You know I have to say it… I. Just. Have. To!

“WHO LET THE DOGS OUT!”

Okay. I’m done. But wow. Something the Prez and I have in common!

Upsets

#12 Albany stuns #5 Florida in comeback NCAA tourney win

The mini-dynasty being built by Katie Abrahamson-Henderson at University of Albany was missing just one thing: a NCAA tournament victory.

No longer.

Times Union:

Down by as many as 16 points and with their star player fouling out with 6:18 remaining, UAlbany rallied to stun Florida 61-59 Friday afternoon in an NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament first-round game at the Carrier Dome.

Portland Press Herald: Carter helps Albany secure upset

Imani Tate and the Albany Great Danes weren’t going to have senior Shereesha Richards’ record-setting career end while sitting on the bench.

And not even an official’s scoring error that gave Florida an extra point was going to stop them.

#10 St. Bonaventure over #7 Oklahoma State, 65-54.

Tulsa World: OSU falls to plucky St. Bonaventure

Time and time again Friday night, the Oklahoma State women’s basketball team made a run at St. Bonaventure in their first-round Women’s NCAA Tournament game at Gill Coliseum.

Each time, the Bonnies had an answer.

The State/AP:

St. Bonaventure didn’t know whether it would be invited to the NCAA Tournament when the field was announced, and chances seemed slim.

On Friday, the Bonnies showed they belonged.

#9 Auburn over #8 St. John’s, 68-57.

Al.com: Freshman Janiah McKay guides Auburn into 2nd round of NCAA Tournament

Behind a career night from Janiah McKay, Auburn advanced to the Round of 32 at the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Friday with a 68-57 win over St. John’s in Waco, Texas.

McKay, a freshman point guard, poured in a career-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting and dished out three assists for the Tigers in the win.

Defense leads Auburn women to NCAA Tournament win over St. John’s

A fantastic defensive start for the Auburn women held up for the remainder of the evening, and it has them bound for the second round.

The ninth-seeded Tigers gave up just six points in the first quarter and Auburn’s patent defensive press forced 25 turnovers to frustrate No. 8 seed St. John’s, ultimately to the tune of a 68-57 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday at the Ferrell Center.

#9 Kansas State over #8 George Washington, 56-51.

The State/AP

Kansas State second-year coach Jeff Mittie entered the year hoping to move the program forward. He and the Wildcats took a big step in that direction Friday with their first NCAA Tournament in four years.

Close: 

#7 Tennessee over #10 Green Bay, 59-53. It took a second half surge to secure the win.

#6 West Virginia over #11 Princeton, 74-65.

#5 Mississippi State over #12 Chattanooga, 60-50.

A good showing

#4 Michigan State over Belmont, 74-60.

Not so close

A horrible first quarter doomed the Black Knights. #4 Syracuse over #13 Army, 73-56.

Not close

Raining threes, #6 Depaul floated over #11 JMU by 30.

Did they play the full fourth? #2 Arizona State over #15 New Mexico State by 22.

Nice first quarter…#3 Ohio State over #14 Buffalo by 19.

At least for a game, life without injured senior guard Ameryst Alston worked out well for Ohio State in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Friday at St. John Arena.

The third-seeded Buckeyes ended the first quarter with a 22-1 run and powered past 14th-seeded Buffalo 88-69 to advance to a second round matchup Sunday against sixth-seeded West Virginia.

#3 Louisville over #14 Central Arkansas, 87-60. Great first quarter for the Sugar Bears, not so good second.

Really not close:

#2 Oregon State over #15 Troy by 42.

#1 Baylor over #16 Idaho State by 3o.

#1 South Carolina over #16 Jacksonville by 36.

Charlie’s Quick Dish: Five observations from opening day

Games I’ve got my eye on tomorrow:

Duquesne/Seton Hall
Purdue/Oklahoma
South Dakota State/Miami
Colorado State/South Florida

WNIT

Utah (Pac12) runs over Montana State (Big Sky), 95-61.

FGCU (A-Sun) soars over Bethune-Cookman (MEAC), 78-51.

