Lady Vols turnover win to No. 10 Duke in Knoxville

Getting off to a rocky start, both Duke and UT had a hard time hanging on to possessions and not throwing them away. However, Duke rounded out the game with 22 turnovers, which is 5 more than UT, and still came out on top with a 62-54 win in Knoxville Monday night.

The two teams squared off for rivalry week and depended on their point guards to do the dirty work. Briana Bass had 14 points and was 2-2 in 3-pointers, while Duke point guard Jasmine Thomas led her team with 19 points.

UT's defense was non existent tonight as they allowed blue jerseys into the paint constantly for easy layups. Thomas took advantage of this and had a few glass touching buckets herself.

Three point shooter Angie Bjorklund had a difficult time from the field tonight, going 2-13 from inside the arc and 1-7 outside. UT head coach Pat Summitt told Rebecca Lobo at half time that Bjorklund needed to step up and make some big plays for her team. Unfortunately, Bjorklund came up short in the second half and was completely silent in the first, except for a few passing turnovers.

Even though UT's experienced players struggled from the field, newcomer and freshman Kelley Cain had 10 points and 6 rebounds. This young lady has definitely taken the position of former Lady Vol Nikki Anosike, who now plays in the WNBA.

Rebounds also played a big part in Duke's success because they were grabbing both defensive and offensive boards through the first and second half. Duke ultimately had 49 and UT only had 36.

As the Lady Vols look to take on Kentucky on Thursday, turnovers and rebounding are going to be the main focus for coach Summitt and her team during these next few days of practice.

MTSU raise money for breast cancer in 'Pink Zone'

Middle Tennessee State University lady raiders women's basketball team defeated North Texas 113-58 in the Murphy Center on Sunday during 'Pink Zone.'

Junior forward Alysha Clark, who has now picked up her fifth Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week honor, had 30 points alone against North Texas. Close behind, junior forward Brandi Brown had 21 points and was 6-9 from 3 point range.

However, sophomore forward Emily Queen only had 2 points after rolling her ankle and coming down on it wrong. Queen only played 16 minutes and will have to have an MRI to determine whether or not she can play on Wednesday against South Alabama.

From the beginning of the game until the final seconds, MT never let up. Head coach Rick Insell said that once his team gets into the feeling they can be pretty dangerous.

After the game was over the lady raiders auctioned off their jerseys to raise money for breast cancer research. Last year the team raised $18,000 and are expected to exceed that amount.

Lisa Leslie announces retirement after 2009 season

L.A. Sparks all-star Lisa Leslie, 36, has had many career achievements, including being the first female to ever dunk in the WNBA. She is a fantastic player and the No. 1 draft pick of the first WNBA draft.

Knowing all of her accomplishes and what she has brought to the game, it is hard for her fans to let her retire.

In 2008, I went to Atlanta, GA. to watch Leslie and Candace Parker take on the Atlanta Dream. Even after giving birth to a baby girl, Leslie didn't miss a beat. She was grabbing rebounds and allowing the ball to roll off her finger tips for shot after shot. It was an amazing game to watch.

One year later, Leslie announced that she will be retiring at the end of the 2009 season. While I imagine this is hard for Leslie, it must be incredibly difficult for the L.A. Sparks, who are going to be losing the best athlete in the WNBA.

With Leslie gone, the Sparks will most likely turn to second year Parker to fill her shoes. Parker was the first pick in the 2008 draft and was the first player to win both the MVP and Rookie of the Year Award.

Whatever the case, Leslie is the face for the Women's National Basketball Association and will continue to shine on with her career highlights and mind blowing achievements.

Vanderbilt defeats Georgia in 'Pink Zone'

Vanderbilt commodore fans were on their feet today cheering as the women's basketball team steamrolled Georgia with back-to-back baskets down the stretch and 9-20 3 pointers. Vandy won 80-64.

The theme Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn. today was "Pink Zone/Think Pink" to raise awareness and money for breast cancer.

Throughout the first half, there were a significant number of lead changes, and one tie, 24 up, with 2:36 to go. Vandy's Jessica Mooney definitely made the play for this team with an assist, steal and layup down the court that allowed Vanderbilt to take the lead. Vandy led by five points at halftime.

Starting out the second half, Georgia tried to come strong with a basket from Christy Marshall, but could not match the intensity of Vandy's Tuomi Hannah. Hannah ended up with 10 points.

Mooney only had 4 points but made the last two shots of the game on the foul line.

Photo: Georgia head coach Andy Landers hangs his head after another disappointing play. This picture is not taken from today's game against Vanderbilt.

Lebron James to compete in 2010 dunk contest

Tonight I had the pleasure of watching Nate Robinson hang on the rim after completing an amazing dunk from the left corner.

Following this, Dwight Howard soared through the air and forced the basketball through the net. From a distance it looked like this man was flying.

Afterwards, both Robinson and Howard got together to do an impressive dunk. Howard put on a red Superman cape and stood in front of Robinson at the rim. Robinson ran from the half court mark and jumped over Howard for the dunk.

Lebron James, who was watching from the audience, announced tonight that he would be competing in the 2010 dunk championships.

No. 4 Dukes falls to No. 8 North Carolina

Without the talent of Lindsey Harding, Alison Bales and former head coach Gail Goestenkor, Duke seems to be struggling. Even though it still has the leadership of Abby Waner, who played alongside Harding and Bales, the team is lacking an important element.

Then again Duke is ranked No. 4 in the country this year, which is why fans have been scratching their heads wondering why they fell to No. 8 North Carolina on Monday in Chapel Hill.

When these two teams compete there is always rivalry, but it looks like Duke pretty much handed the win to the Tarheels. Chante Black, who has stepped into Bales shoes, led Duke with 13 points. Following her, Abby Waner and Jasmine Thomas had a collective total of 22 points.

On the other side of the court, Rashanda McCants had 22 points alone. And even though North Carolina led in rebounds with 4, the number for both teams was significantly low. I just hope that these new players can unite their teams together and start playing at a national level again.

Alysha Clark breaks MTSU scoring record

On Wednesday, Feb. 11 Junior forward Alysha Clark set the Middle Tennessee State University single game scoring record with 50 points against Troy.

Clark went 20 out of 28 under the basket, and 10 for 11 at the free throw line. She had 9 rebounds and shot 71 percent from the field.

MT defeated Troy 75-60. They now will move on to face North Texas Sunday, Feb. 15 in the Murphy Center.

This game will have a Pink Zone theme, where the lady raiders will auction off their jerseys after the game. Money raised by the auction will be donated to fund cancer research in honor of N.C. State women's basketball head coach Kay Yowe, who died last month of cancer complications.

Photo by Alex Blackwelder