Women's Hoops Guru

By Mel Greenberg

Greetings everyone. Feel free to look at anything you missed the last couple of days.

The Guru's technological center has undergone a major upgrade in the last 24 hours with the purchase of a new state-of-the-art laptop because of problems concerning the one that's served us the last several seasons.

Think like the ignition isn't turning the car motor on. -- it's a hardware issue -- all software is safe.

In fact, the previous unit got jealous immediately and startedwhen we got home from Rutgers, allowing us to begin grabbing favorites, programs and other data, including the vast music collection, and move it on to an externa hard drive to place in the new unit -- yeah, web cam, entertainment center, all the bells and whistles not counting a blue ray dvd that won't play commercial blue ray dvds.

This will avoid to emergency write-with-the-blackberry rescue effort we used during recent games at Rutgers and other local schools. And the laptop will additionally serve the troops well on the road with its entertainment functions.

We've also been figuring out the five-thousand tie situations involving our local la salle team's ability to survive to advance to the A-10 tournament.

We broke the new laptop in with Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer getting her 800th win, working on the fly with total inexperience using windows vista.

Fortunately, Stephen was on hand with enough knowledge to get the Guru operational.

So, we'll be back later in the day or sometime Friday night with the usual and more concerning the NCAA projections, etc.

By the way, as the crowd was busy chanting C.V.S. after Stringer's achievement the Guru thought the scene would have made a nice TV ad for the other nationwide pharmaceutical operation with similar initials.

-- Mel

-- Mel

(Guru's note: Our preview of Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer's first opportunity to collect career victory No. 800 Wednesday night is over at philly.com in the printed sports section of The Inquirer. Stephen was on the scene on campus Tuesday when the Women's Basketball Hall of Famer chatted with the media in Piscataway, N.J. His report follows here. We'll be on hand Wednesday night. --Mel)

By Stephen K. Lee

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – As she prepares for Rutgers’ game against DePaul on Wednesday, head coach C. Vivian Stringer has only one thing on her mind.

And it’s not win No. 800.

Following Tuesday’s practice, the Hall of Fame coach spoke to the media and flipped through three multi-page packets of notes that she’s crafted to ready the No. 4 Scarlet Knights (22-4, 12-1 Big East) for the visiting Blue Demons (18-8, 7-6).

“It’s that important,” Stinger says while pointing to papers that look like study guides for a calculus test instead of a basketball coach’s practice notes. “What I’m trying to say is I’m not going to the mall, I’m not getting sleep. I know that we need to pay great attention. I’m greatly concerned because this is like Villanova but much more athletic.”

For Stringer, who’s in her 37th year of coaching, milestones like her 800th win are overshadowed more by the task at hand. She prefers the benchmark pass quietly without a lot of fanfare.

“I don’t want to lose – not because of the 800,” she continues. “I think there have been plenty of coaches that have had the delay, delay, delay. Before the end of the year, we’re going to win 800, so what’s the big deal?”

“We need to (beat DePaul) because we need to demonstrate to ourselves that we can: 1. play zones, 2. we can play man-to-man defense.”

However, all of the buildup for No. 800 has given Stringer an opportunity to reflect upon how blessed she’s been to do a job she loves.

“I’m aware of Bob Knight and Pat Summitt and Jody Conradt,” she says referring to the man who notched his 900th win on the men’s side last month and the two women who currently reside in the 800 and 900 clubs in the women’s game. “I don’t even think about the 800. Sometimes I get confused and say, ‘Is it 700 or is it 800?’ I really do because no one starts off trying to achieve a number.

“I feel very fortunate because I get excited every day coming to practice. But if someone were to have told me, gee, I’m going to be coaching for 30-something years – that’s a job and I don’ t want to think of it that way.”

In fact, Stringer didn’t think of coaching women’s basketball as a job when she started the 37-year journey that’s taken her to four Final Fours with three different schools.

“I think that when I first started coaching at Cheyney (in the Philadelphia suburbs) – keep in mind that I never planned to coach,” she says. “I always wanted to play, but I just wanted to be a gym teacher.”

Stringer says that she initially envisioned coaching as “boring.” But, after realizing that there wasn’t a league for her to play in back in those days, she later changed her tune when she worked as a graduate assistant while pursuing her master’s degree.

“I wanted to say to my coach sometimes, ‘Why don’t we do this, why don’t we do that?’”

In 1971, Stringer, still in her early twenties, took the head coaching job at Cheyney, a small African-American school, where she got her first taste of how rewarding the occupation can be.

“I can honestly say I don’t even remember the first win,” she says. “But what I do remember is that I felt really worthwhile because it looked to me that those girls…I gave them pride in themselves.”

Stringer later built Cheyney into an early power in women’s basketball before continuing her work at Iowa and Rutgers.

Three of Stringer’s current players (Matee Ajavon, Essence Carson and Katie Adams) witnessed her 700th win when they were freshmen and they are happy to help her make history once again.

“I think it’s a good accomplishment for Coach Stringer,” says Ajavon before recalling her fondest memory of win No. 700.

