Western Carolina

Kent Briggs was fired as head football coach at Western Carolina yesterday, 2 days after his team gave up 79 points to archrival Appalachian State. Athletic director Chip Smith said the search for a replacement for Briggs would begin immediately. Smith said in a prepared statement that Briggs, who will coach the season finale against Furman on Saturday, would be reassigned to a position within the university. Briggs has a career-mark of 22-42, with a Southern Conference mark of 12-31.

Tired of trudging down to the Vet to see the Phillies lose? This might be the night to experience a Philadelphia sports phenomena: boxing at the Blue Horizon arena. The unique hall, at 1314 N. Broad St., is a perpetuation of the boxing clubs from the 1930s, '40s and '50s. The Blue Horizon seats 1,200, most of whom are close enough to the ring to reach out and touch the fighters, or at least holler in their ears. Blue Horizon fans like to see knockouts, which explains why Jorge Maysonet suddenly has become popular.

St. Joseph's raced to its biggest win over a Division I opponent in nearly 30 years last night, crushing Western Carolina, 103-53, in the America's Youth Classic at Vanderbilt University. The winning margin was the Hawks' largest since they beat Alaska-Anchorage, 106-54, on Dec. 30, 1983. It was their biggest victory over a Division I team since they drubbed Nevada-Reno, 128-66, on Dec. 15, 1971. The 105 points were the most for the Hawks since a 116-67 win over Wheeling Jesuit in November 1991.

Shawnee's Shannon Dennehey, The Inquirer's South Jersey girls' soccer player of the year, has made an oral commitment to attend the University of Louisville. Dennehey said she chose Louisville over Winthrop and Western Carolina after making visits to all three schools. "Louisville is in the Big East, and I wanted to play the best competition and I really liked the school," Dennehey said Saturday. "Plus, if I got hurt and couldn't play again, I would be happiest at Louisville. " Dennehey was a two-time Inquirer first-team all-South Jersey selection.

Drexel picked up its first win of the season yesterday, a 57-50 victory over La Salle in its home opener at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. It was the second win in three seasons against the Explorers (1-2) for coach Denise Dillon's team, though La Salle leads the series, 17-4. Gabriela Marginean scored 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Drexel (1-2). Andrea Petersen, a former Archbishop Carroll star and a transfer from St. John's last December, added 13 points. "We're looking for other players to step up and help [Marginean]

The nation's major college conferences will receive a bigger share of the money CBS pays to televise the NCAA basketball tournament. "Everyone sees this pot of gold out there and wants a big piece of it," NCAA executive director Cedric Dempsey said. "It's important to make sure we've looked at some of the greatest needs. " The decision to increase the payments comes after the Division I-A conferences circulated a secret memo among themselves, urging Dempsey to address the problems facing their schools.

The score seemed wrong somehow. It was a Friday night in mid-November, and St. Joseph's had just opened its season in something called America's Youth Classic against some team named Western Carolina. They played in Vanderbilt's quaint Memorial Gym, where the benches are beyond the baselines and the sideline seats are below the court. It was an interesting setting and a bizarre score. St. Joseph's had won the game, 103-53. Nearly everybody expected the Hawks to be better.

Florida defensive end Jarvis Moss, who blocked two kicks in the Gators' 17-16 win over South Carolina, has been suspended for Saturday's game against Western Carolina. "It's a speed bump," coach Urban Meyer said. "We've had a bunch of those, probably more than I imagined. But good teams find a way to overcome a guy that made a mistake. " Meyer declined to give a reason for Moss' suspension but said that if the junior does "everything right," he would be allowed to return to the team for the season finale at Florida State, the Southeastern Conference championship game and a bowl game.

Sophomore Briana Weiss scored 13 of her game-high 16 points in the first half and the Villanova Wildcats shot 58 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of a 59-40 win over Binghamton yesterday in Vestal, N.Y. Weiss hit 5 of 8 from the field and 3 of 6 from three-point range to score 13 points in the game's first 15 minutes. Villanova (5-5) built a 12-4 lead in the first seven minutes against the Bearcats (2-7) and later used a 15-5 run to go ahead by 29-14 with 6 minutes, 56 seconds left before the half.

Shawnee's Shannon Dennehey, The Inquirer's South Jersey girls' soccer player of the year, has made an oral commitment to attend the University of Louisville. Dennehey said she chose Louisville over Winthrop and Western Carolina after making visits to all three schools. "Louisville is in the Big East, and I wanted to play the best competition and I really liked the school," Dennehey said Saturday. "Plus, if I got hurt and couldn't play again, I would be happiest at Louisville. " Dennehey was a two-time Inquirer first-team all-South Jersey selection.

