Two more reasons to thank the losing Knicks

Missed this one from March 5th: Not the Knicks – Success Runs Deeper Than All the 3-Pointers

 About an hour before the start of an afternoon practice last week, Kaneisha Atwater shot dozens of 3-pointers as a wall-mounted computer called the Noah Instant calculated the trajectory of each attempt.

The Noah, as the machine is known around Alico Arena, has become a rudimentary part of life for the women’s basketball team at Florida Gulf Coast University. The Eagles love to shoot 3-pointers — few teams in the country make more — and they spend hours trying to perfect the craft.

And this on the Tigers: Like Kentucky Men, Princeton Women Close In on Perfection

Courtney Banghart, the women’s basketball coach at Princeton, believes one pivotal defeat has put the Tigers on the cusp of a historic regular season.

That loss, 80-64 at home to Penn, came in the regular-season finale last year and denied Princeton a fifth consecutive Ivy League title. Afterward, Banghart acknowledged, “The moment was a little big for my youngsters.”

Still, she thinks the Tigers grew immensely from that setback, which became a rallying point.

Apparently CBSports will be broadcasting the 5pm game. I’ll be taking Amtrak down to Philly for my first trip to the Palestra.

On the opposite side of the coin – really bad decisions have really bad consequences: SWAC suspends 15 over fight

Texas Southern imposed its own penalty on the women’s basketball team, withdrawing from the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament that begins Wednesday.

That move Monday night came hours before the conference handed out suspensions for 15 players involved in the bench-clearing fight between the Lady Tigers and Southern on Saturday night. It’s believed to be one of the biggest number of suspensions in NCAA women’s basketball history.

Job openings at

Kansas: Bonnie Henrickson fired after 11 seasons

Utah: Utah fires women’s basketball coach after two injury-riddled losing seasons

Austin Peay: Austin Peay State University Lady Govs Basketball Coach Carrie Daniels contract not renewed

Cool! N.D. CLASS B GIRLS BASKETBALL: Mother coaches daughter, Minot Ryan to state championship

Kindred came out firing on Saturday night.

Still, it couldn’t be sustained against the well-oiled machine that is the Minot Ryan girls basketball team.

The Lions made their move late in the first half, eventually securing their third consecutive Class B state championship with a 68-52 victory at the Minot State Dome.

Ryan (26-1) joins Bottineau as the only programs to win three straight.

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And then there were eight.

UConn’s Morgan Tuck To Have Surgery, out for season, leaving the Huskies with 8 scholarship players for the rest of the season. (7 for their next game: Banks is out with an ankle sprain.)

You can hear coaches game planning: “What we need to do is get them into foul trouble.” True, but not as easy as it sounds. UConn has adjusted nicely to the new rules, especially considering the fierce defense they play. Things could get interesting in the paint!

Speaking of interesting:

Gaels are now 9-0 in the MAAC. Their biggest threats the rest of the (conference) season lurks at the end of their schedule: Quinnipiac and Marist.

As mentioned, big win for Cynthia Cooper as USC takes down #19 California. (Somebody stop Ariya Crook, writes Nick Kranz) With some nice recruits coming in next year, things are looking good for the Trojan program.

Staying with the Pac 12, Oregon surprised Washington State and earned their first conference win.

The #14 Sun Devils needed free throws to escape the Utes and, in the battle of great names (Nyingifa v Ogwumike), it was close in the first half but #4 Stanford pulled away in the second for a 17pt win over UCLA.

In the Battle of CAA Unbeatens, JMU returns to the Beast of the CAA role with 74-47 win over Drexel.

Upcoming games of interest:

Sunday brings us a little SEC “legit” road test: #10 South Carolina v. #16 Vanderbilt (2pm ESPN2) followed by #11 Tennessee v. #17 Texas A&M at 4pm. BTW, Dave’s podcast asks: #WhyNotVandy? Melanie Balcomb & Vanderbilt host South Carolina in a battle of SEC upstarts.

“Big Monday” means USC v. Stanford for the top spot in the Pac 12. Which means  Tina Thompson and Candice Wiggins will do a little Twitter ‘Smack Talk’

From Todd Carton: Can the Terps stop the Irish Invasion?

Glenn Logan worries about Kentucky:

I hate to say it, but right now, the women’s Kentucky Wildcats basketball team is just not very good. They are shooting the ball extremely poorly, and the object of the game of basketball, or at least one of the two main ones, is to put the ball into the basket. Kentucky is defending well enough to win, but when they simply cannot score.

Better, but a lot of ground to be made up: Texas women’s basketball still struggling to reinvigorate fan base – Over past decade, average home attendance has declined by half

Spotlight #1: Dunbar’s Rowe poised to become Middle Tennessee’s all-time scoring leader

Also the school’s all-time rebound leader, Rowe is averaging 22.2 points and 11.7 rebounds this season. She has 16 double-doubles, including 10 in a row, and a school-record 69 in her career.

“I’m not the fanciest, I can’t do the best moves, not the quickest, can’t jump the highest. But I’m just in a system that all five people on the court know what to do, and we work so well together.”

Spotlight #2: UNC’s Diamond DeShields dares to dream

UNC’s leading scorer can splice two defenders, perform pirouettes on her way to the basket, make passes that some point guards would never dare try to make. When she makes a routine play by her standards, a highlight reel, “did-you-see-that?!” play by layman’s standards, DeShields, 18, simply smiles, a cheek-to-cheek glow that lifts her 6-foot-1-inch body off the hard court.

“It can make me very happy,” DeShields said of basketball, “but it can also make me really mad.”

Spotlight #3: Jersey girl Mabrey boosts Irish

In WNBA land, Nate has: 2013 Tulsa Shock season review: What kind of talent did Fred Williams inherit?

