NCAA Women's Tournament - Monday and Overall Capsules: St. John's faces big second-round task at Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Kayla Pedersen and her fellow Stanford seniors have been talking for nearly two years about going undefeated at home over their careers.
On Monday night, they could make it happen at last. One more win is all it takes.
"It would mean a lot," Pedersen said Sunday. "I think it's a great accomplishment. A lot of great teams have come here to play us. So, it's something special for our four true seniors to bond over."
As would be that long-awaited national championship for a program that hasn't won it all since 1992. But this team isn't talking about that yet, never interested in looking ahead.
If Pedersen, Jeanette Pohlen and Co. can get by St. John's in the second round of the NCAA tournament, they would become the first group of seniors in school history to pull off a four-year unbeaten run at Maples Pavilion.
St. John's is fully aware of the daunting task ahead at Stanford's imposing on-campus arena. The top-seeded Cardinal (30-2) are riding a remarkable school-record 62-game home winning streak.
"We want to have great energy in that gym and make it a really special game," coach Tara VanDerveer said.
The Red Storm have played their share of big games in tough places, perhaps most notably at Florida State in the second round of the 2010 NCAA tournament.
Da'Shena Stevens' last-second shot fell short in a heartbreaking 66-65 overtime loss to the host Seminoles.
Stevens, Shenneika Smith and their teammates might have a more difficult go this time around against a team that knocked off then-No. 1 Connecticut back on Dec. 30 to end the Huskies' record 90-game winning streak.
"They're probably the most talented team in the country," St. John's coach Kim Barnes Arico said of Stanford. "They can do everything. That's why they have a 62-game winning streak at home. They're a tremendous program and it's going to be a difficult task for our team, but it's one we're excited to have."
Stanford has won 24 straight overall since losing back-to-back games at DePaul and Tennessee in mid-December. The Cardinal won't be satisfied with just earning a fourth straight trip to the Final Four. After losing in the NCAA final in two of the last three years, they are determined to finally bring the program that elusive title.
Ninth-seeded St. John's (22-10), an at-large team from the Big East that hardly looked sharp in a 55-50 first-round victory over Texas Tech on Saturday, has never reached the NCAA's round of 16. Perennial Pac-10 power Stanford is looking for a return trip to the Spokane Regional, where four years ago former star Candice Wiggins helped the Cardinal end a 10-year Final Four drought.
Now, getting back to the biggest stage is expected each season. This already has been a year with so many milestones, from the monumental UConn victory to VanDerveer joining the 800-wins club on Dec. 22 at San Francisco against first-year Dons coach and ex-Cardinal great Jennifer Azzi.
VanDerveer has been as motivated as ever after her team blew a halftime lead and lost to UConn in last year's title game.
"I worked harder this year than I ever did before, and I worked hard before," she said.
Pedersen has acknowledged it will be a disappointment not to cut down the nets in Indianapolis on April 5. Monday is the next step toward that goal.
The Red Storm shot 35 percent in their opener and committed 21 turnovers. Their two 3-pointers were 11 fewer than the season-high 13 Stanford hit in an 86-59 first-round win against NCAA first-timer and No. 16 seed UC Davis. In fact, four Cardinal players knocked down three or more 3s and six players wound up scoring in double figures.
St. John's knows there are several keys to staying with Stanford aside from limiting the damage from long range: keeping the Cardinal to one shot, taking care of the ball, and staying poised in front of a raucous crowd.
Falling at Florida State last March is still something the Red Storm think about when preparing at times like this.
"The loss is really what's valuable, the pain," said Smith, a sophomore guard. "We said this year we were going to work hard and hopefully take the next step."
Marquette's Mitchell draws on Summitt's style
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Marquette coach Terri Mitchell's debut was against Pat Summitt and Tennessee in a Thanksgiving tournament in 1996. Summitt got the win — her 600th — but Mitchell got some advice from the Hall of Fame coach that's stuck with her for 16 seasons.
"Nobody knows the real deal except those of you that are in the gym every day," Mitchell recalled Summitt saying. "Don't let anyone sway you with any other perspective but a player's perspective. I give that speech every year. She has no idea that I do it, but it was one of those nuggets of wisdom that at 28 I needed to hear."
The two coaches will meet for the first time since that introduction when the Lady Vols host the Golden Eagles in the second round of the Dayton regional of the NCAA tournament on Monday.
