Georgetown

In rejecting PSA screening for prostate cancer, an influential federal panel has chipped a cornerstone of preventive medicine, declaring that it's not always best to catch cancer as early as possible. "At best, PSA screening may help only 1 man in 1,000 avoid death from prostate cancer," the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said Monday. "Most prostate cancers found by PSA screening are slow growing, not life threatening, and will not cause a man any harm during his lifetime.

Haverford School striker Brett Campbell has committed to play soccer for Georgetown, Fords coach Bill Brady said Thursday night. Campbell, a junior, chose Georgetown from a crop of scholarship offers, which included Penn State, Penn, and Wake Forest. A year ago, Brady said, Penn might have been the front-runner for Campbell's services, but the draw of the Big East, of which Georgetown is a member, combined with the school's academic reputation, tipped Campbell toward the Hoyas.

Nigerian-born Omowumi Rafiu, a Neumann-Goretti basketball player whose introduction to the sport came a little more than four years ago in her native country, has signed a national letter of intent to play for Georgetown next season. The 6-foot-2 forward averaged about 11 points last season, her first at Neumann-Goretti, after coming to this country. She helped the Saints reach the quarterfinals of the Catholic League playoffs. Mike Flynn's Blue Star report ranks her 36th in the country at her position.

Antonia Gale's 18 points weren't enough as Georgetown defeated La Salle, 71-40, in women's basketball action at the Tom Gola Arena yesterday. Gale was the only player to reach double figures for the Explorers (1-6). She shot 3-for-5 from the field and 11-for-12 from the line. Sugar Rodgers led Georgetown (6-2) with 17 points and Rubylee Wright added 15. La Salle also announced sophomore forward Jenna Gilbert's intent to transfer at the end of the semester. In five games this season, Gilbert scored 17 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in 14 minutes.

Although both Georgetown and New Mexico won their first-round games Friday with impressive offensive numbers, it was excellent defense on the part of both teams that made it so easy. Georgetown, a popular choice to make it to the final of the Eastern Regional, if not to the Final Four, will get its first serious test at 12:15 this afternoon when the second-seeded Hoyas (27-7) meet the seventh-seeded Lobos (28-4) at Richmond Coliseum. Georgetown advanced to the second round with a 93-56 win over Mississippi Valley State, a win made easy when the Hoyas held the impatient Delta Devils to just 24 percent shooting in the first half.

Nigerian-born Omowumi Rafiu, a Neumann-Goretti basketball player whose introduction to the sport came a little more than four years ago in her native country, has signed a national letter of intent to play for Georgetown next season. The 6-foot-2 forward averaged about 11 points last season, her first at Neumann-Goretti, after coming to this country. She helped the Saints reach the quarterfinals of the Catholic League playoffs. Mike Flynn's Blue Star report ranks her 36th in the country at her position.

A pickup game last weekend at the Verizon Center with several NBA players, including Indiana Pacer Roy Hibbert, gave Jabril Trawick a taste of the benefits associated with playing for Georgetown. Trawick, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound senior guard and forward for Abington Friends School, has orally committed to coach John Thompson and the Hoyas. "Washington is a nice location, it's not too far from home, and I know I'll get a great education," the 18-year-old said. Last season, Trawick, who lives near 52d Street and Haverford Avenue in West Philadelphia, averaged 16.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while helping lead the Kangaroos to an 18-5 record last season.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - It's been a long time since North Carolina State was mentioned in the same breath with the elite programs in the nation - let alone its own state. Now, a new coach and a new attitude have the Wolfpack faithful harkening back to the glory days of David Thompson and Jim Valvano. Lorenzo Brown hit three free throws in the final 10.6 seconds and 11th-seeded North Carolina State returned to the round of 16 with a 66-63 upset of third-seeded Georgetown in the NCAA tournament on Sunday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - It's been a long time since North Carolina State was mentioned in the same breath with the elite programs in the nation - let alone its own state. Now, a new coach and a new attitude have the Wolfpack faithful harkening back to the glory days of David Thompson and Jim Valvano. Lorenzo Brown hit three free throws in the final 10.6 seconds and 11th-seeded North Carolina State returned to the round of 16 with a 66-63 upset of third-seeded Georgetown in the NCAA tournament on Sunday.