In the “Please Buy The Sparks” vein, it’s James Bowman with Sparks Watch Day 24: The Vetting Process

SPOILER ALERT!!! That’s 900 wins for Bentley’s Barb Stevens. BTW, the Falcons are undefeated this season, and sit atop the DII poll.

Up next, Jim Foster going for #800.

Don’t have Netflix? Check this out! “Off The Rez,” the documentary about Louisville’s Shoni and Jude Schimmel from the Umatilla reservation, will finally be available for download TODAY, Jan 24, on iTunes and VOD platforms.

Great excuse to remind you of more good stuff (though it’s old): Eight Native Basketball Players You Need to Know Better: Cliff Johns the first Native American to play for legendary NCAA coach Lute Olsen at the University of Arizona; Kenny Dobbs, the all-universe dunking star; University of Kansas and WNBA star guard Angel Goodrich; Hall-of-Famer Reyneldi Becenti who was the first Native American to play in the WNBA; Two-time Continental Basketball Association champion with the Yakama Sun Kings Richard Dionne; GinaMarie Scarpa, cofounder of the Native American Basketball Invitational basketball tournament.

And did you catch this piece from Graham? Green Bay’s Tesha Buck embraces heritage

To understand her is to understand the universality of a father’s influence on a daughter. Her struggles with separation from what was familiar are the same as those of freshmen across the country. So, too, her ability to eventually adapt and thrive in that new setting. It is a story of someone who aspires to live up to the words tattooed above an ink basketball on her torso: Strong Hearted Woman.

To understand why that is only part of the story is to understand that “Strong Hearted Woman” is merely a translation of the words inscribed permanently on her skin. The words themselves are written in the Dakota language. The language of those who came before her. Of where she comes from. A language and a history rarely represented on Division I basketball courts.

Back in November, Brent Cahwe’s 10 Native American Basketball Players to watch this College Basketball season included Tesha and also named Lakota Beatty, Oklahoma State; Keli Warrior, Kansas; Abby Scott, New Mexico State; and Shauna Long, Lamar University.

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About those games today…

From Full Court: Norfolk welcomes home Elizabeth Williams and Duke Blue Devils

Elizabeth Williams’ McDonald’s All-American uniform never looked so baggy.

On the 5-foot-6 Jenna Frush, the jersey hung like a queen-size bed sheet, the brilliant red shorts hung down to her ankles, and the No. 15 jersey resembled a nightgown.

It was just one of the treasures the Duke Blue Devils found while rummaging through their sophomore teammate’s bedroom, all thanks to the NCAA Tournament coming to Williams’ hometown.

Rob Glough has a preview of the Norfolk games.

And here’s a preview of the Duke-Nebraska game.

Nebraska has won 13 of 15 and believes it can play with anybody, especially after Monday’s 74-63 win over Texas A&M on the Aggies’ home court.

One key for the Cornhuskers, Moore said, is not getting psyched out by Duke’s resume.

“We understand that they’re a big name, but we have been playing successfully and having a good run,” she said. “So we just need to make sure we stay focused on the things that we’ve done up to this point and not necessarily psych ourselves out against a big name like that. Just play Nebraska basketball.”

Her coach, like all the others in the regional, trusts that her point guard can make it happen.

From KHAS-TV: Huskers anticipate Easter Sunday game with Duke

Meanwhile,  the Winston-Salem Journal says the Duke women intent on changing a trend while the Herald Sun says the Road beckons for Final Four-minded Blue Devil women

Curt at the SBT has: Clash features two of nation’s best guards

I think, when you look at (Notre Dame), again, my reference is back to when I was in the Big East, they pass as well as UConn,” Henrickson said. “If you look at the stats, 65 percent of their field goals are assisted. If you pass that well, that leads to a lot of uncontested shots.”

Notre Dame’s passing revolves around All-American point guard Skylar Diggins, but Kansas also has a stellar point guard in Angel Goodrich, and the Jayhawks have an assist on 61 percent of their field goals.

There’s a similar focus at the Lawrence Journal: Guards take center stage for KU-Notre Dame women’s showdown

Basketball?

This is more of a match-up of socio-cultural phenomena.

“Angel Goodrich was a rock star over in Tahlequah (Okla.),” Kansas University women’s basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson said Saturday on the eve of the 12th-seeded Jayhawks’ NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game against Notre Dame, top-seeded in the Norfolk bracket. “Literally a rock star. Thousands of people went to her home games and followed her around.”

Don’t think I caught this from Graham: Diggins, Goodrich take center stage

It’s a point guard’s responsibility to make sure a team gets where it’s going. None in the college game do that any better than the two who will square off Sunday when No. 1 seed Notre Dame plays No. 12 Kansas.

It might not be a coincidence that both Skylar Diggins and Angel Goodrich are conscious of where they came from.

 The Norfolk Regional features four of the seven finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, the honor given annually to the nation’s best point guard and named after the star who played her college basketball in this city (although only three of this season’s finalists will be on the court, with Duke’s Chelsea Gray sidelined by injury). But even in that kind of company, Diggins is in a league of her own. She’s the one with back-to-back trips to the national championship game, who mastered Connecticut and awaits a likely place among the top three picks in the upcoming WNBA draft. And, yes, the one with hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers and headband aficionados.

Mechelle says: No. 6 seed Sooners steal spotlight: Oklahoma, not top-seeded Baylor, will have home-crowd advantage

Defending NCAA champion Baylor — the overall No. 1 seed with the superstar who tweets about “needing” to throw down a couple of dunks and then does just that — is used to being the main attraction.

But while the Lady Bears certainly will not lack for attention here in the Sweet 16, they are kind of second-billed this weekend in Oklahoma’s capital city.