Summitt is impressed with the way Mitchell has handled her career, though it might be because the Marquette coach reminds her a little of herself.
"Terri's just a great teacher. There's a lot of similarities because she doesn't mind holding people accountable or calling people out," Summmit said. "She makes sure they do exactly what they're supposed to do and that they're invested, not just as an individual but to be a great teammate and become a great player."
That was the case Saturday as the eighth-seeded Golden Eagles (24-8) blew an eight-point lead against Texas to find themselves down by nine with 12:38 left.
Senior Angel Robinson fought her way into the paint to get some layups, senior forward Paige Fiedorowicz got to the foul line and hit her shots, and senior guard Tatiyiana McMorris hit the winning 3-point shot with 10 seconds left as Marquette beat the Longhorns 68-65.
Mitchell took another page out of Summitt's playbook at the end of last season. The Golden Eagles were unhappy with settling for NIT appearances the past few seasons and committed to intense offseason workouts and tough practices to prepare the way for the seniors' first NCAA tournament appearance of their careers.
"We put in so much hard work in the offseason to just get in the gym more," Robinson said. "We really made that a focus — to be the senior class to lead the underclassmen this year. We really wanted to show them the hard work that you have to put in to be good and compete with the better teams, like going against Tennessee."
That was just what Summitt demanded of the Lady Vols when they lost their first opening-round game ever in 2009 to Ball State. The team returned to practice immediately after that loss, committing to work harder in the offseason and in practice.
Tennessee (32-2) is aiming for a return to the Final Four after another premature loss in the NCAA tournament last season as a No. 1 seed. The Lady Vols fell in the semifinals of the Memphis regional to Baylor, a team they had beaten earlier in the season.
"At this time of the season sometimes it's not really about talent," Tennessee sophomore Taber Spani said. "It's about how much you want to (win)."
The No. 1-seeded Lady Vols got off to a good start in a 99-34 victory again 16th-seeded Stetson in the first round. Tennessee used a 23-0 run in the first half to pull away as all 13 Lady Vols played and scored.
Tennessee is also coming off an undefeated Southeastern Conference season and SEC tournament championship, but the Golden Eagles take a little bit of confidence in knowing they beat Georgetown, the team that handed the Lady Vols one of their two losses this season.
Still, the Lady Vols' No. 27 loss to Georgetown was far enough in the past that Mitchell isn't putting too much stock in it.
"We know what we're up against in Tennessee," Mitchell said. "There isn't a person in our room who doesn't know how great this team is. And at the same time, our players feel they have been very prepared by the Big East because of the wins we've had, losses we've had, the things we have faced to make us stronger."
-- Beth Rucker
Gonzaga scoring vs. UCLA defense in NCAA second round
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — It's a simple rule Nikki Caldwell's players at UCLA came up with on their own: Make two consecutive mistakes on the defensive end and prepare to be subbed out.
With Courtney Vandersloot running the show and the breakneck pace Gonzaga thrives on, Monday night could turn into conveyor belt of substitutes if the Bruins aren't careful.
"Hopefully we're able to limit their touches and scoring opportunities with our suffocating defense," UCLA's Jasmine Dixon said.
In an intriguing matchup, the third-seeded Bruins face No. 11 seed Gonzaga in the second-round of the NCAA tournament Monday. It's speed and scoring versus deliberate and defense.
Then there's the added factor of the game being played on Gonzaga's home floor with 6,000 rowdy fans waiting to see if the Bulldogs can advance to the round of 16 for a second consecutive year. The winner will get either Xavier or Louisville in the regional semifinals next Saturday night across town at the Spokane Arena.
"It's not the fans that are playing. ... We're not going to let them distract us," Dixon said.
Perhaps more than any other game this season for both teams, pace will determine much of what happens. Gonzaga (29-4) is the top scoring offense in the country, averaging more than 86 points per game and topping 90 or more 16 times, including the Bulldogs' electric 92-86 first-round victory over sixth-seeded Iowa.
Vandersloot was the engine yet again for the Bulldogs, scoring a career-high 34 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out seven assists, moving her within 10 points of becoming the first player — men's or women's — in Division I history to score 2,000 points and have 1,000 assists in a career.