IT'S BEEN A long time since North Carolina State was mentioned in the same breath with the elite programs in the nation, let alone in its own state. Now, a new coach and a new attitude have the Wolfpack faithful harkening back to the glory days of David Thompson and Jim Valvano. Lorenzo Brown hit three free throws in the final 10.6 seconds and the Wolfpack returned to the Round of 16 with a 66-63 upset of third-seeded Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest regional yesterday at Columbus, Ohio.

  Getting into the NCAA tournament is the hard part for North Carolina State. Winning a first game? Not that difficult, apparently. Richard Howell doubled his average with 22 points as 11th-seeded North Carolina State used its muscle inside and sticky defense to upset No. 6 seed San Diego State, 79-65, in a second-round East Regional game Friday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The Wolfpack (23-12) advances to play the winner of Georgetown on Sunday. Lorenzo Brown added 17 points, C.J. Leslie 15, and Scott Wood 10 for the Wolfpack, who are now 12-5 in their first NCAA games.

WE'RE MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO: Seeing if Syracuse can be as dominant in this tournament as it was in the regular season. Especially since what it does in the next tourney is what everyone is obviously going to remember most. The Orange are only the second team to go 17-1 in the conference (joining Connecticut, in 1995-96). Interestingly, those Huskies also won the Big East Tournament but were upset in the third round of the NCAAs by Mississippi State. Syracuse, though, after going 12-6 and losing to UConn in the Big East semifinals, then made it to the national title game before losing to Kentucky.

Devereaux Peters had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks to lead third-ranked Notre Dame (29-2) to a 69-54 win over DePaul in the Big East quarterfinals in Hartford, Conn., on Sunday. Notre Dame will face West Virginia (23-8) in Monday's semifinal, after the Mountaineers upended No. 12 Georgetown, 39-32. Maryland 68, Georgia Tech 65 - Alyssa Thomas scored 29 points and the No. 6 Terrapins (28-4) beat the No. 15 Yellow Jackets (24-8) to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Purdue 74, Nebraska 70 - KK Houser had 19 points to lead the No. 21 Boilermakers (23-8)

PLAYING AT home for the last time, Jason Clark and Henry Sims combined for 25 points, 12 rebounds and six assists on "Senior Day," helping No. 11 Georgetown beat No. 20 Notre Dame, 59-41, last night in a key game for Big East Tournament seeding. Clark finished with 13 points and six rebounds, while Sims had 12 points and five assists. While they have led the way all season for Georgetown (22-6, 12-5) on a roster with 10 freshmen and sophomores, there was plenty of help from the youngsters, as usual.

WASHINGTON - Villanova coach Jay Wright had to be feeling good when he arrived at the Verizon Center knowing he'd have Maalik Wayns, the Wildcats' leading scorer, available for Saturday's game against No. 9 Georgetown. But while completing preparations in the locker room, Wright received bad news. JayVaughn Pinkston, who had averaged 15 points while Wayns sat for three games nursing a sprained left knee, went up for a dunk in early warm-ups, came down on a basketball sitting on the court, and rolled his left ankle.

Sugar Rodgers scored 19 points and No. 15 Georgetown took advantage of 19 turnovers to beat Villanova, 60-54, in the Pavilion on Tuesday night. The Hoyas (20-6, 9-4 Big East) scored 20 points off the 19 turnovers. The Wildcats (15-11, 5-8) pulled within two points, 31-29, with about 13 minutes to play, but Georgetown went on an 11-3 run. Laura Sweeney (Cherokee High) led Villanova with 16 points, and Devon Kane (Notre Dame Academy) added 10. Notre Dame 66, Providence 47 - Devereaux Peters and Skyler Diggins had 19 points each to lead the No. 4 Irish (25-2, 12-1 Big East)

VILLANOVA'S women's basketball team did its best to outplay No. 15 Georgetown last night, but it was not enough as the Wildcats fell to the visiting Hoyas, 60-54. Villanova outshot the Hoyas from the field, 41.9 percent to 34.4, but Georgetown scored 20 points off 19 Wildcats turnovers, including 13 points off 11 first-half turnovers. The Wildcats also were hurt by going scoreless for the final 5 minutes, 15 seconds of the first half. Laura Sweeney led Villanova (15-11, 5-8 Big East)