Temple (American) snufs out Drexel (A-10), 74-66.

Quinnipiac (MAAC) mauls Maine, 90-44, for their first post-season win in program history.

Fresno State (MW) over Santa Clara (WCC), 59-53.

Some fun games tomorrow:

TCU v. Eastern Michigan, 8pm EST
Drake v. Northern Iowa, 8pm EST
IUPUI v. San Diego, 7pm EST
Villanova v. Hofstra, 6pm EST
Michigan v. Bucknell, 2pm EST

UCLA women’s basketball Coach Cori Close learned from a legend, John Wooden

Cori Close played basketball for UC Santa Barbara and was an assistant coach for 18 years at three different universities before taking over as UCLA‘s coach in 2011.

But her roots at UCLA run deep and are personal.

UCLA was her first stop as an assistant, and it was there she met John Wooden, who became a mentor and confidant.

Awful Announcing: ESPN BROADCASTING GAMES REMOTELY SENDS A BAD MESSAGE FOR NCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT COVERAGE

ESPN (and other sports networks) have been broadcasting more and more sporting contests from the studio rather than sending announcers to game sites.  This has become an increasingly popular trend for the networks to save every penny they can while the price of poker goes up, up, and up thanks to soaring rights fees.  While this has traditionally been done with international soccer over the years, we’ve seen it happen with much more frequency for college basketball and college football recently.

This is NOT just the women’s NCAA tourney. If you haven’t been paying attention to ESPN’s irrational exuberance you’ve missed a big story.

From the NY Times: Changing the Rules of the Women’s Game, With the Hope of Altering the Interest Level

Last spring in Indianapolis, the N.C.A.A. women’s basketball rules committee focused on ways to increase the sport’s appeal.

The major changes approved at the meeting provided a face-lift this season. Notably, the two 20-minute halves were changed to four 10-minute quarters in an attempt to improve the flow and quality of games.

Then in January, the W.N.B.A. revamped its playoff system, eliminating conference alignments and creating single-game eliminations through the first two rounds.

Women’s basketball is entering a pivotal time to entice a national audience.

Nylon Calculus: Visualizing WNBA history

Yesterday, at FiveThirtyEight, I waded into the discussion about a gender gap in basketball analytics with a report on the scarcity and fragility of data in women’s college basketball. I received a lot of comments about how the lack of public data in women’s basketball, both college and the NBA, is a reflection of a lack of demand. The argument was that if there was an audience for the data than leagues and media companies would provide it for their fans and customers.

Frankly, I think that perception is backwards. An increase in data sparks curiosity and drives demand.

BTW – Data fuels the fantasy leagues. (Something the W needs to have, because it fuels interest in the ENTIRE league).

No. Why WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne wants to lower the rims from 10 feet

From the .com: Senior Watch: Top WNBA Draft Prospects in the NCAA Tournament

Hello! LA Sparks hire Flint native Tonya Edwards as assistant coach

Whoa. Sanchez out as UNM Lobos women’s basketball coach

Following up on some high school news: Rutgers Prep has arrived as a true state power

The Rutgers Prep School girls basketball program is no stranger to success, having won 10 state Prep B titles and five Somerset County Tournament championships during head coach Mary Klinger’s 32 years at the helm, a run that’s earned her 519 career victories. But when the decision was made for the Argonauts to join the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association prior to the 2013-14 season, perhaps the biggest draw was the opportunity for the tiny Franklin Township school to show the rest of the state that Rutgers Prep was perfectly capable of running with the big dogs.

Less than three years later, with the program’s first sectional and group titles already in hand, the Argonauts have not only proven that fact, but thanks to a special group of players who have progressed as individual athletes and teammates, Rutgers Prep is well within striking distance of the state’s most prestigious hoops prize.

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That sound you heard was….

16,332 Banker’s Field hearts breaking as Maya Moore nailed her game-winning three. Yah, Indy and their fans were stunned, but what. a. game!  Eight lead changes and 11 ties, including four in the final quarter? Here’s hoping they pack the stands on Sunday and Watch This!

More on the game:

David Woods: 

“I think that might have been one of the best-played WNBA Finals games in our history,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said.

It was. Not that it made the Fever feel better. Reeve referred to the 2009 WNBA Finals as perhaps the best in league history, and that one opened with the Phoenix Mercury beating the Fever 120-116 in overtime. The Mercury beat the Fever in Game 5 at Phoenix to take the title.

Bleacher Report: Indiana Fever vs. Minnesota Lynx Game 3 Score and Reaction

Doug at the AP: 

“(1.7) seconds is a lot of time,” Moore said. “I’m a basketball junkie, watch basketball a lot.  . . . Everything fell on the line, did what I could. It was a basketball move and I was able to get it off. Fortunately I have a pretty quick release and it worked out. I haven’t seen the replay yet, when I let it go I knew I got it off.”

Moore was hard-pressed to remember the last-time she hit a buzzer-beater. She had to go back to her AAU days when she hit a winner for her Georgia team to win a championship.

“It’s been a while, I know that,” she said.

That shot ended a thrilling game that both coaches said was one of the most entertaining in WNBA Finals history and gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

SportsPage Magazine: Moore’s Clutch Three-Pointer Downs Fever, Lynx Take 2-1 Series Lead

 The Minnesota Lynx received much a needed insurance policy during Game 3 of the 2015 WNBA Finals when forward Maya Moore hit a three-point shot as time expired to lift the Lynx to an 80-77 victory over the Indiana Fever in front of 16,332 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday night. Minnesota now holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. But unlike previous post-season games, officiating was not a subject of post-game discussion among the players or coaches, nor did it lead to furor among the fans.

.com: Maya‘s Game Winner From All Perspectives

Doyel asks: What more could Marissa Coleman have done?

More than 16,000 people at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and Marissa Coleman had a better view than anyone. She didn’t just see it happen – she saw it happen to her. She was the Indiana Fever player trying to defend Minnesota’s Maya Moore with 1.7 seconds left and a tie score Friday night in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.

She was the player who failed.

And Coleman, she wanted to see it again. Where she went wrong. Why? How? That’s what she was doing when I entered the Indiana locker room after its 80-77 loss in Game 3 that left the Fever on the brink of elimination.

Gwinnett Daily Post: Maya Moore 3-pointer at buzzer lifts Minnesota Lynx to WNBA Finals win | PHOTOS

For three quarters on Friday night in Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Minnesota Lynx standout forward Maya Moore was more of a spectator than a participant in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.

As the Lynx built a 59-57 lead through 30 minutes, the Collins Hill grad played only 12:11 and scored 12 points.

Swish Appeal: Moore and more: Lynx win behind Moore’s clutchness

Friendly Bounce: HmmmohhhMayaGod: Moore’s buzzer beater lifts Lynx

Bring me the News: Moore burns Fever with buzzer beater, Lynx lead series 2-1

Pioneer Press: Lynx reserves almost steal the show in Game 3 win

Before Maya Moore posed like a superstar, her game-winning three-point shot beating the buzzer and breaking the Indiana Fever for an 80-77 win in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals, Friday night belonged to the unsung players.

From Parrish Alford of the Daily Journal: WNBA on the rise

Basketball fans will no longer watch Armintie Price-Herrington in the WNBA, but that doesn’t mean they’re not watching the WNBA.

The former Ole Miss All-American retired from the women’s professional league last month.

She says interest is growing in women’s basketball, and the WNBA is strong, because it has quality players who promote the sport.

“We’re doing such a good job of becoming great role models. Once we take the court we’re giving it our best. We’re not limited to, ‘Oh, they’re just girls.’ We’re playing hard and doing our jobs,” she said. “You got girls dunking, girls scoring 40 points a game. Doors are open for women’s basketball because of the hard work we’re putting in.”

In other news: KU women’s basketball embraces change

So much changeover exists within the Kansas University women’s basketball program right now, you’ll have to be patient with first-year head coach Brandon Schneider when it comes to figuring out one fairly significant aspect of this roster’s makeup.

