Xavier 63, No. 13 George Washington 59

3/9/2008 3:25 PM

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Maureen Hester hit two free throws in the final seconds, and Ta'Shia Phillips had 22 points and nine rebounds as Xavier upset No. 13 George Washington 63-59 in the semifinal round of the Atlantic 10 tournament on Sunday.

Amber Harris added 15 points and eight rebounds, and Jerri Taylor scored 10 points for the third-seeded Musketeers (23-8), who won their third straight. Xavier will take on top-seeded Temple (21-11) in Monday's championship game.

Xavier will be trying for its second straight tournament title. The Musketeers defeated Saint Joseph's 65-59 last year.

Antelia Parrish scored 13 points and Whitney Allen had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the second-seeded Colonials (25-6), who had their five-game winning streak snapped. Jessica Adair scored 10 points and raised her career total to 1,005 points. She became the 25th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

Kimberly Beck, the conference player of the year, had eight points and seven assists.

George Washington had reached the tournament title game 10 times in the last 16 years. The Colonials also defeated Xavier 56-46 on Jan. 13.

Xavier trailed 30-24 at halftime and 36-28 early in the second half. But the Musketeers responded with a 15-2 run to take a 43-38 lead with 10:21 left.

George Washington tied the game at 54 on a basket by Adair with 1:33 remaining.

Leading 57-56, Xavier's Special Jennings hit a difficult running bank shot in the lane as the shot clock expired for a 59-56 advantage with 24 seconds left.

Taylor and Phillips each hit one of two free throws to give the Musketeers a 61-56 lead before Beck knocked down a 3-pointer and the Colonials closed within 61-59 with 4.7 seconds left.

But Hester hit two crucial free throws - her only points of the game - with 3.9 seconds remaining to send Xavier back to the championship game.