NCAA Women's Tournament Capsules: Buckeyes' Foster wouldn't mind a shot at UConn
COLUMBUS, Ohio — It’s impossible for anyone to talk about the women’s NCAA tournament without confronting the 500-pound gorilla sitting on the brackets, mighty Connecticut.
Ohio State coach Jim Foster doesn’t go running from the discussion.
Even though his second-seeded Buckeyes (30-4) would have to win three games for even a potential shot at the unbeaten Huskies, Foster would relish the chance to upset UConn and his former assistant, Geno Auriemma.
"There’s 347 Division I schools," Foster said Thursday, two days before his team opens NCAA play against St. Francis (Pa.) in Pittsburgh. "There’s one that’s dominating and there’s a handful that have put themselves in the position with the right mindset and the right talent to walk in the door. I would love the opportunity."
For now, it’s a distant goal. Ohio State hasn’t won three games in the tournament in 17 years — and that’s the only time the Buckeyes have done it.
Ohio State has plenty of work to do before it can contemplate playing the top-seeded Huskies, who are 33-0 this year and riding a record 72-game winning streak going into their first-round game Sunday against Southern in Norfolk, Va. The Buckeyes must get past St. Francis (17-14), followed by the winner of Mississippi State (19-12) vs. Middle Tennessee (25-5), and then the survivor from Tallahassee, Fla., a bracket that includes third-seeded Florida State (26-5) and sixth-seeded St. John’s (24-6).
Of course, UConn also must survive, although almost no expert in the country believes the Huskies will falter — either in their first three games or the three that would follow.
What makes any prospective Ohio State-UConn meeting even more interesting is that the game would be played in the Buckeyes’ backyard — on March 30 at the University of Dayton Arena, about an hour from campus. The Buckeyes have a solid fan base and it might just pack the place in hopes of seeing the Huskies’ record winning streak threatened.
Foster welcomes the thought of a home-state advantage against UConn.
"Are you asking me if (I’d like it if) we were fortunate enough to be able to play them in a situation in our own state where the people of Ohio, with great civic pride, come out to support the state university?" he said with a wide grin. "(The Huskies) always have the crowd, so it might make a difference to them."
It’s interesting that eighth-ranked Ohio State’s players refuse to get involved in the speculation.
"You just ignore it," guard Shavelle Little said. "I hear it, but it kind of goes in one ear and out the other."
Three-time Big Ten player of the year Jantel Lavender also declined to look ahead.
"Of course we want to get the opportunity to play UConn and upset them. But we have to get through our first couple of games," she said. "You can’t overlook St. Francis, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi State, Florida State — those are very athletic teams. They are good. It’s focusing on them and then playing UConn when we have the opportunity."
Lavender has a sizable chip on her shoulder this week. She was angry on Monday night because ESPN women’s basketball analyst Doris Burke called the All-American "Shontel" during the network’s selection show.
Lavender said later that she and her team, which has won an unprecedented (men or women) six straight Big Ten titles, apparently hadn’t earned people’s respect on the national scene.
"We have some proving to do," she said.
Ohio State point guard Samantha Prahalis has battled a touch of the flu, but the rest of the Buckeyes appear to be healthy and rested for the game against St. Francis, champions of the Northeast Conference.
Everyone seems to forget that in a tournament where the home court is a priceless commodity, the Red Flash will be in their hometown when they play the Buckeyes at Peterson Events Center.
Foster isn’t looking past that game, or any that might follow. But in 32 years as a Division I coach, including a stretch at Saint Joseph’s where Auriemma was on his staff, and 24 trips to the NCAA tournament, he’s learned what it takes to bring down giants like UConn.
"It’s an attitude," he said. "You’ve got to be good enough to get the opportunity. We’ve got to win three games for that to present itself. If we win those three games, we’ve proven we’re pretty good. And (then we) just get another opportunity to walk out and prove it again."
What to watch: Big players evolve in women's game
There's been a growth spurt in women's basketball.
Fans watching the NCAA women's tournament will see more versatile 6-foot-3 or taller players than ever, a couple playing above the rim and plenty facing the basket with guard skills — their games patterned more after LeBron than Kareem.
