Howland, Pitt Deal Said Done

Ben Howland, who led Northern Arizona to its first NCAA tournament appearance last year, has reached an agreement to take over for Ralph Willard as coach at Pittsburgh, sources told the Associated Press.

Two sources close to the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that Pittsburgh Athletic Director Steve Pederson and Howland reached an agreement Wednesday night.

One source said Howland will be introduced as the Panthers’ new coach Monday. Howland, who makes $110,000 to $125,000 at Northern Arizona, will get a five-year contract worth $375,000 to $400,000 a year, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Arizona Republic.

Willard’s five-year tenure at Pittsburgh ended Wednesday night with a 64-51 loss to Rutgers in the opening round of the Big East tournament.

Howland, in his fifth season at Northern Arizona, has a 78-58 record in his only head coaching job. Last year his team threw a tournament scare into Cincinnati before losing, 65-62, in the first round.

Northern Arizona (20-7) finished second in the Big Sky this season and plays in the conference tournament semifinals today at Ogden, Utah.

WOMEN’S ROUNDUP Oregon Lets Stanford Back In The Oregon Ducks blew their chance to clinch a share of the Pacific 10 Conference title, while the Stanford Cardinal kept alive its title hopes.

Regan Freuen had 16 of her 21 points in the second half for the Cardinal, which ended No. 15 Oregon’s nine-game winning streak with an 82-73 victory at Palo Alto.

Bethany Donaphin added 20 points on seven-of-seven shooting as Stanford (17-11, 13-4 Pac-10) used a 17-5 run opening the second half to remain in the running for a share of its fifth consecutive conference title.

Angelina Wolvert had 26 points for Oregon (23-5, 14-3), which could have clinched at least a share of its first Pac-10 women’s title in any sport other than track or cross-country. The Ducks also could have clinched the automatic NCAA bid, based on tiebreakers.

Oregon still can wrap up at least a share of the Pac-10 title with a win Saturday at California. But if UCLA also wins Saturday at home against Arizona, the Bruins would tie for the conference title and claim the automatic NCAA bid based on tiebreakers.

The only way Stanford can claim a share of the conference title is if it wins Saturday at home against Oregon State while Oregon and UCLA lose.

No. 5 Old Dominion 73, James Madison 45--Aubrey Eblin and Mery Andrade sparked a second-half surge with opening-minute, three-point baskets and the Lady Monarchs (24-3) defeated the Dukes (12-20) in the Colonial Athletic Assn. tournament at Richmond, Va.

No. 9 Texas Tech 77, Nebraska 59--Angie Braziel scored 19 points, leading the Red Raiders (26-3) past the Cornhuskers (21-11) in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament at Kansas City, Mo.

No. 21 Iowa State 79, No. 25 Kansas 64--Stacy Frese made three three-point shots and scored 21 points as the Cyclones (22-6) defeated the Jayhawks (22-9) to advance to the championship game of the Big 12 tournament.

No. 23 Florida International 73, SW Louisiana 42--Auzana Michalcova scored 26 points and Dalma Ivanyi added 15 to lead the Golden Panthers (22-5) over the Cajuns (1-26) in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament at Jonesboro, Ark.