“I just remember lifting Coach Stringer up and being happy for her and Mariota (Theodoris) holding her on top of her shoulder. So it was a great day.”

Adams shares similar sentiments about her coach.

“She never ceases to amaze me.”

By Mel Greenberg

Connecticut took care of its business Monday night with a win at LSU and by doing so virtually assured itself a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament field. Maya Moore, by her performance, perhaps put away all the national freshman of the year honors, also.

If the outcome had gone the other way, a lot of "ifs," would have entered into play and LSU would have taken another step into the mix.

But with just one or maybe two games against Rutgers left, as long as the Huskies do what's expected -- losses to Rutgers wouldn't be fatal -- UConn appears to be in a "lock" state along with Tennessee.

What losses to Rutgers would do, is cause discussion on which team would be the higher No. 1 seed. The Huskies helped the Scarlet Knights' bid for a No. 1 also.

With a head-to-head win over LSU and the Tigers' loss to UConn, Rutgers wins that discussion.

In looking at Rutgers' case, coach C. Vivian Stringer's team compares favorably against Maryland and North Carolina, who will fight it out in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the remaining No. 1 slot.

The Scarlet Knights compare favorably at the moment against either team based on the data in the Nitty Gritty component simulations.

Atlhough Maryland currently has an RPI ranking one notch higher, the reason is the Terrapins played more games courtesy of the preseason NIT that gave the Terrapins extra wins. Rutgers still has a stronger strength of schedule.

That opponents will get even more stronger with games against DePaul, Syracuse, and Connecticut just ahead. There's also the head-to-head win against Maryland.

Now with that said, Rutgers still needs to win the games not involving the Huskies or otherwise the injury situation will become more dominant in committee deliberations.

Now with that said, here's another update on how the bubble list is shaping up. Even though some teams in the "discussion," column we would take quickly, we know that's where they will land. Fortunately for most of them, our count shows that not many would have to be eliminated to make the field. Some teams could still find their way on and out of the list as we go through the next several weeks.

Incidentally, in a note of trivia, Ohio State's loss to Indiana assures that the regular season Big Ten champion will have the most losses ever in the history of the conference at five.

Here's the lock and discussion list. In some games we're projecting names of conference winners in what will be one-bid situations. If some get upset, they will certainly enter the discussion group, such as Marist, which earned its first ever AP ranking on Monday. In a few situations, a conference race is so murky, we're unable to project a winner and will just name the slot.

The Locks

Total -- 50

North Carolina
Maryland
Duke
Virginia
America East winner -- Hartford
George Washington
Atlantic Sun winner -- ETSU
Baylor
Oklahoma
Kansas St.
Oklahoma St.
Texas A&M
Connecticut
Rutgers
West Virginia
Notre Dame
Syracuse
Louisville
Pittsburgh
Big Sky winner -- Montana
Big South winner -- Liberty
Ohio State
Big West winner -- UCSB
Old Dominion
C-USA winner -- UTEP
Horizon winner -- Wis.-Green Bay
Ivy winner -- Cornell
MAAC winner -- Marist
Mid-American winner
MEAC winner -- N. Car. A&T
Missouri Valley winner -- Illinois St.
Utah
Wyoming
Northeast winner
Ohio Valley winner -- SE Missouri
Stanford
California
Arizona St.
Patriot winner
LSU
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Georgia
Southern winner -- Chattanooga
Southland winner
Summit winner
Sun Belt winner -- Western Kentucky
SWAC winner
Western Athletic winner -- Fresno or Boise St.
West Coast winner -- Gonzaga

"Discussion" group -- 16 for 14 vacancies

Georgia Tech
Florida St.
Boston College
Xavier
Temple
Nebraska
Iowa State
Texas
DePaul
Iowa
Minnesota
Michigan
SMU
TCU
Southern Cal
Auburn

(Guru's Note: In light of recent "events" in Knoxville, this is how the Big Sky handled a men's situation on Monday also involving errors by officials and the game clock at the end of regulation. This is straight off the AP wire, but the Guru believes it would enlighten the readership.)

Big Sky suspends three basketball officials

ASSOCIATED PRESS

HELENA, Mont. — The Big Sky Conference suspended three officials for their incorrect ruling in the Montana-Idaho State last weekend, commissioner Doug Fullerton said Monday.

Eric Curry, Bob Scofield and Scott Harris will be suspended for one game each.

In Sunday game at Pocatello, Idaho, the score was tied at 58 in the final second when a Montana player called for a timeout after securing a rebound.

According to a statement from the conference, television replays confirmed the timeout was recognized by the officials before the final horn.

The statement said Montana had used its allotment of timeouts and should have been called for a technical foul, awarding Idaho State two free throw attempts with time still on the clock.

After the technical foul shots, Montana should have taken possession, the statement said.

Instead, the officials ruled that the timeout was recognized simultaneously with the final horn.

Curry, the head official, made the incorrect call, said Jon Kasper, director of media relations for the Big Sky. However, the game was televised, so all three officials had the option to use replay to determine how much time remained when the timeout was recognized.

