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by LeAnne Harrington, SECWB.com

This is the time of year the Tennessee Lady Vols live for. In a post-game press conference at the SEC tourney, Lady Vol head coach Pat Head Summitt said that after winning a national championship it is sometimes hard to get a team to focus on the details of each game; their tendency is to want to fast-forward through the regular season and get on to post-season play. Well, there is no need to hit the fast-forward button: the first phase of the post-season has come and gone, with the Lady Vols winning their 13th SEC tourney title. Now it’s on to the NCAAs and a defense of their 2007 National Championship. Can the Lady Vols bring a record 8th championship trophy back to Rocky Top?

The Tennessee Lady Vols enter this game as a #1 seed, sporting a 30-2 record. Their only two losses of the season were to Stanford and LSU, and they avenged the LSU loss by beating the Lady Tigers in the SEC Tournament championship game. UT is led by junior Candace Parker, the all-everything “go-to” player every championship team needs. Listed as a Forward/Center/Guard, she can truly play all positions, and can wreak havoc on opposing teams from anywhere on the court. At the point is senior Shannon Bobbitt, an undersized floor general whose 5’2” stature has never proven to be a liability. What she lacks in height she makes up for in speed, lightening-fast passes and an ability to find the open Vol. Senior Nicky Anosike is a banger in the post; tough on “D” and has a willingness to do the dirty work on the boards. With a coaching staff that preaches defense and rebounds, this makes her a highly valuable player to this team. Senior Alexis Hornbuckle has great range, can pop the 3 or drive if the opportunity is there. Of the stellar group of freshmen on this year’s team, Angie Bjorklund has come in and made the most impact, starting 30 of 32 games this season.


Oral Roberts enters tomorrow night’s matchup as a #16 seed, sporting a 19-13 record. They garnered a fifth NCAA bid by winning the Summitt League conference tournament and it’s automatic bid. ORU is 0-4 in their four previous NCAA appearances. Although the Golden Eagles finished 10-8 in league play this season, they are currently on a roll, having won nine of their last thirteen games. ORU is extremely balanced in scoring, with four players who average in double figures.

This will be the first meeting between these two teams.

Probable starters for UT:

G Shannon Bobbitt, 5-2 SR: 10.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg
F/C/G Candace Parker, 6-4 JR: 21.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg
F Angie Bjorklund, 6-0 FR: 9.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg
G Alexis Hornbuckle, 5-11 SR: 10.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg
C Nicky Anosike, 6-4 SR: 8.9 ppg, 7.2 rpg

Probable starters for Oral Roberts:

F/C Jenny Hardin, 6-3 JR: 13.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg
G Mariana Camargo, 6-0 JR: 13.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg
G Rachel Watman, 5-10 JR: 12.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg
G Janae Voelker, 5-11 SO: 11.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg
G Demesha Heard, 5-5 JR: 4.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg

My prediction: Unlike the men’s 2008 NCAA tourney, the first round on the women’s side has been fairly predictable with few exceptions: higher seeds have been taking their upstart opponents to task, making them pay the price by suffering lopsided wins. If the seeding in this first round matchup holds (and there’s no reason whatsoever to think it won’t), then this one will join that trend. Historically speaking, the Lady Vols have never lost a first or second round game, so… you make the call. Mine is: UT by 56.

Posted under LeAnne Harrington & NCAA Tournament & Tennessee | No Comments »

by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com

South Carolina has advanced to the second round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament and will travel to Raleigh, NC on Monday night to face the Wolfpack of North Carolina State University.

USC played NCSU recently, just last season; however, the Gamecocks team–today–bears little resemblance to the team that dropped a 41-53 decision at Reynolds Coliseum in November of 2006. That senior-laden team suffered a horrible shooting night: 15 of 64 from the floor, 11 of 20 from the free-throw line and 0 of 9 from 3-point range. The only starter from that game that remains on the team is Demetress Adams, who actually had a fairly decent game against NCSU (if you ignore 4 turnovers), with 9 points on 4-8 shooting from the floor and 8 rebounds. Seniors Lakesha Tolliver and Ilona Burgrova played a combined 20 minutes in that game and had a combined total of 2 points, 8 rebounds and 5 turnovers.

But let’s leave the past behind and look ahead to focus on Monday’s game. NC State is 18-12, this season, and returns 3 starters from last year’s team. Senior Kadijah Whittington is the heart and soul of the Wolfpack, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds per game. Junior guard Shayla Fields also scores in double figures with 13.2 points per game. Nobody else comes close to Whittington’s rebounding numbers, either on offense or defense, but sophomore Lucy Ellison pulls down 6 rebounds a game. Whittington, Fields and sophomore Nikitta Gartrell are the solid starters; four players alternate filling in the other two starting positions.

The Wolfpack is coached by Kay Yow, now in her 33rd year of coaching at NCSU. Yow has over 700 career victories, 20 trips to the NCAA Tournament, 11 trips to the Sweet Sixteen and 1 trip to the Final Four in 1998. She has 5 regular-season ACC championships, 4 ACC Tournament titles, 20 20-win seasons and 28 winning seasons. She was the first ACC women’s basketball coach to surpass 650 wins. I could go on for pages, seriously, but I’m not writing Coach Yow’s biography. This trip to the WNIT is only the second of Yow’s career; the last time she had a team in this tournament was her first year of coaching at NCSU.

South Carolina is led by freshman shooting guard Jordan Jones, who averages 12.6 points per game and broke a WNIT record Friday night, hitting 9 3-point shots in Carolina’s opening round victory over North Carolina A&T. Junior Demetress Adams averages 11 points and 9 rebounds per game, as well as leading the team in blocked shots (54) and steals (64), while junior guard Brionna Dickerson averages 10.4 points per game. Speedy point guard Samone Kennedy, who usually comes in off the bench, has 103 assists and finished the regular season at 10th place in the Southeastern Conference standings with an average of 3.34 per game. She also ranked 6th in assists/turnover ratio. Kennedy was critical to the success of the Gamecocks in the first-round game. Her presence in the lineup increases the tempo on both ends of the court and her ability to draw the defense to her lets the Carolina shooters get set for their shots.

Reynolds Coliseum is a tough place for a visiting team to play, a definite advantage for the Wolfpack. NCSU may also feel that they have something to prove, after being left out of the NCAA Tournament, despite a pretty decent record and no horribly embarrasing losses. (There were 3 losses by more than 10 points: to Virginia, Duke and Maryland.)

The Gamecocks are just happy to be playing in the post-season–and maybe that’s an important point. The NC A&T Aggies gave the Gamecocks a very tough game for the first 20 minutes, keeping it fast and physical and the score close. The Gamecocks were not rattled and didn’t lose focus–they made plenty of mistakes, but they didn’t wallow in them–they scrapped and they hustled and they actually seemed to be having FUN , playing the game. I can’t remember the last time I had that impression, watching the Gamecocks, and it was a welcome change. I know that they are feeling the pressure that comes from having a mediocre record and all of the speculation about coaching changes. Here’s a little bit of completely unsolicited advice: Forget about it. There’s nothing you can do, now, to change what has already happened. So go out and play–just play–like there’s no tomorrow. You’re good at this game. Enjoy it.

The second-round WNIT game is at Reynolds Coliseum, Monday night, on the campus of NC State University. Game time is 7 pm.

Posted under Marilyn McManus & South Carolina & WNIT | No Comments »