West Virginia

NEWARK, Del. - Hold the epitaph for the Elena Delle Donne era at Delaware for a little while longer. The sixth-seeded Blue Hens and their all-American leader fought back from a seven-point deficit at halftime Sunday to beat 11th seed West Virginia, 66-53, in a Bridgeport subregional game of the NCAA women's basketball tournament. The win in front of a sellout crowd of 4,532 in the Bob Carpenter Center advanced the Blue Hens to a second-round game Tuesday at 7 p.m. They will play third-seeded North Carolina (29-6)

While he was tempted to play close to home at Temple, Penn Wood basketball standout Aaron Brown was won over by the hospitality on his visit to West Virginia. "The people there really made me feel welcome," said the 6-foot-5 senior. "Everyone was coming up to me and saying hello. It made me feel like it would be a great place to be. " Brown, who last season averaged 19.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, orally committed to West Virginia in a phone call Saturday to assistant Billy Hahn.

In an Atlantic Ten Conference women's basketball game last night against West Virginia, Rutgers showed a split personality. One moment, the Knights would be zooming along rather easily, and the next they'd be sputtering almost to a standstill. But when the game ended, the unbeaten and sixth-ranked Knights (13-0, 6-0) had a comfortable 95-77 victory that left the Mountaineers (8-5, 3-1) looking forward to their trip to George Washington tomorrow. "This was kind of a test for us to see how we might do later in the conference tournament," said West Virginia coach Scott Harrelson.

There were enough quality lead guards at the St. Joe's Fieldhouse last night to solve coach Jim Boyle's most pressing problem. Luke Griffin and Geoff Arnold both returned to their alma mater to watch the Hawks play West Virginia in an important early season Atlantic 10 game. Jimmy Black, who started for North Carolina's 1982 NCAA championship team, and Phil Martelli, who played for Widener's 1978 NCAA Division III Final Four team, both were on the Hawks' bench as assistants. Boyle would have loved to use any one of them, just so his team could get the ball up the floor in last night's 61-49 loss.

INDIANAPOLIS - Duke was considered to be the weakest No. 1 seed in the NCAA basketball tournament, and the experts certainly thought this team would not advance too far. Well, the Blue Devils not only made it to their 16th Final Four, but they now get a chance at their fourth national championship after knocking off West Virginia, 78-57, in a national semifinal Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. Duke (32-6) advanced to a date Monday night with Butler (33-4), which edged Michigan State, 52-50, in the first game of the doubleheader.

The key to West Virginia's midseason winning streak? That's easy. Look no farther than 5-8 lead guard Marsalis Basey. When "The Count" suffered neck and shoulder injuries late in the season, the Mountaineers suffered, too, losing four of their games heading into the Atlantic 10 Tournament. So what happened yesterday? With Basey out for at least this tourney, his replacement, fellow sophomore Mike Boyd, came up huge in a 76-69 quarterfinal win over Duquesne at the Palestra.

Steve Slaton ran for 3,923 yards and scored 55 touchdowns in 3 years at West Virginia. He was the MVP of the 2006 Sugar Bowl after rushing for 204 yards on 26 carries and scoring three touchdowns when WVU upset Georgia. He finished fourth behind Troy Smith, Darren McFadden and Brady Quinn in the voting for the 2006 Heisman Trophy. The former Conwell-Egan star from Levittown has run for his last college yard and scored his last touchdown. Last night, Slaton told the Daily News that he is going to declare for the NFL draft.

Dale Hodges' numbers last night: 27 points, 18 rebounds. Final score in the last regular-season Atlantic Ten Conference contest for the 24th-ranked Hawks: St. Joseph's 80, West Virginia 60. Sounds like another razzle-dazzle high-powered act on Hawk Hill, right? Well, don't jump to conclusions. St. Joseph's (22-5, 16-2) had to rely on defense most of the evening to stay ahead until another Hodges milestone occurred with 13 minutes, 48 seconds left to play and her team ahead, 46-28.

Maalik Wayns got the word at a team meeting a few days ago. Villanova coach Jay Wright decided he needed a taller, more defense-oriented starting lineup, and the switch meant the 6-foot-2 point guard would come off the bench. "At first, I was in shock," admitted Wayns, the sophomore from Roman Catholic High. But Wayns adapted to the new role quickly and quite nicely. He sparked the 12th-ranked Wildcats with a team-high 17 points Saturday and played a key role in a 19-3 run that helped his team put away No. 25 West Virginia, 66-50, before a crowd of 16,106 at the Wells Fargo Center.