Oklahoma, with its campus just 20 miles down Interstate 35, is the star attraction for the locals. The No. 6 seed Sooners will meet No. 2 Tennessee on Sunday at Chesapeake Energy Center (4:30 p.m. ET/ESPN2), followed by Baylor vs. No. 5 Louisville (6:30 p.m. ET/ESPN2).

“It is fun to be in front of a home crowd in Oklahoma City,” Oklahoma senior Joanna McFarland said, “because it is a really good base for women’s basketball.”

From NewsOk: Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale reflects on last meeting with Tennessee

Guerin Emig at the Tulsa World thinks  OU must overcome Vols’ image

They don’t have Pat Summitt on the bench or Candace Parker or Chamique Holdsclaw in the lineup. Still, Tennessee, Oklahoma’s opponent in Sunday’s Sweet Sixteen matchup, can buckle your knees.

“You always will think, at least my generation will think, of Tennessee and UConn as those big teams, the best in the country,” OU forward Joanna McFarland said. “You’re like, `Whoa, stars in your eyes.’ “

Dan Fleser says Lady Vols will find out how well their game travels and adds: SEC good regional preparation for Lady Vols

Tennessee’s SEC opponents won’t lift a hand this weekend to help the Lady Vols at the Oklahoma City regional.

Still, they’ve received credit for helping during the season with the preparation.

“I think it’s faster-paced, more talent, teams are bigger this year,” said senior Kamiko Williams, who lauded the addition of Texas A&M. “I think that has helped us out.

From NPR: Defending Women’s Champs Baylor To Battle Cardinals’ Tough Defense

From the LA Times (ish): Brittney Griner: Baylor Legend Will Key Lady Bears to Dominant Win

From the NY Times: Brittney Griner, Me, and Four Amazing Years at Baylor

Covering the team that was the reason I chose my soon-to-be alma mater hasn’t hurt.

With my press pass, recorder and laptop, I have had a front-row seat to women’s basketball history these past four years, but being on campus to experience it all has made it even more memorable.

When you watch the Lady Bears on the court, you see that they are great role models and serious about the game they play. But when you walk around Baylor’s lush campus, you see another side of them.

Mike Grant of the Courier Journal says: One small obstacle in Louisville women’s basketball tournament road: Mount Griner

How do you stop a woman who dunked three times in her last game, an 85-47 rout of Florida State? How do stop a woman who has powered the Lady Bears to 74 victories in their past 75 games?

“I’m trying to put six on the floor,” U of L coach Jeff Walz said Saturday. “I’m hoping our officials are bad at math tomorrow night and we just get them real confused.”

BTW: Something to keep an eye out for:

Rebecca Lobo ‏@RebeccaLobo: We asked Louisville’s Shoni Schimmel what she would do if Griner tried to dunk on them tomorrow. She replied : “Pants her.

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The Three Upset-eers!

I spent the early morning watching this:

…but I still had enough time to notice

#6 Nebraska over #3 Texas A&M

#6 Oklahoma over #3 UCLA

#12 Kansas over #4 South Carolina

Glad there aren’t any upsets in women’s basketball.

Mechelle: Moore guides Huskers to Sweet 16 and Upsets by OU, Kansas cap big day for Big 12

Graham: Thomas leads Terps past Spartans

Now off to see some Prairie Chickens.

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Don’t have a lot of time to reflect ’cause, you know,

I’m birding in Nebraska with the mom (saw Redhead, Canvasback and Wigeon today), BUT….

How cool is it that I’m in Omaha, birding in the home of the Creighton Blue Jays — who took down the Orange of Syracuse in the first upset of the day.

Credit Kansas over the Buffs and USF  over Texas Tech were the other two upsets du jour.

Also credit teams who showed up and strutted a tad before they fell:

St. Joe’s v. Vanderbilt.

Central Michigan v. Oklahoma.

Gonzaga v. Iowa State.

Montana v. Georgia.

Fresno St. v. California.

Quinnipiac v. Maryland.

Chattanooga v. Nebraska (it would have been awkward to be in Neb. and have the Huskers lose. Would bring the WHB curse to a whole new level.)

And, maybe it’s just me, but I think that it’s cool that Oral Roberts can stay within 20 of Tennessee, ditto with South Dakota State and South Carolina, more ditto with the Hatters and UCLA. And it was closer than between Marist and Michigan State.

And then, of course, there were the full out blow outs….

UConn v. Idaho.

Aggies v. Shockers.

Some fun stuff to read as you await the next round (and I await my 5:45am wake up call to sound):

Bauer is unsung hero of Navy women’s basketball team

“If our Navy women’s basketball team was a band, Kara Pollinger would be our drummer.

Jade Geif would be the lead singer, Alix Membreno lead guitar, ML Morrison on tambourine charming the crowd, and Audrey Bauer would be the talented musician playing any instrument a song needed — saxophone, fiddle, bass.”

That comment, contained in an NCAA Tournament diary entry written this week by head coach Stefanie Pemper, perfectly describes what Audrey Bauer brings to the Navy women’s basketball team.

Yes, after the fact, but…: Faced with Final Four expectations, Cal women’s basketball kicks off NCAA tournament against Fresno State

This ought to feel familiar: Michigan women’s basketball set to take on Villanova in NCAA Tournament first round

Yes, it’s the WBI, and yes, it’s the Quakers, BUT, it IS their first post-season win!

We know this: Baylor’s Griner can do more than dunk

From ESPN’s The Magazine – Elena Bergeron: Laying down her road – Baylor center Brittney Griner’s game is going to get even better

From Mechelle: Baylor seeks repeat as NCAA champ

As coach of the last team to beat Baylor in the NCAA tournament, Texas A&M’s Gary Blair rates as the closest thing to an expert on that particular topic.