And while Gonzaga was lighting up the scoreboard, UCLA (28-4) could not have looked more different in its sloppy 55-47 win over No. 14 seed Montana. But the Bruins like ugly, as evidenced by having one of the top scoring defenses in the country. Only twice this season have the Bruins allowed 70 or more points, one of them a double-overtime victory over Notre Dame.
"They are tremendous," Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves said. "They have the kind of athletes and with certain skill sets that are a little bit more prone toward great defense, physical play."
For UCLA, a win would be a benchmark moment for a program that hasn't reached the round of 16 since 1999 and lost in the second round in each of the last two tournament trips.
Now in her third season as UCLA's coach, Caldwell has become more hands off with her team, as evidenced by the player-driven rule on defensive mistakes. But defense remains the driving force behind UCLA's success.
And it's a unique trapping defense the Bruins use and extend about 75 feet. Sometimes it's designed to cause turnovers and complete chaos. Other times, the Bruins are simply trying to slow the opponent just enough so there is limited time on the shot clock.
Caldwell reads the tenor of her team before deciding how the Bruins will press. If she sees a scrappy bunch wanting to be aggressive, then UCLA will be more in the mood of forcing turnovers. If she senses her team being more passive, then the Bruins go into slowdown mode.
"I just kind of go with them. When they're in the mood to trap they're good and there are times when they're not in the mood and we just go to our delay defense," Caldwell said. "I give them the freedom to play either one because both have been successful for us."
-- Tim Booth
McCallie hoping Duke's depth wears down foes
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Joanne P. McCallie remembers standing on the sideline during the second half of the 2005 national championship game and realizing her six-deep Michigan State team had nothing left. She won't have to worry about that this year at Duke.
The Blue Devils (30-3) have one of the deepest teams in program history, with all 11 players averaging at least 10 minutes. Heading into Monday's second-round NCAA tournament game against Marist, McCallie is hoping the benefits of having all those options will have other coaches feeling like she did with the Spartans six years ago.
"I remember as a coach thinking then that this can't happen again," McCallie said Sunday. "If we ever get here again, we're going to have to be deeper."
The Blue Devils seem to have the right makeup for a deep run. There's a star talent in point guard Jasmine Thomas to go with pair of senior starters in Karima Christmas and Krystal Thomas.
Duke, the No. 2 seed in the Philadelphia Regional, had all 11 players get at least 11 minutes in the first-round romp against Tennessee-Martin. Yet the minutes don't come only in blowouts; Duke had at least eight players in double-figure minutes in all seven games decided by six or fewer points.
"Our depth is one of the things that coming into the tournament you need to have if you want to make a long run," Christmas said. "We're all confident that any player can come in and make an impact, whether it is passing, rebounding and shooting."
Tenth-seeded Marist (31-2) has some similar balance with nine players averaging at least 10 minutes. But in Saturday's 74-64 first-round win against Iowa State, the Red Foxes' starters played at least 32 minutes while none of the five bench players managed more than seven.
"We see people that are tired and we can put some other people in who can play," Marist coach Brian Giorgis said. "Maybe not at the caliber of theirs, but they can go in and play quality minutes if we get in foul trouble or if people need rest. The thing is (the Blue Devils) just bring them in waves."
The depth is a blessing for McCallie, who got within a few minutes of the Final Four last year with primarily an eight-player rotation. Shortly after taking over here in 2007, she coached Team USA in the FIBA Under-21 World Championships in Moscow — which marked the first time she had managed the minutes of 12 players. That experience is paying off now, she said, as she blends freshmen like Chelsea Gray and Haley Peters into the lineup.
"They're humble and hungry kids," McCallie said. "They all signed up to do something special at Duke, so they're all committed to learning. ... They've been excited about building this thing. Yes, they wanted playing time, too. But they've been rewarded when it's been due.
"The thing about the team is there's some good integrity. They know darn well if they don't defend or rebound or play aggressive, they might get to the back of the rotation and have to work their way around again."
While Duke has relied on its defensive pressure all year, the Red Foxes entered the tournament allowing a national-best 48.6 points per game and ranked third by holding opponents to 32.8 percent from the field. They held Iowa State to 35 percent shooting, while leading scorer Erica Allenspach overcame a quiet shooting day by leading the effort that held Cyclones leading scorer Kelsey Bolte to 6-for-20 shooting.
