It's been a busy week in the world of women's college hoops.
Maryland Terrapins head coach Brenda Frese gave birth to twin boys a mere 12 hours before her team won a huge game at Cameron Indoor Stadium against the Duke Blue Devils. The LSU Tigers handily beat the Tennessee Lady Volunteers 78-62 to end the Volunteers' short reign atop both the ESPN/USA Today and AP Top 25. The Tigers, now at 11-0 in the SEC, instantly became the frontrunners in the conference with the statement victory.
The No. 8 Baylor Bears beat the No. 10 Oklahoma Sooners by 20 points and now must fight it out with the Kansas St. Wildcats, who are 18-6 overall but 10-1 in their conference, for supremacy in the Big 12.
And the UConn Huskies are once again back atop the polls in the No. 1 spot. The Huskies are now the only one-loss team in the land and, since losing to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, have beaten their three subsequent opponents by an average of 33 points. That includes Sunday's pounding of the No. 23 Pittsburgh Panthers 90-64 and a blowout at the Seton Hall Pirates, in which they surrendered only 36 points.
But this week, it's LSU's turn in the spotlight. The Tigers, No. 6 in the AP Poll, received their first first-place vote of the season and haven't lost since Dec. 28. Perhaps the only thing keeping them out of the top three is that blemish, an 11-point defeat to the Middle Tennessee St. Blue Raiders, a mid-major that boasts a marginal 16-10 overall record.
In the Top 10 for most of the year, LSU and the North Carolina Tar Heels are the only teams still undefeated in their respective major conferences.
LSU is lead by senior Sylvia Fowles, a 6-foot-6 center averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds per game. Fowles, a preseason First Team All-American, gets help on the court from senior guards Quianna Chaney and Erica White. White leads the team in assists, and Chaney is second behind Fowles in scoring.
The Tar Heels, No. 2 in the AP Top 25, have not been tested since an overtime victory against Maryland on January 26. That includes double-digit victories over Duke, the Virginia Cavaliers and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, three teams in the top five of the ACC.
Outside the major conferences, the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs have pushed their way into the top 10. The Monarchs are 13-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) conference and stand at 22-3 overall. Although their resume looks impressive, Old Dominion suffered a 43-point loss to UConn and a 32-point loss to Tennessee earlier in the season.
Since that Tennessee loss on Dec. 5, the Lady Monarchs have not lost, but their strength of schedule is considerably weaker than any of their counterparts in the top tier of schools. It remains to be seen whether Old Dominion's 10-week undefeated streak is legitimate or not.
ESPN's latest Bracketology predicts a quarter of the field of 64 to come from the Big 12 and the Big East, as each conference is, as of now, expected to send eight teams to the Big Dance. The Big East in particular has established itself as the most powerful conference in women's college basketball this year.
Not only are UConn and Rutgers legitimate title contenders, but the West Virginia Mountaineers, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Pittsburgh, and the Syracuse Orange have all enjoyed successful seasons and found a place in the Top 25. The Big East already has four 20-win teams, as opposed to only two from the Big 12. And while the Big 12 may be composed of quality teams from top to bottom, there are no national frontrunners anywhere in the conference.
Although UConn has been given another shot at the No. 1 spot, its remaining three regular season games are certainly no cakewalk. Besides the much-anticipated Mar. 3 rematch with Rutgers, the Huskies must play a solid DePaul Blue Demons squad as well as the LSU team that has just proven it is among the best in the nation.