He talks about the need to score from the perimeter, to come up with some kind of effective zone defense … and then one other thing. A benefit that the Aggies had in facing Baylor that most teams don’t: familiarity. In a little more than a year — the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons — Baylor and Texas A&M met six times. Baylor won the first five of those games.

“And we won the one that counted most,” Blair said.

Lots of stuff at Full Court:

Hard work by Plaisance pays off for LSU Tigers

Under seeded Hampton, led by David Six, could surprise Duke

Kayla McBride – Irish have grown a lot this year

Final Four picks by Full Court experts

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Mas Conference Tournament previewing…

from Full Court:

Jim Clark: Notre Dame, UConn rule the Big East, and its last tournament as a major conference

I hate college football.

Greedy college presidents looking for football TV money have eviscerated the Big East, arguably the best basketball conference in the country over the last ten years. Boston College, Virginia Tech, and Miami wandered away in the last decade. Now the seven catholic institutions are seceding together. Rutgers is going to the Big 10 in 2014 (or sooner if they pay an exit fee), Louisville and Notre Dame are off to the ACC.

When “re-alignment” is over, UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida are all that will be left of the conference that has sent eight teams to the women’s NCAA Tournament the last two years. Nobody knows what that conference will be called. No one is quite sure what additional teams will be added and no one knows yet which conference will get the Big East automatic bid to the tournament. I’ll leave explanation of all the machinations still pending to the football writers.

Clay: NCAA seeds at stake in Big 12 tourney

It doesn’t matter to Baylor – but the Big 12 Tournament could make the path to the Sweet 16 a lot easier for teams that play well.

The Bears are going to be a top seed no matter what happens in their first-round game Friday against the winner of the Thursday’s Kansas State-Texas game. Even should one of the Big 12 bottomfeeders pull off an upset for the ages, it won’t affect Baylor’s chances of winning a national title at all – and it wouldn’t even help Kansas State or Texas unless the winner rode that momentum all the way to the conference title.

Paul Gackle at the SF Examiner says Cal, Stanford women’s basketball appear destined to meet this week in Pac-12 women’s tourney

James Kelley says, Arizona women’s basketball must dominate Pac-12 tournament to reach NCAA’s

Seattle’s Q13 has this story: Husky women’s basketball: Overcoming odds on and off court

The Husky women’s basketball team heads into the Pac-12 Conference Tournament after posting their best record since 2007.

And they’re ready, to say the least.

“I think it’s a real testament to the competitive character of our players that they didn’t accept that we had some limitations; therefore, couldn’t have success,” head coach Kevin McGuff said.

Marcus Fuller at the Pioneer Press wonders:  Gophers women’s basketball: Pam Borton’s secret deal a big deal for Big Ten tourney?

From the outside looking in, Pam Borton’s job status no longer appears tenuous, her team’s performance entering tournament season apparently no longer critical to the immediate future of Minnesota’s women’s basketball coach.

When Gophers athletics director Norwood Teague revealed last week that predecessor Joel Maturi had quietly given Borton a two-year contract extension last June, the women’s basketball coach no longer had to worry about a deal that would expire after next season. A new buyout clause was more university-friendly, but Borton needed a new deal to focus on rebuilding.

FC also has some player features.

Cal – Gennifer Brandon
Colorado – Chucky Jeffery
Maryland – Tianna Hawkins
Notre Dame – Natalie Achonwa
Penn State – Maggie Lucas

Time to revisit Vickie “Just Call Me Winner of the WBCA Mel Greenberg Award Media Award” Friedman’s look at the Mid-Majors:

We’re betting you’ve heard the name Elena Delle Donne.

But how about Naama Shafir, Jerica Coley or Victoria McGowan? You might not be as familiar with their credentials, but the Toledo offensive machine, the explosive Florida International guard and the Stetson floor general (who set an impressive Division I mark last season) have plenty of them.

Learn move below, along with info on several other monster resumes in a list we’ve compiled of this year’s best players from the non-BCS conferences.

Graham focuses on EDD: Elena shines in and out of spotlight – We rarely see Delle Donne play, but her story and game are as good as it gets

Most of the country didn’t experience Elena Delle Donne’s final regular-season home game.

There wasn’t a national television audience for the Colonial Athletic Association game between Delaware and Georgia State as there was when Skylar Diggins and Notre Dame played Connecticut on Monday night.

What transpired wasn’t likely to become part of any national conversation, as it did when Baylor’s Brittney Griner went for 50 points in her regular-season home finale the same night as the triple-overtime thriller in South Bend.

Basketball operates on a smaller scale in the second-smallest state.

Beth, Debbie and the Nell-ster discuss the upcoming NCAA tournament on their podcast.

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Dabnabbit!

KU women’s basketball player Natalie Knight tears ACL

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So, what’s been going on

while work has been kickin’ butt?

A whole lotta Griner and Baylor kickin’ Big 12 butt.

Oklahoma is continuing to win, despite injuries, and continuing to make Aston’s welcome to the Big 12 miserable.

TCU ain’t enjoying the Big 12 much, neither.

Texas Tech getting a nice, and somewhat surprising win, over #23 Kansas — unless, of course, KU ain’t all that, or TTU is something more than that.

Sacred Heart got a little of it’s swagger back, and handed St. Francis (PA) its first NEC loss.

Those Stetson Hatters are now 7-0 in the A-Sun (school record 10 wins in a row). They meet up fellow 7-0ers, FGCU, on January 26th, in Florida. Looks to be fun game.

It’s been a tough year so far, but the Bonnies can still beat UMass.

The Big South is kinda feisty. Winthrop took down Presbyterian. Liberty beat the Fightin’ Camels, and face Conference leader Longwood (who came back from 17 down to get a victory) next.

