Owls

As crazy as it sounds, the Owls (23-8) can't focus too much on stopping Chaz Williams in Friday night's Atlantic Ten quarterfinal against the Minutemen (20-10). Temple tried that in the first half of an 83-82 victory over UMass on Feb. 16 in Amherst, Mass. It backfired. The Minutemen scored 26 points in the paint before intermission. Fourteen of them came from Cady Lalanne, a sophomore center. Now, Owls guards Will Cummings and T.J. DiLeo will have their hands full against the speedy Williams, an all-Atlantic Ten selection.

IT HAPPENS in practice. It happens in games. Temple coach Fran Dunphy begins to instruct, recognizes whom he is speaking to, and stops midsentence. It has happened to T.J. DiLeo. It's happened to Khalif Wyatt, and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson and of course, fifth-year man Scootie Randall. "I've been here so long I know exactly what he's going to say before he says it," Randall was saying before practice this week. "I'll be like, 'I know, I got it.' " He might not actually say this to his coach.

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)

IT CERTAINLY WAS an emphatic closing statement. And it was probably enough to just about ensure that Temple's basketball team, one of many that were still supposedly straddling the dreaded bubble, will be part of the Madness for the sixth consecutive March. Sunday afternoon at a jammed Liacouras Center, the Owls (23-8, 11-5 Atlantic 10) finished the regular season with their seventh straight victory, 84-76 over 21st-ranked Virginia Commonwealth (24-7, 12-4). It gave them the third seed in the conference tourney, which begins Thursday in Brooklyn.

The outcome of Sunday's Temple-Virginia Commonwealth game at the Liacouras Center will determine where the Owls and La Salle are seeded in the conference tournament, which begins Thursday in Brooklyn. St. Joseph's, which will not be affected by the Temple-VCU result, is seeded 10th and plays seventh seed Xavier in Thursday's 6:30 p.m. first-rounder. TEMPLE If Temple beats VCU, the Owls get the third seed and a first-round bye, then face the winner of sixth seed Massachusetts and 11th seed George Washington in Friday's 9 p.m. quarterfinal.

The day Temple has dubbed "Super Sunday" is here. The Owls seniors and graduate students will be honored in a senior day ceremony before the regular-season finale against 21st-ranked Virginia Commonwealth at the Liacouras Center. At halftime, Temple will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its 1987-88 squad. Arguably the greatest team in school history, the '87-88 Owls were the nation's top-ranked team at the end of the regular season. They advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament and finished with a 32-2 record.

NEW YORK - Temple's win over Fordham won't be a victory the selection committee holds in high regard when it evaluates the Owls' resume next weekend. And that's not a bad thing. Wednesday night's game really only stood to potentially hurt the Owls, as a loss to the Rams would've been devastating to their at-large chances. A win really just kept the status quo. But that surely beats the alternative. Temple avoided a devastating loss as it easily took care of Fordham, 74-55, in front of a sparse crowd at Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx.

* La Salle is in great shape for a top-four Atlantic 10 finish and a first-round bye in the conference tournament. Duquesne, which has lost 14 of 15 (how did it ever win at Temple?), is at Gola Saturday. The Explorers average 1.1 points per possession, 40th nationally. The Dukes allow 1.05 PPP, 247th nationally. This does not look complicated. * After the giveaway in Newark, N.J., on Monday (why exactly was Villanova fouling Seton Hall at the end?), the Wildcats had the whole week to think about it. Sunday, they visit Pittsburgh, which busted up a 43-43 tie at the Pavilion in mid-January by scoring the game's final 15 points.

The fun continues for Temple - barely. Khalif Wyatt scored 12 of the Owls' final 14 points Thursday night as Temple defeated Detroit, 83-78, at the Liacouras Center. It was Temple's fourth straight win. The victory gave the Owls (20-8) their sixth straight 20-win season to tie a school record for the most consecutive 20-win seasons. Most significant, they beat another quality opponent in the Titans (19-11), which could go a long way in securing an NCAA tournament at-large bid. But it was far from a picture perfect victory for the Owls, who battled back from an 11-point first-half deficit.