It's a long way from Sioux City to Burlington, Vt., but Millie Niggeling's parents didn't mind their daughter's choice of colleges. "My dad says if he's going to save $170,000 on school, he can pay for a couple of airplane tickets,'' joked Niggeling on Wednesday after making a verbal commitment to play basketball at the University of Vermont.

Former Norwich University women's basketball coach Mark Miller has reached back into Vermont to snag a recruit at his new job as head coach of Division II Holy Family University in Philadelphia.

Burlington High School standout Clancy Rugg had an incredible run as a basketball player over the last three years. Today he adds to his trophy case by collecting the title "Burlington Free Press Mr. Basketball," symbolic of Vermont's best high school player for boys -- in all divisions and all classes. Tiffany Johnson is in a class of her own in BFA-St. Albans history. The senior guard, the first girl to tally 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in school history, drew plenty of attention over the last few years.

Selecting the state’s 15 finest high school girls basketball players regardless of school classification or grade is a daunting task, one The Burlington Free Press Sports Department took on for the 19th time this winter. And picking “Burlington Free Press Miss Basketball” with the talent on our first team was one of the toughest jobs since the award was created in 1991.

After battling the Eagles inside, University of South Florida guard Janae Stokes decided to play outside, drilling five 3-pointers to lead the Bulls to an 82-65 victory over Boston College last night in a WNIT semifinal at Conte Forum. South Florida (26-10) kicked off the game in attack mode, scoring the first points on two steals within a minute of each other by freshman guard Jasmine Wynne (19 points). Although BC (23-12) seemed off-balance from the start, the Eagles countered the Bulls' defensive energy by winning the boards, totaling 22 rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

Boston College’s Stefanie Murphy is reveling in her March moments. The 6-foot-4 sophomore forward from Londonderry, N.H., started a numerically rewarding run during the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and it has carried over in the Eagles’ drive for the Women’s NIT title. BC (23-11) will host South Florida (25-10) in the semifinals tonight at 7 at Conte Forum. If the Eagles prevail, they will hit the road to play the winner of the Illinois State vs. Kansas game on Saturday.

TRENTON, N.J. — - On a day such as this, the most important of the season so far, it seemed appropriate that the players who carried the No. 1 UConn women to this point would carry them one step further. Ask any of the 36 teams the Huskies faced prior to Arizona State who they feared the most. Invariably, the answer would be the same — Maya Moore, Renee Montgomery and Tina Charles. On Tuesday afternoon, they were named Associated Press All-Americans. Moore and Montgomery were first team.

USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan was right last week when she wrote that President Obama should have filled out both men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournament bracket sheets. Of course the president has a lot more important things to worry about than a basketball tournament, but if Obama is going to make a big deal about his bracketology, he should have picked both men’s and women’s teams.

Tiffany Johnson of BFA-St. Albans has been named the Vermont girls basketball player of the year by Gatorade. The award reflects athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the court. She is now a finalist for the national girls basketball player of the year award to be announced in mid-March.

Marissa Velez overcame early foul trouble and helped rally a cold-shooting Spaulding team past St. Johnsbury, 42-32, in a Division I high school girls basketball semifinal at Patrick Gym on Monday night.

After watching his team sleepwalk to a 15-point deficit with 4:07 left in the third quarter of its Division IV high school girls basketball semifinal, West Rutland coach Carl Serrani delivered a wake-up call.

The BFA-St. Albans Comets are one step away from that long-cherished Division I girls high school basketball championship. The top-seeded Comets knocked off the No. 12 Rice Memorial, 59-32, in the semifinals at Patrick Gym on Monday night.

JERICHO — Brittany Pfaff tossed in 18 points and No.¤12 Rice pulled off a 51-42 victory over fourth-seeded Mount Mansfield in a Division I high school girls quarterfinal game on Saturday.

Stephanie Jaques racked up 31 points and third-seeded Burlington turned a fast start into an 80-55 win over No. 14 North Country at Buck Hard Gym in a Division I girls basketball playdown on Wednesday. Tonya Conley added 14 points for the Seahorses (17-4), who led 21-4 after a quarter and 39-15 at the half. Claudia Pawlikowski chipped in nine points and eight rebounds for BHS while Hannah Senftleber contributed 12 rebounds.

BFA-St. Albans, Lamoille, Windsor and West Rutland received the top seeds among the four divisions for the Vermont state high school girls basketball tournament, the Vermont Principals’ Association said Monday.

Mount Mansfield secured the Lake Division high school girls basketball title Friday night, rallying to beat South Burlington, 54-52, on Maria Rademacher’s shot with 10 seconds to go in overtime. The Cougars (16-4) trailed by five with 2 minutes to go in regulation but fought back to tie the game on a 3-pointer at the end of regulation.

JERICHO — Mount Mansfield rolled out to a 13-point halftime lead in its 49-36 high school girls basketball win over Colchester Wednesday evening. Halley Fisher paced the Cougars (5-4) with 13 points while Maria Rademacher added 11.

VERGENNES — Paige LaPlant tallied 15 points as Colchester held off a late charge by Vergennes to post a 49-43 win in high school girls basketball on Monday.

Allison Gannon hit three free throws in the final minute as Champlain Valley pulled out a 41-38 victory against Essex in high school girls basketball action Friday night. Gannon finished with a game-high 17 points and Kendal Kohlasch added nine for CVU (10-8). Antonia Armstrong-Laird and Kelly Barford each scored eight points for Essex (11-7).

Chelsea Dunham tallied eight of her 14 points in the final quarter as Lamoille held off Montpelier, 39-37, in high school girls basketball Thursday night. Rachel Wellman, who is headed to the University of Vermont on a basketball scholarship, scored eight of her 10 points on free throws for the Lancers (17-1).