They chose not to review the play, and Montana went on to win the game 73-62 in overtime.

“We give officials great flexibility to interpret plays within the rules,” Fullerton said. “We never allow officials to set aside a rule. We’re not sure whether the game would have ended on the free throw line, but Idaho State should have been given that opportunity.”

Reached at his office in Minneapolis on Monday, Curry declined to comment.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee does not recognize or allow protests, so the outcome of the game will not change, the statement said.

By Mel Greenberg

Unlike the recent controversy involving a "frozen clock" in Knoxville that affected the outcome of the Tennessee-Rutgers game on Feb. 11, or the historic decision made in 1995 involving the famed Tennessee-Connecticut game, time won't stand still the next several weeks to keep the Associated Press women's poll and the calendar in synch with each other.

The way the flow of the weekly balloting occurs, all votes from the nationwide media panel are submitted late Sunday night or very early Monday morning and then the tally is publicly released a few hours later in the afternoon for what was originally intended to be targeted toward Tuesday morning print editions.

Before the instant access provided through the internet, this was rarely a problem in terms of reflecting the previous seven days' action. A week ago, the vote was already being dissected in collegiate messenger boards since the tallies are now published at an AP web site.

In 1995, however, on Jan. 16, the flow of the season evolved that Tennessee, ranked No. 1, was scheduled to visit No. 2 Connecticut in the afternoon.

The question arose, if the Huskies pull an upset, it might appear somewhat weird in the early evening to claim Tennessee had maintained its hold on the top of the list when the "reality" would be that the Vols had been dispatched.

Thus, because of the hour the game was scheduled, the voting deadline was "frozen" to await the outcome.It was a simple move to make. Few games were scheduled elsewhere and none of them had any bearing on that week's vote.

Connecticut, as its well known by now, pulled its upset to earn its first No. 1 appearance, which became official that Monday night.

Well, the Huskies are still with us and are still in play involving the penthouse.

They are also part of another quirk that has developed.

In all likelihood, Connecticut will hold on to its No. 1 ranking when this week's vote is announced in the early afternoon hours. But Monday night in Baton Rouge, La., the Huskies will visit LSU, a team quite capable of upsetting the Huskies. Senior post star Sylvia Fowles and company proved as much with the Valentine's Day rally over Tennessee in Knoxville that returned Connecticut to the top.

If Connecticut wins, the situation is unaffected. If the Tigers win, it's another story.

But in this world of instant access, the poll results will already be old news in most places when the teams take the floor. And because of the hour involved and other games scheduled elsewhere, it's too complex to hold up the vote.

The coaches' poll, which operates on a Tuesday ballot submission, won't be affected.

Even more important than the weekly vote, this is another key game involving the tight race for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA women's tournament 64-team field. Connecticut, despite season-ending injuries to Kalana Greene and Mel Thomas, has continued forward for the most part to be considered a "lock" at this early Monday hour the Guru's fingers are hitting the keyboard to write this post.

But a loss begins to dislodge the stability, especially if LSU runs the table and beats Tennessee again or wins the Southeastern Conference tournament, any way, because someone else did the Tigers' dirty work.

A week from now, a similar situation will occur when Rutgers, also in the hunt for a No. 1, also affected by injuries, visits the Huskies on the final day of the Big East regular season. The Scarlet Knights have already won the first meeting.

Again, the vote will be announced Monday afternoon with the game in Connecticut to be played Monday night.

Cornell Heading Into Ivy Showdown

The Big Red's history-making season in the Ivy League has arrived at its most important stop this weekend when coach Danya Smith's team will visit Dartmouth, Friday night, and Harvard on Saturday.

Guided by the former Penn assistant, Cornell, at 17-6 overall and 9-1 in the league, leads the Big Green by two games and the Crimson by a game and already swept both schools at home earlier.

Thus another sweep with only one more weekend to go, afterwards, would minimally clinch a tie as the Big Red seek their first crown.

Already, after Saturday's 65-41 win at Brown, Cornell set program marks for conference wins in a season (9) and extended its win streak to eight games, breaking a 33-year old program record for consecutive games won. The overall record is also a best-ever.

Texas A&M's Blair Celebrates a "Vintage" Career

When Texas A&M coach Gary Blair celebrated his 500th career win last week, having guided three different programs at Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas, and his current one into national rankings, he posed an interesting question for researchers to pursue.

"I was hired at age 39 but didn't get my first win until after my 40th birthday," Blair related.

"So I'm wondering how many coaches in either the women's game or men's game, who have won 500, have gotten them all them after turning 40."

Quiet Monday?

The Inquirer sports department print section on Saturday noted that it could be the first time in quite a while that no Big Five men's team has made it to the NCAA tournament.

That caused a question to be posed to the Guru the last time it happened on the women's side of the fence.

Temple is the only local team that has a chance to earn an at-large slot if an automatic bid doesn't come via conference championship.