The challenge will be even more daunting against a high seed playing on its home court in famed Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"We're running into a team that's obviously better than us 1 through 5, but that doesn't mean we can't outsmart them and play our own game," Allenspach said. "We just have to hope that we knock down shots and we can stop what they like to do. ... It's not going to be easy, but we're just here to have fun now."
-- Aaron Beard
Kentucky's Dunlap, UNC's Breland seek quick starts
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Both North Carolina and Kentucky got off to slow starts in the NCAA tournament, heading into the locker room in their first-round games with their star players stuck on 2 points in just seven minutes of playing time.
Wildcats forward Victoria Dunlap, the SEC player of the year, was plagued by foul trouble and, according to her coach, a lack of focus. Tar Heels forward Jessica Breland, whose lungs were damaged by chemotherapy drugs while undergoing cancer treatment last year, was affected by the altitude.
Both had big second halves. Dunlap finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds as Kentucky (25-8) held off Hampton in overtime, and Breland came within one board of posting a double-double as North Carolina (26-8) pulled away from Fresno State.
They'll square off against each other Monday night at The Pit with a spot in the round of 16 at stake, and both of their coaches are expecting to see entirely different sides of the fluctuating forwards.
Wildcats coach Matthew Mitchell said he sat Dunlap down Sunday and exhorted her to refocus and provide senior leadership to set the right tone.
Tar Heels coach Sylvia Hatchell said Breland would warm up differently for this game after having a hard time adjusting to Albuquerque's mile-high elevation.
"I think both schools, that 4 position, which is a key position for both schools, didn't have their normal games yesterday," Hatchell said.
"I think both of those kids are key in the game," added Mitchell.
Breland missed all of last season while undergoing treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of cancer that attacks the immune system, and one of her chemotherapy drugs damaged her lungs, which sometimes makes it hard to catch her breath. Add the altitude and that's a recipe for trouble.
"Also, I have a little cold," Breland revealed Sunday.
She's going to work up a sweat in warmups, she said, so that her second wind comes in the first half. The Tar Heels withstood Breland's slow start and still led Fresno State 40-36 at halftime on their way to an 82-68 win. Hatchell said the Tar Heels didn't panic over Breland's slow start because they'd grown accustomed to sharing the burden until Breland found her rhythm. They had to play all of last season without her, and she's had an up-and-down senior year with her cancer in remission but her stamina inconsistent.
"It's not anything new," Hatchell said. "It just gives us an extra advantage when she is at her best like she was in the ACC tournament."
The Wildcats also know how to deal with inconsistent energy and effort from Dunlap.
"I showed them the film and was very honest with them and said, 'This would have been a shame to go out like this, Victoria Dunlap,' because she was very lethargic," Mitchell recounted. "And I expect her to bounce back with a spirited effort tomorrow."
Dunlap scored 10 points and pulled down 11 boards after halftime.
"I think Vic needs to get herself in a spot where she's going to play with some poise on offense and play with some tremendous tenacity on defense — and she didn't do either of those things yesterday early in the game," Mitchell said.
Dunlap said she was going to "just be more focused and in tune ... and not picking up silly fouls."
The Wildcats are counting on their pressure defense to carry them far like it did last year, when the Cats reached the regional final. But Hatchell said the Tar Heels had seen that style in the ACC from teams like Georgia Tech and Duke.
"It could be a horse race for the full game, full 40 minutes," Hatchell said. "It could be a horse race because we've got depth and we're not going to slow down."
And that's music to Mitchell.
"I think where we are right now offensively, that might help us a little bit to get an open-court game because it's very disappointing how we played in the halfcourt yesterday," he said. "We just had so many people standing around and watching the ball."
-- Arnie Stapleton
Georgia Tech, Ohio State trying to buck history
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — One team has never made it to the NCAA's round of 16. The other has a recent history of March disappointments.
When Georgia Tech (24-10) faces Ohio State (23-9) on Monday night in the tournament's second round, there'll be plenty of incentive on both sides.
"Our only goal coming into the season wasn't about winning championships; it was about getting to the Sweet 16," said Yellow Jackets coach MaChelle Joseph. "I always wanted our team to be considered one of the top 20 programs in the country. We fought all year for respect. We beat four top-20 teams and we couldn't get into the Top 25. So this is a game for us, for our program, to earn some respect, to say, 'Hey, we're here and hopefully we're here to stay.'"