With a squeaker over New Hampshire, the Terriers have moved to 6-0 in the America East. They face 5-0 Albany next.

I’m not reading too much in to it, but it looks like the youngsters at Villanova have gotten some seasoning — they’re 4-0 in Big East play.

I’m still not reading too much in to it, but St. Francis (NY) won another game. Yes, wins in the past have been that rare that I notice. Credit new coach John Thurston.

Central Michigan stomped all over Northern Illinois, and is now 4-0 in the MAC. Akron got surprised by Western Michigan, but Toledo took care of Buffalo.

Looks like coach Michelle Clark-Heard learned a lot at Louisville:  The Hilltoppers are now 8-1 in the Sun Belt. They’ll meet fellow 8-1ers MTSU in a couple of games, January 27th AT Murfreesboro..

Hampton had a nice second half over Morgan State, and is now 4-0 in the MEAC.

In the Battle of the Big Sky, Tricia’s Montana State took down Robin’s Montana, 58-49.

Gonzaga has put together three straight wins since its lost against the Gaels of St. Mary.

Nice win for IUPUI and coach Parkinson (remember when they were a hot-coaching mess?) as they handed the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State their first Summit Conference loss, 57-56.

In the battle of the birds, the Phoenix took down the Penguins, and Green Bay is now 4-0 in the Horizon.

Boink: The Shockers moved to 4-0 in the MVC, after they gave Creighton their first Conference loss, 67-45.

Hmmm… that’s Seattle U at 7-0 in the WAC. Not looking too far ahead, but… they’ll go up against Utah State (currently 5-2) on Feb 2.

Chattanooga gave Davidson just enough hope to keep the game interesting, but exited with the win, 60-56, taking them to 6-1 in the Southern. That helps them keep pace with Samford and Elon.

In the past two days, two Elon University basketball players had something special happen to them on the hardwood in Alumni Gym.

One of them started most of their first two seasons. Then after suffering an injury two games into their junior season and missing the rest of the year, their playing time lessened, all the way to playing just 42 minutes in ten games this season.

Another one played two games of their sophomore season before tearing their ACL and missing over a year of basketball before returning to action this week.

Both played efficient minutes in their respective teams’ most recent games, helping to spark their teams to victory.

Marist may not be making national noise, but their still winning in the MAC. They held Canisius to 9 points in the first half.

Win or lose, Ohio State still has the Dispatch’s Jim Massie’s fine writing to fall back on. He reflects on the Buckeye’s struggles: Ohio State wants to add to success

As the Big Ten losses mounted, the Ohio State women’s basketball team had to develop the kind of tunnel vision that spelunkers need while exploring a cave as confining as a coffin.

At 0-4 in the conference, the only direction the Buckeyes could move was forward. And even after Ohio State trounced Indiana 68-45 on Thursday to end its losing streak, the single-mindedness couldn’t change.

While Nate considered Three things we learned about Stanford from the Battle of the Bay, Chiney made sure UCLA didn’t get any ideas, and led Stanford to a Bruin-stomping, 75-49. Writes Michelle:

Maybe playing Stanford on Friday night was a little like stepping in front of a freight train.

The Cardinal stared at the business end of a three-game home losing streak, something that hadn’t happened since way back in the 1986-87 season when Tara VanDerveer was a second-year Cardinal coach and parachute pants were all the rage.

Tomorrow, undefeated Duke goes to Connecticut to play the Huskies. At DWHoops, Rob Clough has a preview:

UConn’s top priority will be disconnecting Chelsea Gray from the rest of the team. They’ll face-guard her in an effort to get her to give up the ball or never get it in the first place. They’ll flood passing lanes in an effort to pick off passes made under duress. They’ll let her take contested jump shots all she wants, especially if Gray hesitates before shooting. If you hesitate before taking a shot against UConn, then they’ve already won.

As for UConn, Hartley was better against Louisville, but rolled her ankle (again) against Syracuse.

At Mel’s blog, Mike Siroky has his SEC Report: New Uniform for Bone – Still an SEC Star

Kelsey Bone is used to coming out parties.

Maybe all children born on New Year’s Eve arrive with great expectations.

She is back in the SEC after once playing at South Carolina and earning Newcomer of the Year honors with nine double-doubles. She transferred to Texas A&M and sat out the required year, but stayed busy. Last season, as a sophomore, she was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and a member of the conference all-tournament team.

A good, but hard read, from Lady Swish: You’re Old Dominion’s Sara Jones, and here’s what that means

The doctor didn’t believe that the cancer had come back.

“For that to be so,” he explained to Sara Jones, “it would have to have eaten through the bone.”

Somehow, it did.

For the third time, Sara Jones had cancer. For the third time Sara Jones, 40 years old, has cancer. Metastatic cancer, and metastatic — the cancer has spread to other parts of the body — is one of those words —malignant, chemotherapy, tumor — that it hurts to say. Especially when you think you’ve beaten cancer not once, but twice. Remember, you weren’t supposed to even have it in the first place. That’s what the doctor said not once, but twice.

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Finally…

…we get a women’s basketball double-header on non-cable TV again.

… we get TWO grand games on national TV.

…we get a competitive game between two top-ranked teams.

It was a good day to be a women’s basketball fan (not if you were a UConn fan, though).

The undercard was a fun game between #14 Purdue and #25 Nebraska – two teams that seem to enjoy overtimes.

In the overcard, #5 Notre Dame stormed in to a sold out Gampel and made the #1 Huskies blink. How much, I repeat, how much are we all looking forward to the rematch in South Bend? And how much are we going to miss this NolongerBig East rivalry?

Speaking of the NoLongerBig East, Quigley-less DePaul took it to #11 Louisville and held on for the upset, 86-80.