The last time the Big Five women were shut out was in the 1997-98 season

Drexel Seeking to Tame Tigers

The Dragons, the surprise team of the Colonial Athletic Association in a three-way tie for third, have an important game Thursday night when Towson visits the Daskalalis Athletic Center.

Drexel took its turn Sunday getting a dose of CAA-unbeaten Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va.

The Dragons (15-11, 10-5 CAA) are currently knotted with the Tigers and Va. Commonwealth, two games behind second-place James Madison, who Drexel recently upset, and three in front of sixth-place UNC Wilmington.

The first four teams will get a bye in next month's conference tournament at Delaware in Newark.

VCU, which edged Drexel, 65-61, on Feb. 10, will finish out hosting JMU, which it already upset 61-60, on the road, Delaware, and visiting William & Mary.

Towson will host Georgia State and Delaware after Drexel.

The Dragons will host George Mason and go to Georgia State after the Towson game.

Villanova Seeking Return to the Big East

After missing the Big East tournament for the first time in quite a while a year ago, the improved Villanova Wildcats are in a three-way tie for 10th in the loss column.

Only 12 qualify, athough next year all 16 teams will be included. Coach Harry Perretta's group is a game ahead of Seton Hall and South Florida.

Georgetown, whom the Wildcats have beaten, travel to Pittsburgh and Syracuse, while hosting Providence. St. John's, whom the Wildcats have also beaten, hosts Seton Hall, travel to Cincinnati, and host Notre Dame.

Villanova will host Marquette Saturday and travel to Louisville next Monday.

Seton Hall travels to St. Joihn's, but will host Notre Dame and DePaul, while South Florida will go to Notre Dame and Marquette, while hosting Pittsburgh.

Stringer, the Authoress

The Guru received an advance copy over the weekend of Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer's new memoir, "Standing Tall."

While quckly thumbing the pages, the Guru stumbled into an account of Stringer's final game at Cheyney when the No. 1 seeded Wolves were upset at Penn State by the host Nittany Lions in a regional semifinal in 1983 before she moved on to Iowa.

The Guru recently went on a research expedition before producing what occurred in the final moments of that game, which we recently posted.

Stringer, who will be going after career win No. 800 Wednesday night when DePaul visits, had asked the Guru to recall that 61-60 game during the postgame press conference in Knoxville after the Scarlet Knights had been deprived at the finish of an apparent victory due to a time freeze that allowed the Vols to get to the free throw line.

As it turns out, she could have saved the Guru effort by noting she's got the Penn State situation covered in detail in her book.

Since we already provided media accounts, here's her viewpoint, which will reveal that times don't really change over the years.

"...It made no sense we had to play at Penn State, because we were the higher seed, but we were used to it by then," Stringer writes.

"In the final minute of the game, we were set to win. We were down by one, but the ball was taken out of bounds, in our possession, under our basket, and we knew exactly what we had to do. They had no choice but to foul us, and we'd win the game.

"But that wasn't what happened. They knocked her down while she was trying to take the shot to win the game, but the foul never came. I can still see Debra Walker going up and falling down, whith no call, and then going up again, and getting knocked down again -- and the referee running off the floor.

"The whole crowd went completely silent. You could feel the collective shame of everyone who sat there. I've never seen anything like it. If you'd said something in a regular conversational tone, you would have heard it at the very top of the stands."

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA _ George Washington’s Antelia Parrish was elsewhere a year ago in junior college when St. Joseph’s shocked the Colonials in the semifinals of the Atlantic Ten tournament in Cincinnati.

On Sunday afternoon, however, the former J.C. All-American put away the Hawks with a pair of three-pointers in the final two minutes to give No. 17 GW a 61-53 victory at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

The victory kept the Colonials (22-5, 10-2) in a three-way tie atop the Atlantic Ten standings with Temple and Xavier going into the final week of conference play.

Temple (17-11), the only city team wil a chance at the NCAA tournament, will go to St. Louis, Wednesday, and host Massachusetts, Saturday.

Xavier (20-7) will be looking for revenge Wednesday when the Musketeers host Dayton, which recently beat them. They will will then travel to St. Bonaventure, Saturday.

The Colonials, the only A-10 team seemingly assured an NCAA bid without needing the automatic bid through the conference tournament, will travel to Richmond, Wednesday, and then host winless Fordham, Saturday.

If the Rams lose to Charlotte, Wednesday, the Colonials can end Fordham's misery at 0-29, which would be a record.

In Sunday's game, George Washington’s Jessica Adair scored 20 points, while freshman Sarah Acker had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Hawks (14-13, 6-6). Timisha Gomez and Amy Wold each added 10 points.

The game was closely fought most of the way. The Hawks trailed, 52-50, with 2 minutes, 8 seconds left in the game when Gomez missed a three-point attempt.

Whitney Allen grabbed the loose rebound and Parrish connected with her first trey. Wold countered with a similar shot, but Parrish nailed another three-pointer for a 58-53 lead with 1:17 left.

“We missed a defensive assignment,” St. Joseph’s coach Cindy Griffin said of Parrish’s heroics. “Some of us thought we were in man-to-man coverage and some of us thought we were in a zone.