The problem for the fourth-seeded Buckeyes is that they have not lived up to high expectations in the NCAA tournament recently. In six of their last eight trips, they failed to get past the second round — going home early despite being seeded No. 1 once, No. 2 once, No. 4 twice and No. 6 twice.
It's clear that getting ousted so quickly rankles veteran coach Jim Foster.
"You don't end the season feeling very good," he said.
But the Buckeyes have the added benefit — and perhaps, the added pressure — of playing on their own campus, although not on their regular home floor. St. John Arena is their backup court where they play a game or so each season.
Still, Foster refuses to even contemplate that his team has a huge advantage.
"Your home court is where you play every day. Your home court is where you practice," he said.
Pausing for effect, he cracked, "We just happen to have a very large auxiliary gym."
Georgia Tech, which received an at-large bid and a No. 5 seed after finishing tied for fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference, is making its seventh NCAA tournament appearance but has never come close to getting past the second round.
The Yellow Jackets' hopes hinge on their suffocating press, which they apply after the opening tip and play until the final horn.
"We haven't really seen that," said Ohio State 3-point specialist Brittany Johnson. "We can't try to dribble through the press. We've just got to keep the ball moving, looking for an open player."
Georgia Tech forced Bowling Green into a season-high 25 turnovers in a 69-58 first-round win Saturday. Post player Sasha Goodlett had 19 points despite heavy foul trouble, while guard Alex Montgomery, a chiseled 6-foot-1, played her typical all-around game with 14 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and three steals.
"I don't think they really know what they have ahead of them," Montgomery said of the Buckeyes when they face Tech's omnipresent pressure.
If Ohio State hasn't seen such smothering defense all season, then the Yellow Jackets must deal with a unique player in Ohio State post player Jantel Lavender. A 6-foot-4 senior who picked up a degree in sport and leisure studies Sunday, she is the only man or woman to be named a four-time Big Ten player of the year. She had 30 points and 11 rebounds in an 80-69 victory over Central Florida in the first round, running the floor in transition, popping midrange jumpers and muscling inside.
"Jantel Lavender is one of the top two, three players in the country," Joseph said. "Have we faced somebody as good as her? No."
Lavender said the diploma made her realize her college career was almost over.
"I don't know if I'm really ready to go," she said.
Georgia Tech recognizes that a partisan crowd of around 5,000 will be against it. So is the program's history. But that's what makes March so mad.
"We know the cards are stacked against us," Joseph said. "It's like I told my players today "
-- Rusty Miller
DePaul's next hurdle: Penn State on the road
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — For of all of DePaul's success this season, the Blue Demons didn't get an ideal draw for the second round of the NCAA tournament.
No neutral site game Monday night. To advance to a regional semifinal for the first time since 2006, third-seeded DePaul must get by No. 6 seed Penn State on the Lady Lions' home floor at the Jordan Center.
Officially, the Lady Lions (25-9) will wear their blue road uniforms as the lower seed, though the crowd in Happy Valley will most assuredly be on their side.
"Basketball is a very, very different game on the road for many reasons," DePaul coach Doug Bruno said Sunday, highlighting one reason in particular. "You've got to put that little ball into that little ring. It's easier to do that at home than on the road, not just in the tournament, but in your league."
DePaul (28-6) is enjoying a banner year, rolling over opponents by an average of about 14 points a game. They're hitting 35 percent from 3-point range, the second-best mark in the Big East. They beat nationally-ranked Stanford by 20 in December, one of the Cardinal's only two losses this season.
The Blue Demons have earned program-bests for single-season victories and NCAA seeding, and — after a four-year drought — a first-round NCAA win in slogging out a 56-43 defeat of Navy. That latter goal had been weighing on DePaul all season, so seniors like guard Deirdre Naughton soaked up the victory — but only briefly.
"We have a game coming on (Penn State's) home floor that we have to look forward to, so I think we kind of quickly put the game behind us and realized what we have ahead of us," Naughton said before practice Sunday.
That figures to be run-and-gun affair between two teams that average at least 73 points a game. At 77 points per game, the Lady Lions have the Big Ten's offense.