Only sophomore point guard Lauren Aldridge, junior forward Jada Brown and sophomore guard Chayla Cheadle — all complementary players last season — have started more than two Division I games. That’s the number of career starts for junior big Caelynn Manning-Allen. No other available Jayhawk can even claim one.

As a result, the Year 1 transition for the former Stephen F. Austin and Emporia State coach includes discovering who KU can count on for points.

No real surprise: MTSU women’s basketball picked to win C-USA

Red & Black: Second to command: Lady Bulldogs start practice under Joni Taylor, the program’s second full-time head coach

Lots from Iowa State: Young Cyclones have lofty goals; Blaskowsky, Baier embracing role as senior leaders; ISU women’s basketball reloads with trio of freshmen; Fennelly not worried about rule changes

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a handful of changes for this season, the biggest change being in the game’s format. NCAA women’s basketball games will be played in four 10-minute quarters this season. Fennelly believes that will add excitement to each contest.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal,” he said Thursday at ISU’s women’s basketball media day. “I think it’ll speed the game up. What you’ll have to do is, your players will have to be in better shape because there will be less timeouts.”

From Mike Potter in Durham: Foundation of women’s basketball at Duke cemented firmly

Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie is probably losing a bit less sleep than she was a year ago at this time.

The 2014-15 Blue Devils women’s basketball team had exactly one proven player – then senior center and eventual WNBA first-round pick Elizabeth Williams – when they took the floor last November. They finished ranked No. 16, played in another NCAA Sweet 16 and concluded 23-11.

But now Duke has a pair of proven sophomore stars in combo guard Rebecca Greenwell and play-everywhere 6-foot-5 Azura Stevens, the nation’s top recruiting class, enough proven role players – and next season will welcome two-time Maryland All-American Lexie Brown as a junior transfer.

Quack: A look at this year’s Ducks women’s basketball team

As Jeff tries to ignore the ugly circus over on the men’s side of the hallway, some (tentative) good news: Durr expected ready for U of L’s opener

Asia Durr’s recovery from a groin injury suffered in the spring has come slower than expected after Louisville women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz in July anticipated the top-rated recruit would be “full go by mid-September.”

U of L started practice Wednesday, and though Durr was involved, she isn’t yet participating in every activity.

North Carolina: UNCW women’s basketball team pushing for winning season

The stated mission during Wednesday’s media day for the UNCW women’s basketball team was clear as fourth-year coach Adell Harris put the focus on the weeks ahead and not some of the other issues the program dealt with over the last month or so.

After a successful season in which the Seahawks surpassed most of their stated goals for the year, UNCW heads into practice without two of their key contributors, who made up about 50 percent of its scoring from the 2014-15 slate.

Will the growth continue at Rhode Island? Start of the Season has Team Pumped

How about in Orono? Performance staff help UMaine basketball players achieve next level

Minnesota: Gophers : Replacing Amanda Zahui B. is tall task for newcomers

New Mexico:  Lobos adjusting to life without Antiesha Brown

With the departure of Antiesha Brown, New Mexico is in search of leadership.

Brown’s offensive presence led UNM to the longest winning streak in UNM women’s basketball history. In last season’s campaign, Brown led the team in games played, minutes played, points, free throws and free throw percentage.

“You have a leader that’s been here for three years,” head coach Yvonne Sanchez said. “She was a very good basketball player, number one — but she was a phenomenal leader.”

After the storm: Wichita State women’s basketball starts practice with inexperienced roster

Jody Adams has had such a successful coaching career at Wichita State she can look back on her own rebuilding projects when it’s time to do it again.

The Shockers started women’s basketball practice on Tuesday at Koch Arena with 10 players, none of whom are seniors. Four are freshmen and the three returners who played last season combined to start three games. Adams, who started at WSU in 2008, went back to her notes on previous inexperienced teams to see what she might expect. On Tuesday, the players performed more like an experienced group.

Ick:

Former Western Michigan University women’s basketball assistant coach John Swickrath was fired for making “sexually-related and/or very personal” comments to a former student-athlete, according to documents obtained by MLive Kalamazoo Gazette through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Nice: 

Already having etched his name as the most successful head coach in USF women’s basketball program history, Jose Fernandez has taken another step toward securing the future success of the program he has built.

