Death of March Madness

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!

Lady Vols unable to tie score at end against LSU

The Lady Vols trailed the entire game against LSU and despite making a comeback, they were unable to tie the score with 7.9 seconds left on the game clock.

LSU's Katherine Graham made two free throws, bringing the score to 63-61. After the free throws, the Vols tried to get the ball down the court but freshman forward Glory Johnson got tied up under the goal, letting the seconds run down on the clock.

LSU's Allison Hightower led her team in scoring with 14 points, while sophomore guard Lady Vol Angie Bjorklund scored 21 points.

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.