Coach Coquese Washington's crew might lack DePaul's experience — the Blue Demons start two seniors and a junior in All-Big East forward Keisha Hampton — but they have a deep roster that can keep up step-for-step in transition.
Washington doesn't expect DePaul to slow down the tempo, like they were forced to at times against the smaller Midshipmen. The Blue Demons also had an unlucky string of missing layups or open looks in shooting just 37 percent.
"They did what you are supposed to do in a first-round game and that is survive and advance," Washington said. "They shoot the 3-ball extremely well and I expect to see that team tomorrow night."
Penn State has advanced to the second round in its first NCAA appearance since 2005 thanks in large part to point guard Alex Bentley, who scored 25 points and hounded Dayton in a 75-66 win Saturday. Bentley forms a potentially lethal backcourt duo with freshman and sixth player Maggie Lucas, the Lady Lions' leading scorer with prodigious 3-point range.
Need proof? Teammate Talia East posted a YouTube video last week with a highlight reel of "Machine Gun Maggie's Trick Shots." Lucas hit one shot blindfolded from halfcourt, and sank another from where her mother sits about six rows behind the Penn State bench, on one bounce off the floor and into the hoop.
No wonder Dayton played harassing defense on Lucas all day, holding her to 2 of 6 shooting, all from 3-point range. Lucas did go 7 of 8 from the foul line to finish with 12 points.
The extra attention helped Bentley get more looks.
"She doesn't need a lot of time to get a shot off," Bruno said about Lucas. "It's one of the reasons they're very good. They've got a great guard combination here, and we're not even talking about one of their starters."
Just like Penn State, DePaul leading scorer Hampton had a subpar outing in her first-round game with nine points on 3 of 13 shooting. But pay too much attention to Hampton, and a DePaul attack with four players averaging at least 10.3 points can hurt opponents from other spots.
"It's basically going to be a competition of defense," Bentley said. "Who can stop the better offensive transition team?"
-- Genaro C. Armas
Underdog Temple hoping for breakthrough vs Irish
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The difference between the Notre Dame and Temple women's basketball programs might be summed up in the way they celebrated their first-round NCAA tournament victories on Saturday night.
The 10th-seeded Temple Owls went to a local grill for pizza and wings. The No. 2 Fighting Irish got tickets to the hottest show in town, Lady Gaga in concert.
That may be reflected on the court in Monday night's second-round matchup, when a proven powerhouse with glitz and glamour takes on the underdogs hoping for a breakthrough.
"We're going in with no All-Americans," Owls coach Tonya Cardoza said, "players that are not even probably ranked in the top 150 or so."
Consider the matchup of point guards.
Shey Peddy is a junior-college transfer whose gritty style helped her become Temple's single-season steals leader in Saturday's win over Arizona State.
Notre Dame counterpart Skylar Diggins has a bio that puts her in the same company as LeBron James and Dwight Howard as a National High School Athlete of the Year (2009) and a three-time USA Basketball gold medalist.
"She's a really good point guard, (known) worldwide," Peddy said. "I have to step up my defense a lot to contain her, but I don't really try to look at her name or the hype that surrounds her. I just try to play hard defense against her and have fun."
Last year's second-round game was anything but fun for Temple. The Owls went up against eventual champion UConn and never had a chance, losing 90-36.
Temple (24-8) has advanced to the second round five times but never to the Sweet 16.
Notre Dame has appeared in 18 NCAA tournaments and is 8-5 in second-round games, advancing to the Final Four twice and winning it all in 2001.
Under Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw, the No. 2-seeded Irish have won 13 consecutive games against current Atlantic 10 teams.
Cardoza doesn't underestimate what a win Monday would mean to her program.
"When you are seeded 10th and have never gotten past the second round, advancing to the Sweet 16 (would be) like winning a national championship," Cardoza said. "We feel really good about the win (over ASU). We definitely enjoyed last night, but now we have an opportunity to take this program further than it's ever been. We're ready for that challenge."
So is Notre Dame (27-7), even if the Irish graduated four seniors off a squad that lost in overtime to Oklahoma in the regional semifinals a year ago.
The Irish have the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in Devereaux Peters and the most improved player in Natalie Novosel, nicknamed "Nasty" for her tenacity on defense. They also have Diggins, a first-team Big East selection after moving to point guard, to fuel an offense that averages 77.8 points a game.