Just a few months after signing a contract extension that will keep him at USF through 2021, Fernandez and his wife, Tonya, announced a gift to create the Jose & Tonya Fernandez Women’s Basketball Scholarship. It marks the first endowed scholarship for the program that has made 11 post-season appearances in the last 12 years under Fernandez.

From the NCJAA ranks: Women’s basketball begins quest for national championship

When the women’s basketball team took a heartbreaking loss in last year’s national championship game, the Lady Cobras knew expectations had been set for this season. This doesn’t mean the Cobras are short on challenges this season.

Last year’s NCJAA D-2 Women’s Basketball Player of the Year Hannah Wascher has moved on to southern Indiana and starting point guard Laura Litchfield is now at University of Illinois, Chicago. That leaves head coach Mike Lindeman searching for replacements to keep his fast paced and unrelenting style of play going to fire the Cobras into the championship.

D3 News: Women’s Basketball Ranked Preseason #5 in Nation

The New York University women’s basketball team is ranked #5 in the nation in a preseason poll by Women’s DIII News, a monthly Division III women’s basketball publication.

The Violets return four of their five starters from 2014-15, a season in which they went 22-5 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Basketball history on the page, anyone? Charles Riley writes book about history of girls basketball

Charles Riley doesn’t like to make people mad.

While doing research for his 2014 book “From Hard Dirt to Hard Wood,” which chronicles the history of boys basketball in Morgan County, he was asked by several people, “What about the girls?”

“When I was doing the boys book, I had no plans on doing a girls book,” Riley said. “When I visited the schools looking for information, a lot of people asked when I was going to do a book about the girls. Some of them sort of got a little mad when I told them I wasn’t. I felt like I needed to get back in their good graces.”

The result is “Remember the Girls: A Century of Girls High School Basketball in Morgan County.”

Basketball history on the stage, anyone? 

As early as the 1930s, though, women played team sports. The 1992 film “A League of Their Own” portrayed the women who played baseball during World War II.

And Meg Miroshnik’s play “The Tall Girls,” which makes its East Coast Premiere at Luna Stage this week, dramatizes teenage girls who play basketball in the heart of the Dust Bowl. In the town of Pure Prairie in Miroshnik’s play, basketball is more than a game: it’s an outlet, and an opportunity.

The play begins at Luna Stage, 555 Valley Road, West Orange tonight, Thursday, Oct. 8, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 1. For more information visit Lunastage.org

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A quick note to Athletic Directors who care

(inspired by this past season, and a brief twitter exchange with @ladyswish) Some names to jot down when you’re pondering your next women’s basketball coach – be it for next year, or in three years. And, as I read some of these bios, it simply reinforces the connection between point guards and coaching.

Katie Abrahamson-Henderson – Albany. She’s only been there for 5 years, and accomplished a ton! Four straight league titles, anyone?

Jody Adams – Wichita State. Coach Adams, now  in her 7th year, has transformed the program. When when she took over in 2008, the Shockers had recorded 11 wins in the previous seaon.  WSU just won their third MVC conference title in a row and, with a team so young, it’s hard not to imagine there’s not more success in their future.

Jennifer Azzi – San Francisco. The revival of the Dons has been well chronicled at the WHB. Don’t know if Azzi would be interested in attempting to “rebuild” another program. I’m sure her current gig has been exhausting. But, a program that’s settle and needs a spark? Maybe.

Cedric Baker  – Savannah State. It’s been a long 12 seasons, but they won their first MEAC title this year.

Courtney Banghart – Princeton. She’s young. She’s smart. She just went undefeated and has earned her program a ton of attention. Who knows if she wants to leave the Ivy, but wow, what potential.

Laura Beeman – Hawai’i – The Wahine was a hot mess. Now, after three year’s of Beeman, not so much.

Bob Boldon – Ohio. First the Penguins. Then the Bobcats. Bob is a builder.

Anthony Bozzella – Seton Hall. Wherever he goes – LIU, Iona, Seton Hall – he turns programs around.