"That’s a disappointing thing in Game 27, but it’s correctable.” Griffin explained.

Just under the 18-minute mark of the second half with St. Joseph’s holding a one-point lead, Colonials coach Joe McKeown removed all his starters for the next four minutes.

“We were flat and I thought (the substitutes) came in and gave us great energy, that was really important for us,” said Joe McKeown, a Father Judge grad.

Lin Dunn, the new coach of the WNBA Indiana Fever, made a visit here to look at GW senior guard Kimberly Beck, who struggled on a 2--for-8 effort from the field, scoring nine points and dealing five assists.

"She's such a leader, she still gaves us big plays when we needed them," McKeown said.

A large contingent of Colonials fans made the trip from Washington.

"It felt like a home game," Beck said.

They'll be back in a few weeks when the Hawks host the Atlantic Ten tournament.

McKeown went 2-1 in his native city, beating Villanova in a nonconference tilt in December and St. Joseph's, while losing at Temple.

Meanwhile, in a surprise pre-game ceremony, St. Joseph’s retired the number of assistant coach Sue Moran, one of the all-time players in the program’s history, Her No. 10 was unveiled alongside the only other Hawk women's star of the past who has been given the honor _ Dale Hodges.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA _ Temple was up a point and minus an assistant coach even before the clock started ticking in the Owls’ Atlantic Ten contest Saturday against winless Fordham yesterday at the Liacouras Center.

The Rams (0-27, 0-12) were assessed a technical foul for not providing the starting lineup in time.

Darius Taylor, a former Michigan co-captain who has been on Dawn Staley’s staff for four seasons, left Friday for a job at NBA headquarters in New York.

Temple (17-11, 10-2), in a three-way fight with Xavier and George Washington atop the conference, shook off a slow start and went on to a 65-48 victory with two games left in the regular season.

Lady Comfort had 12 points for the Owls, while Shanea Cotton and LaKeisha Eaddy each scored 10.

Annie Zopf had 16 points for Fordham and Meghan Mahoney scored 13 points.

Staley praised Fordham’s effort despite the Rams’ record.

“You couldn’t tell by the intangible categories,” Staley said. “They were still hustling, they were still getting loose balls, they were still going after offensive rebounds.

“When a team plays as hard as they played, they make you play harder. I was glad our reserves played with the same amount of intensity and energy.”

The Rams, who are coached by Cathy Andruzzi, could tie Centennary’s futility record of 0-28 when they host Charlotte on Wednesday. They’ll finish the season Saturday at George Washington. Fordham has been eliminated from qualifying for next month’s conference tournament at St. Joseph’s.

Andruzzi ran the local organizing committee here in 2000 when Philadelphia hosted the NCAA Women’s Final Four. That’s the same season Centennary set the dubious record.

She was also the general manager of the Philadelphia Rage in the former American Basketball League when Staley played for the team in 1997-98. Temple assistant Lisa Boyer was the head coach.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

As the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day."

Conversely, the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks were deconstructed in a summer and are about the reap the reward for futility.

Last season's implosion of the once-champion women's outfit in Tinseltown is but one of the many elements leading to the impending arrival of Tennessee superstar Candace Parker.

The Vols' multi-faceted all-American announced Thursday she will bypass her senior season to play in the WNBA and on this summer's Olympic squad in Bejing.

Los Angeles owns the No. 1 draft pick. Unless the Sparks are willing to listen to an offer from the Chicago Sky, which is willing to provide the No. 2 pick along with the Sears and Hancock towers, neither of which ever played in the WNBA, coach Michael Cooper will be using the phrase "no deal," until the moment a day after the NCAA title game to exercise his prized possession.

"Candace Parker is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and Magic Johnson all rolled into one, that's how good she is," Cooper told the Chicago Tribune, alluding to the NBA Los Angeles Lakers' contributions to the all-time greats to basketball.

Curiously, Sparks center Lisa Leslie and the retired Chamique Holdsclaw -- two WNBA all-stars we'll get to in a little bit -- weren't mention.

But then Cooper was simply rebutting the Tribune description of its native women's star, who, on the Sky would be frequently compared to one Michael Jordan, who made the NBA Chicago Bulls a perennial power.

Incidentally, Parker, who is from Naperville, Ill., near Chicago, could stay put in her winter home in the Thompson-Bolling Arena in Knoxville to pursue her Olympic intentions and go for the gold.

She played with the national team last summer before returning to the Vols. Indeed,Oklahoma junior center Courtney Paris did likewise and has an outside shot at making the Olympic roster.

On the other hand, to not leave Tennessee now would be to risk that the prize behind door No. 1 in next season's WNBA auction might be a summer in -- well, let's leave that for the 2008 final standings to reveal a clue to that answer.

Much has gone into the impending signature moment in the Sparks' 12-year history: romance, disgruntlement, injury, a reluctance to dwell in desert heat, a cameo in this tale by the revitalized San Antonio Silver Stars, and, most important, the Minnesota Lynx's sudden attack of amnesia in the final weekend of last season. That's when the team suddenly forgot how to lose.

