For the women's basketball NCAA tournament I was rooting for MTSU's Lady Raiders and Pat Summitt's Lady Vols, however, both teams were eliminated in the first round on Sunday.
No. 8 seed, MTSU took on No. 9 seed Michigan State on their home floor, and lost 60-59. During the majority of both halves, MTSU dominated. But towards the end, MTSU started to get lazy and depend on its star player Alysha Clark.
Clark had a hard enough time scoring against 6-foot-9-inch Allyssa DeHaan, who constantly denied Clark any entry into the basket. But when her teammates refused to step up and make big plays, Clark took it to the basket and fouled out with one minute to go in the game.
The last play rested on the shoulders of junior forward Brandi Brown, who lost control of the ball at the last second. It's sad to see the Lady Raiders eliminated before they were given a chance to showcase their talent.
Later that night another dream of mine was crushed. No. 5 seed Tennessee took on No. 12 Ball State and practically gave up their returning champion status with a 71-55 loss. For the past two years the Lady Vols have been the champions of the NCAA tournament, but from the beginning of this season fans knew it would be rough.
Fans didn't expect the freshman lineup to make a dent in Summitt's career by losing for the first time ever in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Sure, Ball State played well by shooting several 3-pointers, but the Tennessee defense was nonexistence. Ball State players would drive the lane with no orange standing in their way. The whole game was ridiculous.
Last year Angie Bjorklund had the pleasure of experiencing the glory of a champion, but this season she appears to be lost. Bjorklund doesn't even try to step up on the court and make plays unless she knows a 3-pointer is needed. The bad news is that when she realizes this, she doesn't care if the ball goes in the basket or not. It seems like this whole team has lost all motivation, and their carelessness is beginning to drive Lady Vols fans over the edge.
Oh well, looks like I'll be rooting for Maryland now. Hopefully they can beat UConn. Take that Maya Moore!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Death of March Madness
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Summitt first NCAA coach to reach 1,000 wins
The Lady Vols had hoped to gain the win for their coach on Tuesday against Oklahoma, and even though they played their hearts out, they could not match the defensive efforts of Courtney and Ashley Paris.
Tonight the Lady Vols shut down Georgia with a 73-43 win despite Vicki Baugh's knee injury on Tuesday. She will not be out for the rest of the year. Alicia Manning also experienced a thigh injury tonight, but continued to sit on the bench and support her team.
Following in her teammates footsteps, Glory Johnson stepped up and filled the role for Baugh by grabbing rebound after rebound and putting up jumpers. Shekinna Stricklen backed Johnson up and had a remarkable night, but hit the hardwood pretty hard during the second half, causing her to sit on the bench for several minutes in the second half.
While all these injuries might have given Georgia an advantage, it didn't. Georgia still trailed by 30 points with 10 minutes to go in the game.
After the game, Summitt was presented with several gifts including the game ball, a painted portrait and jewelry.
"We have the greatest fans in women's basketball," Summitt said. "I want to thank the administration for giving their commitment a long time ago before it was popular to women's basketball, and what a difference it's made."
Summitt said that she has been extremely blessed in her coaching career.
"We may be young and we may be inexperienced, but our goal is to be in St. Louis for the final four," Summitt said.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Summitt goes for 1,000 win against Oklahoma
As of now, the legendary UT women's basketball coach sits at 999 wins.
Pat Summitt has been coaching at UT for 35 years, and is second for most NCAA championships held. She now holds eight.
Despite having a rough 2008-09 season with young and inexperienced players, Summitt has dedicated her life to the sport and refuses to give up on her team. Calling this a rebuilding year, the Lady Vols have been quite inconsistent. Sometimes they win and sometimes they don't. Sometimes they beat higher ranked teams and sometimes they get trampled on by teams that are not ranked.
In January 14, 2003, Summitt became the first woman to reach the 800-win plateau. She also became No. 1 on the Division I all-time wins list in 2005, surpassing Dean Smith's record of 879 wins.
She has signed and coached players like Candace Parker and Tamika Catchings, who now are WNBA all-stars.
The Lady Vols lost to Oklahoma 80-70. Looks like Pat will have to wait for her 1,000 win against Georgia.
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