Kenny Brooks – James Madison University. In his 13th year, all he does is coach teams that win. They just earned their fourth CAA title in six years.

Michelle Clark-Heard – Western Kentucky. The ‘toppers just won the C-USA conference title and this year marked the first time WKU has been ranked in 17 years.  Shouldn’t be a surprise, considering that, in her first year Clark-Heard helped WKU to a 13-win improvement over the 2011-12 season output. It was the largest in Sun Belt Conference history, as WKU turned a 9-21 mark into a 22-11 record.

Brittney Ezell  – East Tennessee State University. In only her second year at the program, ETSU was picked for a bottom finish in a conference preseason poll. Instead, the Lady Bucs finished second to UT-Chattanooga and scared the you-know-what out of Mocs in the So-Con tourney.

Tricia Fabrini – Quinnipiac. Since the Bobcats moved up into the Division I ranks, they’ve shown they belonged – be it in the NEC or the MAAC. It’s been a 20 year journey, but maybe she could be tempted by another position?

Donna Finnie – Houston Baptist – It’s way early in her career with HBU, but consider what the Scotland native has already accomplished:

As Donna Finnie begins her second year as head coach in 2014-15, the HBU women’s basketball program looks to soar to new heights after a record-breaking inaugural season in the Southland Conference. In Finnie’s first year at the helm of the program, the team made huge strides both on and off the court. The Huskies won 12 games, the most since HBU began the transition to NCAA Division I in 2007. The Huskies also boasted the highest RPI in program history (251); a significant improvement from the 2012-13 campaign. Offensively the team exploded to produce one of the most efficient scoring attacks in the nation.

On this year, from WHB: The Huskies (15-17) were the 8th seed in the Southland and yet made it to the finals.

Cindy Fisher – San Diego. In her 10 year tenure, Fisher has moved the Toreros into the “often win” column.

Megan Gebbia – American. In only her second year, Gebbia took her team to their first Patriot League Championship.

Kellie Jolly Harper – Missouri State. Seems to me Harper was the sacrificial “next coach” at North Carolina State. She handled a no-win situation with grace, but couldn’t move the program forward. She’s having better fortunes at Missouri State, where she’s revivng the profile of a program that sailed to the stratosphere behind Jackie Stiles.

Yvonne Sanchez – New Mexico. She’s rebuilt a program that fell rather precipitously after coach Flanagan retired. Her first few years were not particularly encouraging, but this year has been different – even after she had to dismiss the team’s captain and center. The Mountain West predicted UNM to finish ninth in the conference, after finishing in ninth place a year ago, but they made it to the conference finals. She has not gotten a contract extension (yet). Folks I spoke to while I was in Albuquerque said the admin wanted more butts in the seats.

Karl Smesko – Florida Gulf Coast. Since joining Division I, all the Eagles have done is terrorize the A-Sun.

Brooke and Scott Stoehr – Northwestern State. Hired in 2012 to revive the Demons’ program that had won just six games the year before, the Stoehrs have done just that. The Demons just won the conference tournament title and earned their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the school’s history.

Jonathan Tsipis – George Washington. – In 2012, Tsipis took over a program that had won 25 wins over three seasons. WHB’s has been tracking the return of the Colonials to the top-25 all season long.

Kevin McMillan – Tennessee Martin – Six years ago, McMillan inheirited a team that went 2-27. Now, the Skyhawks have repeatedly ruled the roost in the OVC.

Amy Williams – South Dakota. Not easy to win in the Summitt, with in-state rival ‘wabbits lurking, but she has.

Ryun Williams – Colorado State. Left South Dakota and, in three years, has turned around a Colorado State program that had a decade of poor results. The #1 seed in the Mountain West was upset in the conference tourney, but I expect they’ll be back.

I’m sure there are plenty of other folks out there, ready to move up, including assistants that I know nothing about…. So, who else would you put on this list? womenshoopsblog @ gmail.com.

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Another job filled

Yvonne Sanchez Named Head Women’s Basketball Coach at the University of New Mexico

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