Speaking of the UsedToBePartOfBig East, West Virginia is not having a great time in the Big 12 — but they did put a scare in to Kansas.

The Hatters moved to 3-0 in the A-Sun.

Presbyterian didn’t let their win over Liberty go to their head —  well, maybe a little bit: They were down 40-19 at the half. But, they move to 4-0 in the Big South with their win over the Fightin’ Camels.

Texas couldn’t take advantage of their rebounding edge, and the Sooners escaped Austin with a win.

Hmmmm… St. Francis (NY) has been epically bad, and yet they defeated perennial NEC favorite Sacred Heart, 56-47.

The other St. Francis (PA) took care of their NEC opener with a win over Bryant, 81-76.

Let’s agree not to discuss the BU/Hartford game, okay?

Dickson went off, as did her fellow Memphis Tigers, and they won 109-68 over Wright State.

Duquesne stumbled at home, as Miami (OH) roared back in the second to take the game. How would you like to be the announcers with these two names: Olowinski (Redhawks) and Agunbiade (Dukes).

The Mocs of Chattanooga are now 3-0 in the Southern.

Coach is leaving you for the WNBA? Makes no nevermind. Seton Hall defeats Pittsburgh, 69-56.

Remember when we used to pay attention to Xavier? Kinda sad.

Remember the Bonnies? It’s been a tough season. They go down to Green Bay, 61-42.

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Yes, BG dunked and went for

35-10 in 35 minutes, leading her Bears to the 83-68 victory.

But N.O. matched Griner’s output and then some (39/10 in 39min) — basically slinging the Trees onto her back and carrying them past a very game South Carolina team, 76-60.Writes Michelle: Stanford senior caps big day of women’s hoops with equally impressive performance

On a night when the spotlight was supposed to belong to Duke’s Chelsea Gray and her three rows of supporters who made the 75-mile trip from Stockton, Stanford’s Nneka Ogwumike took it away.

On a day when Brittney Griner dunked and led Baylor into the Elite Eight, Ogwumike took a little of that limelight, too.

And on a night when Stanford was more uncomfortable than it has been in weeks, Ogwumike simply took over.

Wonder how her legs will feel when she goes up against Duke — who simply obliterated St. John’s, 74-47, and got to distribute the minutes nicely.

Tennessee bumbled about a bit before they got their act together in the second half. Even though they came away with the 84-73 win, if they start like that against Baylor, the game could get out of hand right quick. From Mechelle: Underclassmen lead Tennessee – Lady Vols win for first time this season after trailing at halftime

More Mechelle: Baylor, Tennessee to meet again – Lady Bears beat Lady Vols 76-67 in Knoxville, Tenn., last Nov. 27

“We had heard and read where, I guess in the Big 12 we don’t get pressed like that very often, and that they have guards as good as Sims in the ACC. And that motivates you. We handled their great pressure defense.”

Uh … if that didn’t read as sardonic as it actually sounded, rest assured it was Mulkey’s way of saying she really didn’t care much for the pregame suggestion that Georgia Tech’s defense would disrupt the Lady Bears. Not much gets past Mulkey — actually, make that nothing gets past her — and she tends to be particularly motivated by slights, either real or perceived.

Mechelle also has her Des Moines Elite Eight breakdown

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Done? Well here’s some more

From Michelle: Dawn Staley ready for mentor – Stanford’s VanDerveer taught South Carolina coach on Team USA

Coaches are sometimes reluctant to be completely honest with star players. That, however, was never an issue between Tara VanDerveer and Dawn Staley.

“I was hard on Dawn,” VanDerveer, the Stanford coach, said Friday. “I’ve always said, sometimes a lot of the great players get the worst coaches, because no one wants to tell them anything. But I was always very direct with Dawn and I think she appreciated it.”

Yes, if appreciation can be gleaned out of the intense desire to prove somebody wrong. Intense desire. How better to sum up Staley?

Mechelle: Goodrich leads way for Jayhawks

Way too many athletes have torn an ACL more than once. Sometimes it’s in the same knee; sometimes it hits both. The second time around is worse than the first for a lot of them, because they know exactly how difficult rehab is going to be and the dread factor sets in right away.

But it was the opposite for Kansas point guard Angel Goodrich. Her first was worst. When she did it the second time, she already knew she could get through it.

And look how far past all that she has come. Now a redshirt junior, Goodrich has found her voice as a leader for a KU team that has made the most out of the NCAA selection committee’s decision to give the Jayhawks a berth into the tournament.

And Michelle: Da’Shena Stevens leads St. John’s

Da’Shena Stevens went into surgery last Aug. 10, a simple little meniscus cleanup that was supposed to keep her out a month or so, back in time for the start of practice.

But when she came out of surgery, the news was a little different. The procedure was more extensive and Stevens, St. John’s senior leader and tone-setter, would be out for four months.

Stevens and Red Storm coach Kim Barnes Arico both cried that day.

“The only thing to do was cry,” Stevens said. “I was sorry and depressed and then the only thing to do was wait until December.”

“It just turned everything different going into the season,” Barnes Arico said.

And Mechelle: WSC Radio Show: March 23, 2012: Brenda and Mechelle preview the Sweet 16

From the Bellingham Herald: Kansas’ Goodrich having a breakthrough in first NCAA women’s tournament

From the AP’s Janie McCauley: VanDerveer and Staley have long history

From the AP’s Jeffrey Collins: Fans suddenly flock to successful South Carolina

From LJWorld: Fans of KU women’s basketball revel in team’s sweet success

From the Centre Daily: PSU rising to standard

From the Marin Independant Journal: Nothing freshman-like about Stanford guard Amber Orrange

From John Adams: Disciplined defense top priority for Lady Vols against Kansas

From Nate: Four Factors Analysis For The First & Second Rounds Of The 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament

Although the tournament selection committee relies heavily on numbers like RPI and strength of schedule, year after year those numbers prove to fall short in actually measuring quality of play leading up to the tournament.

