By Dylan Butler
And then there were two.
After 11 Queens natives — seven men and four women — started playing in the NCAA tournament, only two remain as the college basketball season heads into its final weekend.
Taliek Brown and Charlie Villanueva helped lead the University of Connecticut to the Final Four after the Huskies beat Alabama, 87-71, in the Elite Eight Saturday night. Tip-off is slated for 40 minutes following the Oklahoma State/Georgia Tech game at 6:07 p.m.
Brown, a four-year starting point guard out of LeFrak City, had just two points but dished out a game-high 10 assists and had just one turnover in 39 minutes. The former St. John’s Prep star also had four rebounds for UConn, which faces Duke in the national semifinals Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.
Villanueva, a freshman forward from Woodhaven who played at Newtown High, had eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks in 24 minutes off the bench.
In a 73-53 win over Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16 last Thursday, Brown had 12 points and five assists, and Villanueva added four points for the Huskies.
Former Cardozo standout Royal Ivey had nine points and six assists for Texas in a 79-71 loss to Xavier in the Sweet 16 Friday.
Mark McCarroll’s season also came to an end in the Sweet 16 last Thursday as the Christ the King grad had four points and five rebounds for Pittsburgh in a 63-51 loss to Oklahoma State.
On the women’s side, former Christ the King star Clare Droesch had 17 points and eight rebounds for Boston College in a 76-63 loss to Minnesota in the Sweet 16 Sunday in Norfolk, Va.
Jessica Henck, a freshman on the Queens College softball team, was named NYCAC Rookie of the Week after batting .333 (6-for-18) in six games, including 3-for-5 against Assumption.
William Patterson 16, Queens College 0. Jeremy Winter was 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs, and Ken Lup, Tim Banos and Dwayne Dowell drove in three runs apiece for William Patterson (10-4) Monday at Queens College.
Edmund Agosto gave up 11 runs — 10 earned — on 11 hits in 5.2 innings for Queens, which fell to 1-9.
St. John’s 7, Siena 0. Jo Sherlock went 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored, Megan Oliver was 2-for-4 with one RBI, and Brittany Crouch and Kimberly Lerch combined to toss a seven-hit shutout for St. John’s (12-14) Sunday in the second game of a doubleheader.
Veronica Arredondo went 2-for-2 for winless Siena, which dropped to 0-12.
St. John’s 3, Siena 1. Courtney Fitzgerald (5-1) allowed one earned run on three hits while striking out 11 and walking two for the Red Storm, which scored all of its runs in the third inning in the opening game of the doubleheader.
Fairfield 2, St. John’s 1. Brie Zimmerman went 1-for-2 with an RBI, and Tracy Slyvestre allowed one earned run on seven hits for Fairfield (10-15) in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday at Red Storm Field. Oliver drove in the lone run for the Red Storm.
St. John’s 7, Fairfield 1. Sherlock went 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, Jillian Sandoval was 2-for-4 with one RBI and Tami Hill went 2-for-2 with two runs scored for the Red Storm in the opener of the doubleheader. Fitzgerald allowed one earned run on three hits, striking out six and walking two.
Queens College 3, Caldwell College 2. Stephanie Santoro scored on a suicide squeeze off the bat of Maria Scalisi in the sixth inning to give Queens (5-8) the lead for good. Erin Lynch was 2-for-3 and Jessica Paparella picked up the win for the Lady Knights, allowing two runs — one earned — on eight hits while striking out four and walking one.
Caldwell College 10, Queens College 0. Anna Dahl, Kim Birmingham and Gina D’Amico drove in two runs apiece, and Corinne Reiser tossed a three-hit shutout for Caldwell (8-3) in the opening game of the doubleheader.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
