Wofford takes Southern crown

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Lee Skinner scored 17 points, Eric Garcia added 15, and top-seeded Wofford held off 10th-seeded Furman 67-64 to capture the Southern Conference championship on Monday night and earn its fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in six seasons.

The Terriers (28-6) ended the Paladins' unlikely run to the championship and won despite Furman shooting 52 percent from the field.

Karl Cochran added 11 points, and Spencer Collins had 10 for the Terriers.

Furman (11-22), the tournament's lowest seed, but pulled off three consecutive upsets over The Citadel, Chattanooga and Mercer to reach the title game. However, the Paladins didn't quite have enough to complete what would have been a remarkable run to the NCAA Tournament.

Geoff Beans had 15 points on five three-pointers, and Stephen Croone had 14 to lead the Paladins, who don't have a senior in their rotation.

COLONIAL MEN

NORTHEASTERN 72, WILLIAM & MARY 61

BALTIMORE -- Northeastern captured the Colonial Athletic Association championship with a victory over top-seeded William & Mary, which failed again to earn its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Quincy Ford scored 22 points and David Walker added 15 for the Huskies (23-11), who will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1991.

That's a relatively short stretch compared to that of William & Mary (20-12), one of only five of the original Division I teams that has never participated in the NCAA Tournament. The others: Army, Northwestern, St. Francis (NY) and The Citadel.

AAC WOMEN

NO. 1 CONNECTICUT 84, SOUTH FLORIDA 70

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis led four Connecticut players who scored at least 10 points with 23 points and the top-ranked Huskies beat South Florida 84-70 to win their second consecutive American Athletic Conference tournament.

Breanna Stewart had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Huskies (32-1), who led by 23 at halftime and held off South Florida (26-7) after intermission.

Morgan Tuck had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Moriah Jefferson added 14 points.

The Huskies have never lost an AAC regular-season or tournament game, and had never won a conference game by less than 20 points.

Shalethia Stringfield tied a career high with 20 points to pace South Florida (26-7).

MAAC WOMEN

QUINNIPIAC 72, MARIST 61

Jasmine Martin scored 18 points to help Quinnipiac beat Marist and win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament, ending the Red Foxes' nine-year run as champions. Last year Quinnipiac lost the title game by four points.

Nikoline Ostergaard added 15 points for the Bobcats, who secured their second NCAA bid in three years. Quinnipiac won the NEC tournament in 2013 before joining the MAAC the next season.

Quinnipiac (31-3) lost to Maryland in the NCAAs in its last appearance. This year the Bobcats became the first MAAC team to go 20-0 during conference play this season, stopping Marist's run as regular season champions.

Sydney Coffey scored 21 points to lead Marist (21-11).

Sports on 03/10/2015

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