Add in captains Brittany Mallory and Becca Bruszewski, who have grown into leadership roles, and the Irish don't have too many weaknesses.
"That's the great thing about this team," McGraw said. "We lost four starters and came into this season not knowing exactly how we were going to jell. We went very quickly from being an underdog to right back in the hunt."
The only time Notre Dame is an underdog is when it faces UConn.
"We're kind of a team that everyone wants to beat," McGraw admitted. "It's difficult to play with a target on your back.
While Cardoza worried Sunday about taking the pressure off her guards, McGraw's treat to Lady Gaga was designed to take the pressure off the entire team.
"It's something we try to do all year long," McGraw said, noting the team has visited Busch Gardens on a trip to South Florida and saw a Broadway play last season in New York.
"It's not a business for them," McGraw added. "It's got to be fun. Anytime you can let them have fun, it helps us. I think it helps team chemistry. They're kids. They need to enjoy what they're doing. I think it helps keeps the passion."
It's a trend McGraw, now in her 24th season, began a few years ago.
"It's been working and we've played pretty well," said McGraw, who took a pass herself on Lady Gaga. "I think we'll stick with it."
-- Lynn DeBruin
Notes
Notebook: Vandersloot closes in on incredible milestone
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Gonzaga guard Courtney Vandersloot is already part of an exclusive club with at least 1,000 assists in her career. She can add "only" and "ever" to her accolades on Monday night.
Vandersloot needs just 10 points to reach 2,000 for her career, becoming the only Division I player — men or women — with at least 2,000 points and 1,000 assists. She has 1,085 assists heading into Monday's second-round NCAA tournament game against UCLA.
"I'm not sure how many people know about that," Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves said. "I'm sure Courtney isn't counting it down in her head. She wants one thing and those that know Courtney know there is only one goal for her tomorrow and that's to win the game."
Former Penn State star Suzie McConnell previously had the most points for any player with 1,000 assists after scoring 1,897 in her career. The most of any men's player with 1,000 assists was Bobby Hurley, who scored 1,731 points in his Duke career to go along with 1,076 assists.
The others with at least 1,000 assists: Andrea Nagy of Florida International (1,812 points, 1,291 assists); Tine Freil of Pacific (1,291 points, 1,088 assists); Chris Corchiani of North Carolina State (1,425 points, 1,038 assists); and Ed Cota of North Carolina (1,261 points, 1,030 assists).
STELLAR SHOOTING: Marquette coach Terri Mitchell doesn't plan on letting her players give Tennessee senior sharpshooter Angie Bjorklund too much room.
Bjorklund has made 20 of her last 23 3-point shots, including a 4-for-5 performance from the perimeter in the Lady Vols' 99-34 opening-round win against Stetson.
"You just can't give her any space, she's that good. She doesn't need room, it's catch and shoot," Mitchell said. "I prefer the option of not letting her touch. Now, we're not a denial team, but I told our players, 'If she's anywhere in your area you get tighter to her. You can't give her two steps, you're one step away from her.'"
Bjorklund's shooting is even more impressive given the fact that the Spokane Valley, Wash., native's right foot was in a boot for nearly a month late in the regular season. Bjorklund missed six SEC games with a sprain and had to ease back into a practice routine.
"When the boot came off, I couldn't be in the gym too much just because I had to ease into it, so the first couple of games were just to kind of get back," Bjorklund said. "The past couple of weeks my foot has been great, so I've been in the gym a lot."
SLEEPING AT HOME: Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves briefly considered taking up the NCAA on its offer of a hotel for his team while the first and second rounds of the tournament were being played on the Bulldogs home floor.
That thought didn't last long. Graves sees too much benefit in his players staying at home and keeping with their routine, which also includes classes.
"It's a benefit to stay in your bed anytime. Stay in your comfort zone, do what you normally do," Graves said. "There are some advantages to doing that. Staying in a hotel you kind of get them sequestered, but that gets a little old after a little while. And our players are smart. I trust them to do the right thing and prepare themselves the way they need to."
With a win on Monday night against third-seeded UCLA, the Bulldogs will get to play in the regional semifinals for a second straight year and again won't have to leave campus. It's being played about a 20-minute walk from Gonzaga's home at the Spokane Arena.
