Delaware gets tourney bid
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BALTIMORE — Carl Baptiste scored a career-high 24 points, including a go-ahead layup with 10 seconds left, and top-seeded Delaware squeezed past William & Mary 75-74 Monday night to win the Colonial Athletic Association championship and earn a berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 15 years.
Delaware (25-9) will be making its fifth trip to the NCAA tournament. The Hens, who previously qualified in 1992, 1993, 1998 and 1999, were making their first appearance in a league championship since losing to Hofstra in the 2001 America East tournament.
This one wasn’t easy. Delaware trailed 74-68 with 1:20 left before scoring the game’s last seven points.
Manhattan 71, Iona 68
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — George Beamon scored 16 points and Manhattan held off rival Iona for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title and a berth into the NCAA tournament.
Beamon was one of four players to score in double figures for Manhattan (25-7), which earned its first NCAA bid in a decade.
A.J. English had 15 points for Iona (22-10), which had five players with at least 10 points.
Manhattan led by as many as 10 points in the second half.
But Iona chipped away, and was within two after English drove for an uncontested dunk with 18 seconds to play.
Iona fouled Donovan Kates, who made one of two free throws for his only point of the game. But a 3-point attempt by David Laury hit the side of the rim at the buzzer.
No. 1 Connecticut 72, No. 3 Louisville 52
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Breanna Stewart scored 20 points and top-ranked Connecticut beat No. 3 Louisville to win the inaugural American Athletic Conference tournament.
With the victory, UConn (34-0) became the 14th team to enter the NCAA tournament without a loss. It’s the sixth time that the Huskies have accomplished that feat. They’ve gone on to win the national championship four of those years.
UConn got off to a quick start, scoring the first eight points of the game. Louisville trailed 28-20 with 6 minutes left in the first half before Stewart took over.
Her three-point play started a 12-2 run to close the half. Stewart, the tournament’s MVP, had seven points during the burst as UConn led 40-22 at the break.
Louisville (30-4) scored the first five points in second half, but could get no closer because of Stewart and the Huskies.