While there is not really any statistical Holy Grail to predict how March Madness will unfold, in looking at potential upsets prior to the 2012 NCAA women’s basketball tournament we took a look at potential upsets bracket by bracket by looking at performance rather than outcomes. Of course, saying there’s potential for an upset is different than saying it will happen are two different things – not many upsets actually occurred although a number of those games ended up close and one could certainly argue that home court advantage foiled a few of those potential upsets.

Anyway, those initial previews were based upon a set of Four Factors stats that I alluded to but didn’t post initially. The following is just a brief look back at those numbers before making some Sweet 16 predictions.

Random musings: Puzzling lack of jumping in women’s basketball

Random response: Below the Rim – Why are there so few dunks in women’s basketball?

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An inexpert (if not inane) look at the first round Brackets

When looking at the 1/16s and 2/15s, it’s amazing to see how many regular season conference winners aren’t involved. Random first round games I’m looking forward to:

Georgetown v. Fresno State: Can’t wait to see the Bulldog on Bulldog battle. The Cali-dogs have been more consistent than the Eastcoast-dogs, and they’re seriously threatening from beyond the three-point line.

Nebraska v. Kansas: Nebraska’s been up and down. I’ll be intrigued to see which Husker team shows up a Kansas team that hasn’t been to the Tourney since 2000.

Delaware v. UALR: Who doesn’t want to watch a first round match-up that doesn’t feature a member of the “Big 6” conferences? CAA v. Sun Belt. Let’s go!

BYU-DePaul: Coach Bruno has done a great job cobbling together a team out of spare parts. BYU is trying help out its new conference.

Tennessee-Tennessee-Martin: Coach Summitt goes up against her high scoring alma mater.

Cal-Iowa: It’s an important game for a program that wants to show that Stanford ain’t it for the Pac-12.

St. Bonaventure-FGCU: Two “Cinderella” stories. Again, two non-6ers clashing. How will the Bonnies handle the Eagles’ flurry of threes?

Georgia-Marist – This isn’t coach Giorgis’ best team, but they’re also going up a rather confusing Georgia team. Interesting match-up.

Louisville-Michigan State – Two teams with talent but confusing results. They’ve both fought hard to get to the Tournament.

West Virginia-Texas: Considering how much I picked on Texas, they’ll probably make a run at the Final Four.

South Carolina-Eastern Michigan: EMU’s point guard Tavelyn James played for USA Basketball, the first MAC player to be selected.  How will legendary USA point guard Dawn Staley plan against her?

Green Bay-Iowa State: Watching the selection show last night, my non-follower of wbball friend (who’s gotten vaguely interested now that the Huskers are makin’ noise) said: “Wait, 30-1 and they get a 7-seed?!?!” This’ll be Green Bay’s chance to show folks they were underrated.

LSU-San Diego State: Shhhh! There’s a baby in the house! (I feel a drinking game coming on!) Because of her time at UCLA, Caldwell is  familiar with Beth Burns’ team and their feisty guards.

Princeton-Kansas State: Tigers first AP ranking followed by the highest seed in the Tourney? My grandpa would have been proud. Take down a Big 6 team? Wow.

Queenie has her own unique take on the First Round Dance Cards.

At Swish Appeal, 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Links: Reactions From Around SB Nation

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So, depending on how tonight, Monday and

the ACC/SEC/BEast Conference tourneys turn out, the #1 and #2 seeds could radically change.

Start your viewing pleasure tonight with Miami v. Duke, 7pm on the 3.

I’m not ignoring North Carolina and Kansas — really I’m not…. BUT:

Harvard has another shot at the Tigers.

Missouri State (18-6, 13-3 MVC) could build on a good season when they play the Sycamores.

Fairfield needs to finish strong if they want to battle Marist – they play Joe Logan’s Greyhounds.

Creighton is dealing with some off-court coach stuff and Northern Iowa is not having the kind of follow-up to the 2010-11 season they wanted — makes for an interesting 9:30pm game on the 3.

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As Mechelle promised

in her chat today: In Texas, it gets hot quicker – Goestenkors (Texas), Henrickson (Kansas), Curry (Texas Tech) have teams on bubble

The pleasantries are the same as always, but there’s not much reality behind them. You say, “Hi, how are you doing?” to Texas coach Gail Goestenkors. She says, “I’m good, how about you?”

You know, of course, that “good” is not how Goestenkors feels at all. It’s the morning after her Longhorns lost 80-59 to Baylor in a game they never looked to have a chance to win. It dropped Texas to 15-12 overall, 5-10 in the Big 12.

Right now, Texas is a perfect example of a team that I would not “reward” with a trip to the tourney just because they’re in a Big Six conference or have an RPI of note. I mean, why? Why not give it to a mid-major team who DESERVES a reward?

When it comes to bubble teams, I’m all for popping the Big 6.

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Scheduling lessons…

Texas Tech is 17-10, and all 10 of their losses, the latest one against a staggered Kansas, are in the Big 12.

Okay, so I jinxed’em. Tulsa (11-3, MAC) gets stifled by Eastern Michigan (12-2), 54-33.

What if the Big East Coach of the Year wasn’t Geno or Muffet, but Jamelle?

Amongst the many things I didn’t (and don’t) know: Pittsburgh is the youngest team in D-1 bball. They have nary a junior or senior. They might get a win against Seton Hall. Didn’t have a chance against a cranky UConn.

