot them after an on-campus dance in 2006. U.S. District Judge David Cercone's ruling says the school is not responsible for the pain, damages, and loss of income claimed by Shawn James, Stuard Baldonado, and Kojo Mensah. They were three of five players wounded in the shooting on Sept. 17, 2006, following a dance sponsored by the Black Student Union.

Erin Shields (Archbishop Carroll) led four Hawks in double figures as fourth-seeded St. Joseph's (21-8) beat fifth seed Duquesne, 73-60, in an Atlantic Ten women's quarterfinal at Hagan Arena on Saturday. The Hawks advance to face top seed Dayton in the semifinals Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Dayton beat George Washington, 74-49. Temple 48, Charlotte 47 - Forty minutes of a strong defensive effort led the Owls to an upset of the second-seeded 49ers (24-5) in the quarterfinals. The 10th-seeded Owls (14-17)

Tenth-seeded Temple upset seventh-seeded Xavier in the first-round of the Atlantic Ten women's basketball tournament at Hagen Arena on Friday. Victoria Macaulay scored 12 points and hauled in a game-high 14 rebounds to lead the Owls (13-17) to a quarterfinal matchup with second-seeded Charlotte (24-4) on Saturday at 5 p.m. Rateska Brown came off the bench to score a game-high 14 points for the Owls. Xavier (13-16) took a 12-3 advantage early, but an 18-3 Temple run in the second half put the game out of reach for Xavier.

At Hagan Arena. George Washington vs. Richmond, 11:30 a.m.; Duquesne vs. VCU, 2:30 p.m.; Xavier vs. Temple, 5 p.m.; Butler vs. St. Louis, 7:30 p.m.

Many college basketball coaches like to limit talk about a possible NCAA invitation because they fear their players will lose sight of the opponent right in front of them. Not La Salle's John Giannini. "The way to get to the NCAA tournament is to win games, and [our players] understand that," Giannini said Saturday after the Explorers took care of business with a 97-64 drubbing of Duquesne at Tom Gola Arena. "Frankly I'm surprised no one wouldn't understand it. It's just plain as day. You've got to win. " La Salle (20-7, 10-4 Atlantic Ten)

Many college basketball coaches like to limit talk about a possible NCAA invitation because they fear their players will lose sight of the opponent that's right in front of them. Not La Salle's John Giannini. "The way to get to the NCAA tournament is to win games, and [our players] understand that," Giannini said Saturday after the Explorers took care of business with a 97-64 drubbing of Duquesne at Tom Gola Arena. "Frankly I'm surprised no one wouldn't understand it. It's just plain as day. You've got to win. " La Salle (20-7, 10-4 Atlantic Ten)

The St. Joseph's Hawks scored 50 points Wednesday night in the first half and afterward had no problem putting away Atlantic Ten rival Massachusetts, 87-50, at the Hagan Arena. The Hawks got a combined 42 points from seniors Chatilla van Grinsven, Mireia Vila, Ashley Prim, and Shelby Smith as they improved to 20-7 overall and 11-2 in conference. The Hawks shot a season-best 57.9 percent from the floor (33 of 57), 58.3 percent from three-point range (7 of 12), and 14 of 21 from the foul line.

AMHERST, Mass. - Teams with Temple's resumé generally have a slim-to-zero chance of getting an at-large bid in the NCAA basketball tournament. But the Owls are holding out hope after Saturday's 83-82 victory at the Mullins Center. That game provided a much-needed bounce-back victory for Temple (17-8, 6-5 Atlantic Ten), which suffered a disappointing home loss to lowly Duquesne on Thursday. "It's really important," coach Fran Dunphy said of the victory over the Minutemen.

Temple had played in three straight one-point games, but there was a thought that the Owls would get a much-needed breather against Duquesne. However, this team has played to the level of its competition all season, and it did again Thursday night in its worst loss yet. Derrick Colter made a pair of foul shots with 2.9 seconds left to give the Dukes an 84-83 victory at the Liacouras Center. Dalton Pepper misfired on a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Owls (16-8, 5-5 Atlantic Ten)