Now, as they say in RPI talk, let's look at the Nitty Gritty components leading to Thursday's announcement.

Injury: Parker missed her freshman season after having surgery to repair a torn knee ligament. Had she played, she would be a senior in eligibility, Thus, under WNBA rules she has the option of waiting one more season or turning pro now -- a move not unprecedented.

Tweety Nolan did such a thing leaving Georgia several years ago and helped Detroit Shock coach Bill Laimbeer to a pair of WNBA titles. In fact, he has become such a personality in the women's pro league, that a new generation has come along with no recollection of him as a member of the Detroit Pistons "Bad Boy" era that won several NBA titles.

Actually, his former coach Chuck Daly voiced similar sentiments about Laimbeer last September at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. One of the honorees was former WNBA and women's Olympic coach Van Chancellor, now at LSU.

"Bill's going to get in here, too -- but it's not going to be for anything he ever did for me," Daly, himself a Hall of Famer, quipped.

Parker, who excels in the classroom as much as she does on the floor, was far enough ahead in her studies, she could have actually chose to leave Tennessee a year ago after the Vols won their seventh title, snapping a 10-year drought.

The Phoenix Mercury held the No. 1 pick, but Parker chose to have the best of both worlds -- play with the pros during the summer in USA Basketball competition, and return for a run at another NCAA title.

With Parker unavailable, the Mercury took Duke's Lindsey Harding as the No. 1 pick and promptly dealt her to Minnesota, which had previously collected two No. 1s on their own.

Had the Tennessee all-American decided to go with Phoenix, the Mercury would have been prohibitive favorites to win their first WNBA title.

Come to think of it, two of Parker's USA summer pals helped acquire the trophy without her -- Rutgers alum Cappie Pondexter and Connecticut grad Diana Taurasi. They were guided by WNBA carpetbagger Paul Westhead, who produced the run-and-hit concept. The Mercury were speed demons on the court, but he personally was unable to acquire more cash -- no, not Swin -- and returned to the NBA as an assistant in Seattle.

Romance: This would be multiple MVP winner Lisa Leslie's department.

One of the all time centers in the women's game, the former Southern Cal star, who has been with the Sparks since their outset in 1997, married several years ago and learned prior to last season that early-round draft options can also result in pregnancy.

That meant time off, causing the Sparks to discover new levels. Unfortunately, they were discovered on a downward path.

Disgruntlement. With Leslie gone from the scene, Sparks fans still had hopes because of the presence of Chamique Holdslcaw, Parker's predecessor at Tennessee in the late 1990s who has since been sort of eclipsed by Parker's play in Knoxville.

On July 11, three days before Tennessee coach Pat Summitt's birthday, Los Angeles suddenly announced that Holdsclaw had decided to retire. The result was an immediate dive toward the bottom of the WNBA, with the Sparks plunging 3-12 the rest of the way to improve their chances to acquire the top pick.

Still, it took a little help from Minnesota to enhance the Spark's chances, because the Lynx were able to use such events as Harding's ACL to stay below sea level.

Lotto Dynamics: While a three-way race for the No. 1 seed in the WNBA West playoffs was being contested among the Sacramento Monarchs, San Antonio Silver Stars, and Phoenix, few noticed, except persons with occasional half-baked senses of humor such as the Guru, that real contest for future wealth was being fought at the bottom of the standings.

Minnesota went into anti-choke mode, winning three of the Lynx's final five games. After beating playoff-bound Seattle, 95-74, the Lynx quickly snapped out of their spell, losing to Los Angeles, 89-80, on Aug. 12.

That created a 2-2 tie in head-to-head competition in what had become a two-team race to become the worst of the worst.

Thus, if Minnesota and L.A. frinished with exact records, the first tie-breaker had become unoperable.

Lynx fans had to be thrilled on Aug. 14 when Minnesota fell at Seattle 81-67.

But on the same night, San Antonio, still pushing for tops in the West, beat Los Angeles, 84-77, in overtime.

The Lynx's once-solid last-place locale was being threatened by the Sparks, who were two games away.

When Los Angeles hands out thanks after the pick of Parker become official, nods should be made in the direction of playoff-bound Detroit and San Antonio, which didn't need to use the regulars much on the final weekend.

The result was Minnesota's 87-77 victory over the Shock and 81-55 triumph over San Antonio.

Meanwhile, that "thud" outside the Lynx's door was none other than the Sparks themselves, which lost at Seattle, 97-77, and Houston, 82-72.

Final records at the bottom of the West: Minnesota - 10-24; Los Angeles - 10-24.

Chicago was a distant third-worst at 14-20. The Sky performed all summer with the notion that second-year franchises can become contenders with such blossoming young talent as former Temple star Candice Dupree.

The San Antonio factor: Now, in terms of which of the two - Los Angelesor Minnesota - would be allowed a better shot at the draft lottery balls, the tie-break went to worst holder of in-conference won-loss records.