The good is the comfort of home. The bad: not being able to skip out on classes.
"I will be going to my morning classes tomorrow," Gonzaga's Katelan Redmon said.
LIGHT-IT-UP LUCAS: The more she scores, the more attention Penn State freshman Maggie Lucas draws from opposing defenders.
Such was the case Saturday in the Lady Lions' first-round win over Dayton. The Big Ten's sixth player of the year was just 2-of-6 shooting, all from 3-point range, after getting hounded and jostled by Flyers defenders, especially while trying to get open by running the baseline.
Lucas finished with 12 points, mostly because she was 6 of 7 at the foul line.
"I face that defense every time I play, so I'm kind of used to it," Lucas said before practice Sunday. "I do have to use screens better. That's one thing I have to focus on going into the postseason. ... Sometimes you just get more shots than other days."
It helped Penn State when Lucas' backcourt mate, Alex Bentley, took advantage of the extra attention on Lucas by shooting 12 of 28 for 25 points in the 75-66 win over Dayton. Sixth-seeded Penn State plays No. 3 seed DePaul on Monday night for the right to move on to the NCAA regional semifinals in Philadelphia.
Lady Lions coach Coquese Washington isn't worried about her star freshman.
"If she doesn't make every shot she takes she gets frustrated, so she is fine," Washington said. "She is a very selfless, very team-oriented player."
TARGET-FREE: Marist coach Brian Giorgis has seemed to enjoy the questions about being a lower-seeded team for the Philadelphia Regional games in Durham, N.C.
It is a change, after all, for a team that has won six straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships, including an 18-0 regular-season mark in league paly.
The 10th-seeded Red Foxes used a hot-shooting first half to build a 20-point lead and held that lead the rest of the day to beat No. 7 seed Iowa State from the Big 12 in Saturday's first round. Marist faces No. 2 seed Duke on its famed home court in Monday night's second round.
"We're going to have to play the perfect game and we know that," Giorgis said. "That's what makes it kind of fun. It's really nice not having to wear our target jacket, because the target's on them, not on us."
SOUTHWESTERN HOSPITALITY: North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell was impressed with the enthusiastic crowds at The Pit, home of the University of New Mexico Lobos, where fans embraced the Tar Heels, Kentucky Wildcats, Fresno State Bulldogs and Hampton Lady Pirates this weekend.
"I love an environment where they embrace women's basketball," Hatchell said, noting the many fans who have approached her in Albuquerque to wish her team good luck, and the hotel staff that greeted the bus with applause after their win over Fresno State on Saturday night.
"I love going places, win or lose, where the fans love women's basketball, and there's some pockets like that throughout the country and this is definitely one of them," Hatchell said. "It's been a joy and an honor to play here just because of that hospitality."
So, does that mean she'll eagerly put a trip to New Mexico on a future schedule?
"Well, I've talked to some teams that have been out here. They say it's tough, hard to play, sometimes there might be a little home cooking," Hatchell said. "I'm not saying yes or no, but it is something that I might consider."
Prairie View's eight first-half points fewest in NCAAs
WACO (AP) — Prairie View has scored the fewest points ever in a half of an NCAA women's tournament game. The SWAC champion Lady Panthers trailed top-seeded Baylor 34-8 at halftime in the first-round game Sunday night.
Prairie View was 3-of-27 shooting in the first half and missed its first 12 shots before Waco native Robin Jones scored on a layup for the Lady Panthers to make it 18-2.
The fewest points scored in any half of a Division I women's game was Savannah State, which trailed Florida State 54-3 at halftime Nov. 23, 2003.
Other College Women's Basketball News
Louisville women's hoops a 'Pack the House' winner
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Louisville and Western Kentucky women's basketball teams were among 33 winners of the NCAA Division I "Pack the House" Challenge. And, for the Cardinals, in-state rival Kentucky helped.
Louisville drew 22,152 fans to the KFC! Yum Center for its Dec. 5 game in a 78-52 Louisville win over Kentucky, making the Cardinals the Big East Conference winner. Western Kentucky was tops in the Sun Belt Conference.
The NCAA Division I women's basketball marketing staffs selected home contests and designated it as a "Pack the House" game with the goal of setting an attendance record. The Courier-Journal reported that one winner from each of the 32 conferences and one from a group of independents were named.