"Back in the day, if you were a big person, you were a back-to-the-basket kind of player," says Anne Donovan, a 6-8 force who won Olympic gold medals in 1984 and 1988 and was the 1983 college player of the year at Old Dominion. "It was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the men's game, and the women's game had the same style players.
"Our game has evolved like the men, where we're not back-to-the-basket for post players any more. I think you started seeing that evolution with (6-5) Lisa Leslie and it's just continued."
Has it ever. Coaches say the increasing popularity of the women's game has resulted in more girls playing at an early age, and these players are more skilled. Though the game is growing, the average woman isn't — she still stands about 5-4. Women on average have grown just eight-10ths of an inch since the early 1960s, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Still, the major conferences feature a host of athletic, versatile players. National championship contenders like Tennessee and Stanford enter the NCAA tournament with the size of many men's teams in smaller conferences. Even their point guards are 6-footers.
A look at rosters from the six major conferences — Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, ACC and Pacific-10 — from the mid-1990s shows that the number of 6-3 or taller players has nearly doubled in some cases.
And their roles have grown along with their stature. What Leslie started, 6-4 Candace Parker took to another level as a do-it-all forward/guard/center at Tennessee, knocking down 3-pointers, dunking off the dribble.
Now there is Brittany Griner, Baylor's towering 6-8 freshman, who has gained YouTube fame with her dunks and blocks. Stanford's 6-4 Kayla Pedersen leads one of the tournament's top contenders in scoring and rebounding, but has also drilled 49 3-pointers in 31 games and is second on the team with 86 assists.
This year's Lady Vols features 12 players 5-10 or taller, topping out with 6-6 center Kelley Cain.
"Just the mobility of the post players throughout the country, it's amazing to me, compared to let's say 10 years ago," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt says. "Being out recruiting and seeing some of these young players, there's some post players out there that could step in and play at the college level."
The long list of stars 6-3 or above also includes UConn's Tina Charles — whose team has won 72 straight — Ohio State's 6-4 Jantel Lavender and the other half of Stanford's dominant frontcourt, 6-4 Jayne Appel.
There are still some back-to-the-basket players like Donovan, now coach of the WNBA's New York Liberty. But just like in the men's game, more of the bigs in the women's game are slashers, with quick moves, crossover dribbles and showtime passes.
"You're seeing more kids 6-3, 6-4, 6-5. You're seeing them in all dimensions," said Kim Mulkey, Griner's coach at Baylor. "You're seeing them broad and then you're seeing them long and athletic. You're seeing a variety.
"It's because women's basketball is a very visible sport at the collegiate level. Kids are seeing it at a young age and they start playing bitty basketball, AAU basketball and select basketball. There are just more of them involved."
The athletic post players aren't only in major conferences — or even in the NCAA tournament.
Consider Delaware's 6-5 Elena Delle Donne, who turned down a chance to play at Connecticut and stayed closer to home with the Blue Hens. The freshman was the nation's No. 2 scorer this season while recording more 3s (62) than blocks (60).
ACC champion Duke has won with a frontcourt that plays mostly with their backs to the basket — 6-4 Krystal Thomas and 6-5 freshman Allison Vernerey.
Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie says tall players are playing more positions.
"Sometimes it's hard to find the traditional post because so many post players want to step out and shoot the 3," she says. "It's always exciting to see players who can play with their back to the basket. It makes the game exciting. I think it makes the game more diverse."
The ACC is loaded with talented bigs. The league is tops among the major conferences with 35 players — including 14 starters — 6-3 or taller. There were half as many starters and just 20 ACC players standing that tall in the 1999-2000 season, according to STATS, LLC.
The Big 12 has gone from 13 to 24 players at least 6-3 since 1996. The tallest then was 6-7 Devon Magness of Oklahoma State. Now there are three players in the conference at least 6-7.
The Big Ten has 6-9 Allyssa DeHaan of Michigan State.
Boston College likely has the ACC's top low-post combination of Carolyn Swords and Stefanie Murphy, who are averaging a combined 26.1 points and 15.5 rebounds. Murphy appreciates the diverse roles played these days by post players.
"I definitely think that we've become more involved," Murphy says. "We're being looked to as scorers instead of just people to grab the boards and put the ball back in the hole."