Jahvid Best ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns yesterday as California blasted Washington State, 66-3, spoiling coach Paul Wulff's first game back in Pullman, Wash., since he was a star player in the late 1980s. Best had TD runs of 80, 5 and 86 yards. The 5-yarder came after Syd'Quan Thompson 90-yard return of an interception. California (2-0, 1-0 Pac-10) had 505 yards in its most lopsided win over the Cougars (0-2, 0-1) in their series, topping a 61-0 win in 1922. Notre Dame 21, San Diego State 13 - Jimmy Clausen threw a 38-yard TD pass to Golden Tate as the Irish (1-0)

Cavel Witter scored 15 points, including the final six points for Creighton, in a 74-70 win over Bradley yesterday in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis. The fourth-seeded Bluejays (21-9) led by as many as 18 points in the first half behind 53 percent shooting, but they shot only 32 percent in the second half. Bradley rallied for a 69-68 lead on Matt Salley's putback with 2:40 to play. Also in the tournament, No. 20 Drake (26-4) got 13 points and 10 rebounds from Adam Emmenecker in a 68-46 victory over Indiana State . . . Boo Richardson scored 14 points to lead Illinois State (23-8)

Drexel picked up its first win of the season yesterday, a 57-50 victory over La Salle in its home opener at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. It was the second win in three seasons against the Explorers (1-2) for coach Denise Dillon's team, though La Salle leads the series, 17-4. Gabriela Marginean scored 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Drexel (1-2). Andrea Petersen, a former Archbishop Carroll star and a transfer from St. John's last December, added 13 points. "We're looking for other players to step up and help [Marginean]

Kent Briggs was fired as head football coach at Western Carolina yesterday, 2 days after his team gave up 79 points to archrival Appalachian State. Athletic director Chip Smith said the search for a replacement for Briggs would begin immediately. Smith said in a prepared statement that Briggs, who will coach the season finale against Furman on Saturday, would be reassigned to a position within the university. Briggs has a career-mark of 22-42, with a Southern Conference mark of 12-31.

Matt DiFelice honestly regrets giving up his baseball career so soon in college. But his dream of one day seeing his last name stitched across the back of a major league jersey still lives on. Through his younger brother, Mark. Just 12 short months ago, Mark DiFelice was pitching in the Atlantic League for the Camden Riversharks. Now the 30-year-old righthander, who has spent the last 10 years ping-ponging among teams in the minors, finds himself with one foot on the edge of a major league mound.

Sophomore Briana Weiss scored 13 of her game-high 16 points in the first half and the Villanova Wildcats shot 58 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of a 59-40 win over Binghamton yesterday in Vestal, N.Y. Weiss hit 5 of 8 from the field and 3 of 6 from three-point range to score 13 points in the game's first 15 minutes. Villanova (5-5) built a 12-4 lead in the first seven minutes against the Bearcats (2-7) and later used a 15-5 run to go ahead by 29-14 with 6 minutes, 56 seconds left before the half.

Florida defensive end Jarvis Moss, who blocked two kicks in the Gators' 17-16 win over South Carolina, has been suspended for Saturday's game against Western Carolina. "It's a speed bump," coach Urban Meyer said. "We've had a bunch of those, probably more than I imagined. But good teams find a way to overcome a guy that made a mistake. " Meyer declined to give a reason for Moss' suspension but said that if the junior does "everything right," he would be allowed to return to the team for the season finale at Florida State, the Southeastern Conference championship game and a bowl game.

Ron Whitcomb threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Kevin McMahan with 2 minutes, 55 seconds left, and Division I-AA Maine stopped Mississippi State twice in the final minutes to beat the Bulldogs, 9-7, in Starkville, Miss. Maine (2-1), playing a Division I-A opponent for the first time since 1991, handed Mississippi State its second loss in three games under new coach Sylvester Croome. North Carolina 34, Georgia Tech 13 - Jacque Lewis rushed for a career-high 161 yards and two touchdowns, while North Carolina (2-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference)

The score seemed wrong somehow. It was a Friday night in mid-November, and St. Joseph's had just opened its season in something called America's Youth Classic against some team named Western Carolina. They played in Vanderbilt's quaint Memorial Gym, where the benches are beyond the baselines and the sideline seats are below the court. It was an interesting setting and a bizarre score. St. Joseph's had won the game, 103-53. Nearly everybody expected the Hawks to be better.