You know, when Ellenburg can give’em 23, the Sooners have a chance to beat ranked teams. Like tonight, in Norman, against #11 Texas A&M.

#25-with-a-bullet St. John’s keeps truckin’, taking down West Virginia, 63-54.

I know they were playing Baylor in Waco, and that is never a fun time for opponents, but really, Debbie? You think Gail is not in trouble? (True, Texas may not want to buy her out, but they do have the money.) Longhorns drop to 15-12 (5-10, Big 12) as the Bears earned the outright Big 12 title with an 80-59 win.

Double-take moment: Ms. Brittney “Player of the Year” Griner gets a double-double 4 out of every 10 games she plays.

Oh, and thanks to Hoopfeed: Coach Kim? Where’d ya get dem shoes? Fort Knox? (On edit: How did I miss this musical reference from Kirsty MacColl!)

Aaaand: Sonja Hogg in the House! (Hey! Where’s the white mink coat!)

But it’s not all grins and giggles in the arena: Baylor will be waiting on knee news for sophomore Shanay Washington — someone who’s had too much knee news already.

Coach Burns has her team sitting at 12-1 in the MWC. San Diego State’s five loses? Four were early in the season (one head shaker at Portland). I’m not going to jinx them by talking about how good their chances are in their conference tournament.

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Was it my comment questioning their strength?

Or perhaps it was the fact that Tech’s best scorer didn’t make the trip? Either way, Kansas stomped their way to a 19pt upset of #23 Texas Tech. (Yah, but K-State lost to Iowa State. How much fun is it for writers to type, “Poppens pops off for 23”?).

It was close at first, and it stayed close. The Bonnies escape the clutches of the Hawks, 68-61.

It was close at first, and it stayed close. The Terriers escape the clutches of the Retrievers, 59-53.

It wasn’t so close in the first, but it got closer. Still, the Falcons escape the clutches of the Cardinals., 63-52.

Indications of a good, well-coached team: Toledo loses their best player a while ago, and still puts together a 5-2 MAC record.

Good one between Richmond and Dayton — Flyers come out on top in OT, 81-78.

American kept Bucknell defeated in the Patriot and themselves undefeated, 71-45.

It was close at first, and then it wasn’t even close to close at the end. You could have taken away Tiffany Hayes’ 35pts and UConn would still have beaten Syracuse by 6.

The Orange are set to join ex-Big East member Boston College in the ACC. Wonder if coach Hatchell will enjoy playing ‘Cuse as much as she enjoys playing BC.

It was a tussle, but Georgia Tech topped Virginia, 63-53.

Sun Belt (and I mean Middle Tennessee) shouldn’t sleep on the Florida Atlantic Owls. They’re now 6-2 in the conference. (Yes, I know, so are the UALR Trojans & the Denver Pioneers, but that’s in the West.)

Okay, I know it’s the WCC v. the ACC, but how come 19-3 (7-1) BYU isn’t ranked (in the ESPN polls) and North Carolina (14-5) is?

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If you’re 50% upset, does that make you

a glass half full or glass half empty kinda person?

I guess tonight it depends on which side of the glass you ended up on.

Texas got its most significant win of the season (so far) by going in to College Station (perhaps for the last time?) and upsetting #10 TA&M, 76-71.

It was touch-and-go there for a while at the YUM! Center, but #15 Louisville survived South Florida, 63-57.

#10 Texas Tech earned their first loss of the season at the Hand(s) of Oklahoma, 71-68.

The phrase “a tale of two halves” is  clichéd for a reason: it’s often true. Oklahoma State was within two of #1 Baylor at the end of the first half. And the end of the second half, they were within 25.

St. John’s squished the Orange.

Erfh: It’s going to be a long road back for Maine. They lose to the Terriers, 75-34.

The Bonnies dealt Temple their first A-10 loss, 74-65.

Don’t look now, but the Great Danes are 4-0 in the American East.

Still pretty glum in the land of the Musketeers: the lose to the Dukes, 68-49, and fall to 3-12.

Were Beth and Debbie at this game? Akron over Buffalo, 91-82.

A little wake up and smell the coffee at Missouri? With their 72-46 loss to K-State, they drop to 0-3 in the Big 12.

It took two overtimes, but Kansas got the win over Iowa State.

Ouch, the Monarchs let one get away: they had a nice lead over VCU, but lost in OT, 76-72.

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A little this and that

All hail the Kansas resurgence?

Kansas State took #8 Texas A&M to OT and won the game on a last second lay-up.

Kansas traveled to Austin and won its big 12 opener against #25 Texas, 72-67. (“It was the fifth-straight year coach Gail Goestenkors and the Longhorns have lost the conference opener.”)

#17 Texas Tech held of a pesky Oklahoma State to earn a 58-53 win and stay undefeated. Great respect shown by the Raiders to the Cowgirls:

After the game, Tech and Oklahoma State players stood side by side with locked arms during an emotional playing of the OSU Alma Mater.

“There’s some things a lot bigger and more important than a basketball game,” Curry said. “I know Kurt and Miranda had the best seat in the house, and I know he was proud of the way both teams competed.”

Not so fast, there, other Mitten: Michigan State roared back in the second half to knock off Michgan.

More games Debbie and Beth would like: Miami (Ohio) took down Akron in OT, 95-85. The teams combined for 112 points in the second half and 32 in the overtime. Writes Matt Sussman at Hustle Belt:

Come for the women’s basketball information, stay for the Saturday Night Live mid-level skit references. But even sans gimmicky reasons to click-thru and read, this was truly a wild back-and-forth game. Courtney Osborn had an eye-popping game: 48 points, the most by a Division I player in the last two years.

How bare was the cupboard when McGuff left? With their 60-54 loss to the EIU Panthers, Xavier is now 3-10.

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