Griner has followed in the footsteps of players like Tennessee's Parker and Sylvia Fowles of LSU — who both brought another dimension to the post position with their tremendous athleticism and basketball skills.
Griner was second nationally in blocked shots (6.0 per game) and led the nation with three triple-doubles. Griner joined Parker as the only women's players to dunk more than once in a game during a 99-18 rout of Texas State. She also has a major impact on the other end.
"She stops shots. She alters shots," Mulkey says. "And she plays above the rim. I've been doing this since I was 14 years old. I've played with some of the greatest players to ever play this game. But I can honestly say she's the first one I've ever been around that you can say plays above the rim."
Auburn's Nell Fortner pointed out teams like No. 4 seed Kentucky that have thrived with comparatively undersized teams.
But there are an abundance of big players in the high school ranks, and competition is intense for their services.
"You're looking at 6-foot point guards," Auburn coach Nell Fortner said. "You're just looking at kids that are bigger and they're bigger at their position."
Auburn has been led by polar opposites in the paint the past two seasons, from the willowy and versatile All-American DeWanna Bonner, now playing in the WNBA with the Phoenix Mercury, to the beefy 6-7 KeKe Carrier.
Because of her size, there may not be a player in the tournament more aptly named than Carrier.
Maybe girth is the next step in the evolution of women's post players?
"I don't see another player on the horizon in the next few years that is like KeKe," Fortner said.
Maybe not yet, but perhaps eventually.
-- John Zenor
Weatherspoon, La Tech return to NCAA tourney
RUSTON, La. — Teresa Weatherspoon still has her game face — that look of intense concentration, the bit of belligerence, the slight swagger.
Now she's back where she honed the flash and brilliance that made her seem unstoppable and put Louisiana Tech on the top of the college pecking order. And if the court has lost some luster since back in the day, Weatherspoon is already applying the polish.
"There was a time every body wanted to be Louisiana Tech," Weatherspoon said. "When we fell, it hurt us all so bad — the players, the coaches, the fans, everybody."
By many standards the fall has not been a big one, after all the Lady Techsters have only missed three NCAAs. But when you have been to 25 straight and won three national titles, including two NCAA titles and the final AIAW, three years is a long time.
The Lady Techsters only lost 14 games in the four years Weatherspoon played for them (1984-88), when she started all but one game. They went to the Final Four twice and won the championship in 1988.
She played on gold and bronze medal-winning Olympic teams, then played overseas and in the WNBA. If it weren't for a bad left knee and bone spurs in her left ankle, Weatherspoon, 44, still might be suiting up.
Instead, she's doing what she sees as the next best thing, teaching young women and bringing back the glory days to her alma mater.
Weatherspoon became the Lady Techsters' coach last year when Chris Long was fired.
"She was great," said sports information director Malcolm Butler. "She won her first eight games, and took us to the semifinals in the WAC tournament."
It was good enough to secure a WNIT berth for the team.
"I'm so excited for her," said former Louisiana Tech coach Leon Barmore, who Weatherspoon calls her father, her mentor and her friend. "She is bringing the excitement back to Lady Techster basketball and she is going to build something really special there."
Barmore, now an assistant for another former Louisiana Tech player, Kim Mulkey, at Baylor, tries to watch Weatherspoon and her team as often as he can, he said.
"She still has all that passion she had as a player," he said. "But she's matured. She knows how to get on one of the kids or an official when she needs to, then go on. She's already learned some of the big secretes of coaching."
The Lady Techsters (23-8) face heavily favored Florida State (26-5) on the Seminoles' homecourt in Tallahassee. Florida State beat Louisiana Tech the last time the Techsters made the tournament.
Seminoles coach Sue Semrau called it an honor to play a team "as storied as Louisiana Tech." Weatherspoon would rather she saw it as a horror.
"I want us to be able to play physical or play finesse," Weatherspoon said. "I want my players to hit back when they get hit. But better yet, hit first. You can't be anything but tough out there."
It shows in practice where she tells them to "attack the body, play through the body, don't you back off."
"Coach Spoon's tough, but she knows how to bring out your talent, how to make you better," said Shanavia Dowdell, one of two players Weatherspoon looses this year. "She tells us every game is going to be tough, we just have to be tougher."
Especially on the Seminoles' homecourt.
-- Mary Foster
