When March Madness rolls around, brackets are furiously filled out for the men's tournament, with everyone struggling to find that one Cinderella that will bust the championship hopes of the major conference powers. Yet on the women's side, mid-majors are rarely considered legitimate bracket-busters; the 65-team tournament is generally dominated by the traditional studs, the Tennessee Volunteers and the Connecticut Huskies, winners of five of the last seven titles. That is all about to change this year, as a pool of previously unknown small schools have taken the women's basketball world by storm.
While the top 16 spots in the AP Poll are filled with the standard names, the No. 17 Xavier Musketeers are the first mid-major to have a legitimate shot at shaking things up next month. In a generally weak Atlantic-10 conference, the Musketeers have surged through with ease, sitting currently at a 10-0 conference mark and a 22-4 overall record. Most notably, however, has been Xavier's recent play, an attribute that should bring crucial momentum to the field of 65.
After a 75-57 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils, the Musketeers have reeled off 13 straight wins, most of which came in conference play. Their non-conference schedule, though, gives a glimpse as to why they carry the banner of Cinderella-to-watch. On Nov. 19 at Chapel Hill, Xavier fell by just six points in a 73-67 game with the North Carolina Tar Heels, the current No. 10 team in the country.
In that contest, Xavier sophomore Ta'Shia Phillips put on a clinic for the Tar Heel faithful, schooling North Carolina on the offensive end with 23 points and dominating the paint, tying the Dean Dome record with 25 rebounds. Phillips is currently fifth in the country in rebounds, averaging 11.8 per game and heading the third-best rebounding margin in the country for a team. Xavier also leads the nation in rebounds with 1,088, a crucial statistic for any mid-major hoping to crack the ranks of the nation's elite. It is this tenacity which has allowed the Musketeers to post a 4-0 mark against the SEC this season, with three of their four losses to teams ranked in the top 25.
But if Xavier is to make a serious run at the Final Four, it will do so on the backs of its supporting cast which, combined with Phillips' double-double nightly threat, makes for a potent danger few major-conference squads can match. Junior April Phillips, for instance, is averaging 9.0 rebounds per game to go along with 7.7 points a contest. Deep threat senior Jerri Taylor (10.2 ppg) knocked down seven three-pointers in a win over the Michigan State Spartans earlier this year, while Rutgers transfer Tudy Reed is Xavier's second leading scorer with 11.1 ppg and has a 31-point game to her credit this season.
Venturing far away from Xavier's dwelling on the East Coast finds another mid-major with an overall game far more dangerous than its mascot. The South Dakota State Jackrabbits, owners of the 38th best offense and the 25th best defense in the country, are in the middle of an 11-game winning streak. They have sprinted to a 25-2 record and are just one of four teams in the country with fewer than three losses.
The Jackrabbits' two losses have both come on the road, one a 12-point defeat to the Maryland Terrapins and the other a 16-point loss to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, a game that seemed to be more of a fluke than indicative of flaky play on the part of South Dakota State. In reality, the Jackrabbits have been a model of consistency, scoring under 60 points just five times thus far and keeping opponents under 70 points in every game.
In its most recent game, an 87-42 blowout of Southern Utah Thunderbirds, five Jackrabbits hit double digits, coercing 27 turnovers out of their conference rivals. With just three Summit Conference games left on its schedule, the Jackrabbits could coast through their remaining contests and focus on the tournament, where they could prove to be a major factor in upsets.
One year after Stephen Curry took the nation by storm by catapulting the unknown Davidson Wildcats into the spotlight in the men's tournament, players like Ta'Shia Phillips and the Jackrabbits' Jennifer Warkenthien (15.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg) could play a similar role in the women's March Madness. Until then, Cinderella will just bide her time among the anonymous until the Big Dance comes.