That result: Los Angeles - 6-16. Minnesota 8-14. The Sparks went 1-10 their final games against West teams. Minnesota was 4-7.

The Sparks also owe some thanks to the Connecticut Sun, which lost a double overtime game at Minnesota, 77-73, on June 13.A Lynx win that day is one to remember in terms of affecting the lotto ball action, although who knows what Parker's thoughts would have been if Minnesota emerged with the No. 1 pick.

Another factor was San Antonio's season 3-0 sweep of Los Angeles, while Minnesota went 2-1 against the Silver Stars. San Antonio coach Dan Hughes, incidentally, has held No. 1 picks when he headed the former Cleveland franchise.

Minnesota was also 2-2 against Seattle, while Los Angeles was 0-4.

All that remained was the luck of the lotto ball and Parker's announcement, the second of which occurred Thursday

Still, Minnesota, holding the No. 3 pick, will draw some attention the next few weeks with the Lynx's draft day move the first bit of suspense right now.

Chicago, failing to gain No. 1, had publicly indicated that if the Sky can't get Parker, they will be quite contented to take LSU's Sylvia Fowles at No. 2.

Click her on the jump to read Dawn Staley's reaction.

(Guru's Note: Here's the Associated Press story)

By Beth Rucker
Associated Press Writer

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Candace Parker, the Tennessee All-America forward who made dunking in women’s basketball almost commonplace, ended all the speculation.

Parker, the first woman to win a national slam dunk contest, will skip her final season at Tennessee for the chance to play professionally.

“This was the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make, but my family and I think this is the best choice for me,” Parker said Wednesday.

“I’ve been blessed with great coaches and teammates, an outstanding education and the best women’s basketball crowd support in the country. I will miss Tennessee, but I am eager to take this next step in my career.”

The redshirt junior will graduate at the end of this season and plans to participate in the summer Olympics and pursue a professional career, Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. Parker redshirted her freshman season to recover from surgeries to repair a torn knee ligament.

Parker will be honored as part of the third-ranked Lady Volunteers’ senior night activities before the Feb. 28 game against Florida.

“Obviously we’d love to have her another year,” Summitt said. “Who wouldn’t?”

The 6-foot-4 Naperville, Ill., native leads the team in scoring with 20.6 points per game and rebounds with 8.8 and is one of six women to have dunked in the college game.

Kara Lawson, a Sacramento Monarchs guard and former Lady Vols star, said Parker’s experience at Tennessee has prepared her to play at the professional level.

“Playing for coach Summitt, the opportunity to play with the players they have there, the tough non-conference schedule all gets you ready,” she said. “You look at the success of the players who have gone there and what they’ve done at the next level.”

In 2004 Parker beat five male competitors to win the slam dunk contest as part of the McDonald’s High School All-American Game.

Since then she has dunked seven times, becoming the first women’s player to go above the rim twice during a game and in a NCAA tournament game.

After leading the Lady Volunteers to their seventh national championship last season, Parker played with the U.S. national team during her summer break as the team earned its 2008 Olympic bid.

“Candace was ready for the pros two years ago,” U.S. team coach Anne Donovan said. “I think it’s an exciting day. Tennessee’s had her long enough.”

Parker also earned the women’s 2007 John R. Wooden Award.

Parker likely would go in the April WNBA draft as the top pick to the Los Angeles Sparks, which would give Parker the opportunity to play alongside Lisa Leslie and former teammates Sidney Spencer and Tye’sha Fluker. A spokesman for the Sparks declined to comment about Parker entering the draft.

Playing in Los Angeles would also put her just a few hours away from fiance Shelden Williams, who was traded Saturday from the Atlanta Hawks to the Sacramento Kings.

Donovan said Parker plays at a higher level whenever she’s around top-notch players such as Leslie.

“With Lisa coming back and Parker coming out that’s going to be a formidable combination for years to come,” she said. “I know L.A. is dancing in the streets right now.”

AP Sports Writer Doug Feinberg in New York contributed to this report.

(Guru's note: Information used in preview post is repeated here.)

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - In many ways it was appropriate that a point guard would transform into a scoring explosion in the final minutes of Temple's narrow 63-60 victory over St. Joseph's at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Wednesday night that made the Owls' Dawn Staley the winningest coach in the program's history.

That's exactly what former Central star Ashley Morris did to rally Temple (16-11, 9-2 Atlantic Ten) after the Owls trailed the Hawks, 60-54 with 2 minutes, 43 seconds left in the game.

Morris, who finished with 20 points, went on a personal 8-0 run that gave Temple the lead and eventual win in similar fashion to the playing days of Staley, who had a storied career at the position, beginning her at Dobbins Tech, continuing on at the University of Virginia, and then as an All-Star in the former American Basketball League and WNBA.

And let's not forget three Olympic gold medals for the USA Senior National Women's Team, of which she will be an assistant coach at the Beijing Games in China in August.

She retired from the WNBA after the Houston Comets were eliminated in the 2006 playoffs.

Staley’s record in eight seasons with the Owls is now 167-78, including five Big Five titles, four conference crowns and five NCAA appearances.

