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Big East Tournament Recap: UConn, West Virginia Advance to Final
By Jim Clark
Correspondent
Monday’s Big East Tournament semifinals saw two low-scoring, defensive contests, with none of the teams appearing to play at their best. Still, when the dust settled, the conference’s two top teams—No. 1 Connecticut and No. 2 West Virginia—advanced to Tuesday’s Big East championship game.
Look for the final to be another defense dominated game. Still, the Huskies, whose semifinal win broke their own record by extending their winning streak to 71 games, have a deeper offensive arsenal and are the odds on favorites to win this rematch of the 2006 tournament title game.
Photo Caption: The Connecticut Huskies extended their winning streak to a record breaking 71 games, with a 59-44 win over No. 5 Notre Dame. Tina Charles led all players with a 16-point, 17-rebound double-double (her 10th of the season) in a low-scoring, defense-oriented game in which most players for both sides seemed a bit lethargic. Connecticut now moves on to face West Virginia in Tuesday’s championship game.
Photo Credit: Courtesy UConn Athletics Communications
Full Court Top 25: Week of March 8, 2010
By Christopher Thompson
Correspondent
As women’s basketball programs across the country wrap up their regular season and head into tournament play, there has been no change in the constituency of this week’s Top 25, but several changes in their relative rankings.
Seven teams, including three of the Top 25—Duke, Ohio State and Tennessee—have qualified for automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament. (The other four are: Austin Peay, East Tennessee State, Marist and Princeton). Another 26 teams are virtually guaranteed at least an at-large berth, so more than half of the field of 64 has been decided. Over the next week another 24 teams will win their way in, including a handful that would have gotten in anyway. A few more will solidify their credentials with a victory or two in their conference tournaments. But for teams like Maryland, North Carolina and Boston College, all they can do is sit and wait until March 15 for the selection show. For those teams this will be the longest week of the season.
Here is this week’s Top 25, all of whom will make the NCAA Tournament.
Big East Tournament Recap: UConn, West Virginia, Notre Dame and Rutgers Advance to Semifinals
By Jim Clark
Correspondent
Sunday’s Day Three of the Big East Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament had it all—some minor upsets, one total rout, one grinder, one thriller that went down to the buzzer, and another that went to double overtime before breaking open; some records equaled, others broken; career highs established; plenty of athleticism all around; both superb and frustratingly poor execution; some good and some horrible officiating, asterisked by a whiny coach…. You name it. We could go on. But in the end, the top two seeds in the conference Virginia moved on to Monday’s semifinals, while the third and fourth seeds saw their Big East seasons come to a premature end. Instead, Connecticut and West Virginia will meet fifth-seeded Notre Dame (who in truth would have been seeded higher had the regular season ended 10 days sooner, and sixth-seeded Rutgers, a perennial conference contender.
Dacko Out at UMass; Nationwide Search for Replacement Begins
By Lee Michaelson
Publisher
University of Massachusetts head coach Marnie Dacko has been informed that her contract will not be renewed past its April 10, 2010 expiration date, the school’s Athletic Director John McCutcheon announced Monday. UMass finished ninth among the 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 this season with a losing record of 11-19 overall and 5-9 in conference play.
Dacko has spent the last eight seasons (2002-10) at the helm of the Minutewomen, posting a cumulative record of 98-135 (.421).
“We want to thank Marnie for all of her contributions to the program and the University of Massachusetts,” said McCutcheon. “We feel there has not been the competitive progress that we have been looking for and that a change was necessary. We will be initiating a national search immediately. The announcement of the members of the consultative committee will be released shortly.”
Syracuse Without Michael in Big East Tournament Opener
By Jim Clark
Publisher
As the Big East Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament kicks off today (March 5) in Hartford, Connecticut, Syracuse is without its all-time leading scorer and rebounder, 6-2 forward Nicole Michael. Michael left her senior night game on Tuesday after injuring her right foot a little more than five minutes into the second half. The Orange went on to win the game in a 67-48 upset of No. 7 West Virginia after rallying from a 22-8 first-half deficit.
Syracuse went into the tournament seeded No. 9, with a 21-9 overall record thanks to a weak preconference schedule, but a record of just 7-9 in conference play. Several of the losses were relatively close, but they have been enough to keep the Orange out of the national rankings.
Michael was dressed but announced as unavailable to play in Syracuse’s tournament opener against the league’s bottom dweller, No. 16 seed Seton Hall. The nature and prognosis of Michael’s injury are currently unknown but Michael has been troubled with soreness in the foot for much of the conference season.
Update: The Orange went on to win the match-up, 65-42, without Michael and advance to the second round where they will meet Providence in tomorrow’s second-round action.
Big East Tournament Recap: Rounds One and Two Go According to Form
By Jim Clark
Correspondent
As the Big East Tournament got under way Friday, the awards continued to roll-in. After a 30-minute delay waiting for the UConn team to arrive in the arena, the league announced the following awards before play began on Friday:
Freshman of the Year: Sugar Rodgers, Georgetown
Academic Player of the Year: Maya Moore, Connecticut (Moore was also ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America of the Year)
Player of the Year: Tina Charles, Connecticut (No one was more pleased than Moore)
Co-coaches of the Year: Geno Auriemma, Connecticut; Mike Carey, West Virginia. (Each claimed to have each voted for the other.)
With the preliminaries taken care of, the lower seeds in the conference got on with the business of playing their way into contention for the championship—or at least for a chance at another drubbing by UConn. There were few surprises, as for the most part, the results went according to seed.
Lochner Done at LaSalle
By Lee Michaelson
Publisher
Tom Lochner, coach of the women’s basketball team at La Salle University for more than 20 years, six of them as head coach, will not be back, the University announced Tuesday. La Salle University Director of Athletics Dr. Tom Brennan and Lochner came to what was described as a “mutual agreement” that Lochner will not return as head women’s basketball coach next season after the Explorers finished dead last among the 14 teams that make up the Atlantic 10 Conference.
“It has been a pleasure working with Tom,” Brennan said. “He represented the University in the highest professional manner and was a very important part of the La Salle community for many years.”
“I’m very appreciative of the opportunity to have coached at La Salle University,” said Lochner. “I have so many fond memories and I have built life-long relationships during my time in the athletic department. I wish only the best and much success for the future of La Salle women’s basketball.”
A national search is underway for his replacement.
Mid-Season Naismith Finalists Announced
By Lee Michaelson
Publisher
The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Thursday the 30 midseason candidates for the 2010 Naismith Trophy, given annually to the women’s college basketball National Player of the Year. The list was the product of balloting by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, comprised of leading basketball journalists from around the country. The board bases its criteria on player performances throughout this season.
The Naismith Trophy, presented by AT&T, is the most prestigious national award in college basketball. This year, the award will be presented at the NCAA Women’s Final Four in San Antonio, Texas.
The midseason candidates including the following: