With Sunday's much-anticipated rematch of the LSU Tigers and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in the SEC title game, a great deal of the attention in the women's basketball world was focused on the battle between these title contenders. Yet elsewhere, with conference tournaments wrapping up, this past weekend and the upcoming few days will make for huge moving and shaking all across Div. I women's basketball.
In a game that featured two probable first-team All-Americans, Tennessee's Candace Parker and LSU's Sylvia Fowles, the Lady Vols simply out-muscled the Tigers in an extremely physical contest and prevailed 61-55. As the lead changed 16 times, the SEC title bout was, for the entire 40 minutes, anybody's contest.
In the end, however, it was Parker, the junior forward, who proved to be too much for LSU. She led all scorers with 28 points and was the only player to stay on the floor for the entire game. With 10 points in the final 10 minutes, Parker did not necessarily take over, but she scored enough to keep LSU at bay. Fowles chipped in with 19 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Tigers in both categories.
A day after the Duke Blue Devils notched a double-digit victory over the No. 5 Maryland Terrapins in the ACC Tournament semifinal Saturday, the Blue Devils found themselves overmatched by a North Carolina Tar Heels team that was simply too much to handle. With the win, UNC secured a season sweep of the Blue Devils and became the first team in women's ACC history to go undefeated in conference play and win the conference tournament in the same season.
Duke greatly improved its bracket stock with the semifinal win over the Terps, as it finally gave the selection committee a legitimate win to ensure a high seed come the Big Dance. With the loss, Maryland most likely gave up its shot at a No. 1 seed, as North Carolina has all but locked one up and the ACC is not strong enough this year to warrant two of the top four selections.
As for the remaining No. 1 seeds, Tennessee and the Connecticut Huskies have certainly earned two, while the Stanford Cardinal appear to have the best chance of capturing the final spot. The Cardinal have emerged from the Pac-10 as the undisputed best team on the West Coast, climbing all the way to No. 4 in the AP Top 25 and proving themselves title contenders.
Behind 30 points from superstar Candace Wiggins, Stanford dismantled the Cal Lady Bears 56-35 in the Pac-10 title game Monday. The Bears appear headed for trouble in the NCAA Tournament, as the No. 9 squad played a very easy season schedule and was beaten by Stanford three times throughout the year.
Outside of the Top 10, the Marist Red Foxes are making serious mid-major noise out of the MAAC conference. The team has won 21 games in a row, including its conference tournament, and posted an incredible 18-0 conference record to move into No. 21 in the AP Top 25. Marist's 30-win season puts them in exclusive company; only UConn, North Carolina, Tennessee, Stanford and Maryland reached that plateau this season.
Ditto for the Louisville Cardinals, except for the fact that their noise is emanating from the powerful Big East. With their 57-56 upset victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the quarterfinals and 67-60 semifinal win over the West Virginia Mountaineers, Louisville not only punched its ticket to the tourney, but they now pose a potential threat to the top seeds in whichever region they end up.
Powered in the Big East Tournament by junior Angel McCoughtry, who has scored at least 20 points in every tournament game, Louisville met UConn, arguably the top women's basketball team of the year thus far, in last night's Big East final but couldn't pull through with the upset, falling 65-59.
Rutgers, like Maryland, lost its chance at a No. 1 seed this weekend. The Louisville loss was the Scarlet Knights' sixth of the season, dropping them out of the AP poll's Top 5 for the first time in three weeks.
Their 14-2 conference record almost assures them a second seed, but the Knights are no longer on the committee's short list for a top seed.
For the first time since the season began, however, a short list can actually be created. Going into the tournament, UConn, North Carolina and Tennessee are clearly a cut above the rest of the nation.
Not only did all three notch 30 wins, but they all have a strong schedule that has thoroughly prepared them for postseason play. With Stanford as the probable fourth wheel, it looks as if there won't be too many surprises when the field is announced on Sunday.