On Sunday, a win over Duquesne enabled Staley to tie the previous mark by former coach Linda MacDonald, who was 166-130 in 10 seasons through 1990.

The triumph completed a two-game sweep by narrow scores over the Hawks (14-12, 6-5) in the regular season and kept the Owls in a three-way deadlock with George Washington and Xavier on top of the Atlantic Ten.

Temple edged St. Joseph's, 70-67, on Jan. 30 at the Liacouras Center in the final minute on the way to an unprecedented fourth straight 4-0 sweep of the Big Five.

“I think they should start these games with one minute to go and save everyone the drama,” Staley quipped. “It was another typical game down to the wire.

“The last time they rallied and almost beat us. This time, we were behind and had to find a way to win the game.”

Until she finally blossomed this season, Morris spent most of the past three years finding it difficult to please Staley until the light clicked on when she led Temple to a win over Nebraska in a first-round NCAA game in Raleigh, N.C., in March.

Her latest heroics came on a night when La Salle senior Carlene Hightower, who is a leading contender for local player honors with Morris and Villanova's Laura Kurz, scored a career-high 32 points in the Explorers' win at Rhode Island.

Morris also got the job done in a venue she starred leading Central to Public League titles.

“She was made for these games,” Staley said. “I think she reverted to the times she played at St. Joseph’s for Central. She just willed us to win the game.”

The Hawks will also be the hosts in a few weeks for this season's Atlantic Ten tournament.

Morris' jumper brought the Owls within four at 60-56 with 2:33 to play.

St. Joseph's senior Timisha Gomez, who tied a career high with 21 points, missed a jumper and then Morris responded with a three-pointer to bring Temple to within a point at 60-59 with 1:41 left.

The Hawks, who have now lost 12 of their last 13 in the series with the Owls, most of which have gone to the wire, commited a turnover. Morris then nailed another trey with 1:18 left for a 62-60 lead.

Gomez missed a shot with 57 seconds left, and Temple's Shenita Landry got the rebound.

But then Morris committed a turnover with 33 seconds remaining.

Senior Lady Comfort, who had 10 points and 13 rebounds blocked another attempt by Gomez.with 19 seconds to go. St. Joseph's got the rebound but with the clock running down, freshman Sarah Acker launched an errant trey attempt and Temple got the rebound with five seconds left.

Comfort was fouled. She missed her first attempt at the line, but made the second to wrap up all the scoring on the night.

Junior transfer Shanea Cotton added 16 points to Temple’s total, while LaKeisha Eaddy scored 15 points.

Acker, the Atlantic Ten co-rookie of the week, was held to two points, while Brittany Ford and Ashley Logue scored 10 points each for the Hawks.

All three league leaders will be in town this weekend. St. Joseph's will host George Washington, Sunday at noon, while Xavier will be at La Salle, Saturday, at 1 p.m. The Explorers are fighting for one of the final playoff berths in the conference tournament.

Temple will host Fordham at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Rams lost to Xavier Wednesday night and at 0-26 are losses from tying the NCAA record for futility with three games left.

Also, as Staley gained one record, she's about to lose another at Virginia, where Sharnee Zoll is 16 assists awat from topping Staley's mark in the early 1990s with the Cavaliers.

Here's a recap of highlight wins under Staley, although a few potholes in terms of setbacks are also tossed into the narraitve for historical purposes.:

Nov. 17, 2000 Temple 89, Lehigh 55 -- First Game, First Win, First Home Win.
Nov. 27, 2000 Temple 74, (a) Rider 65 - First Road Win.
Dec. 9, 2000 Temple 80, Penn 64 - First Big Five Win
Jan. 5, 2001 Temple 84, (a) St.Bonaventure 64 - First Atlantic 10 Game, First A-10 Win
Jan. 9, 2001 Temple 69, Geo. Washington 62 - First A-10 Win Over Perennial A-10 Leader.
Mar, 3, 2001 Temple 76, La Salle 69 - First A-10 Tourn. Game, First A-10 Tourn. win.
Feb. 24, 2002 Temple 71, La Salle 61 - First Big Five title
Mar. 4, 2002 Temple 63, St. Joseph's 58 - First Atlantic Ten title (at Liacouras Center)
Mar. 16. 2002 (a) Iowa St. 72, Temple 57 - First NCAA game (a loss).
Nov. 29, 2002 Kansas St. 72, Temple 65 -- Loss to No. 2 Jayhawks in Stanford's tourney.
Dec. 28, 2003 (a) Virginia 72, Temple 71 - Loses to alma mater in first trip to Charlotteville.
Mar. 8, 2004 Temple 53, (a) St. Joseph's 48 - Second Atlantic Ten title.
Nov. 28, 2004 (a) Tennessee 52, Temple 48 - Narrow loss to No. 1 Vols in Knoxville.
Dec. 13, 2004 Temple 71, # 22 Rutgers 60 -- First win over AP-ranked team.
Jan. 23, 2005 Temple 82, (a) ESPN-#25 Richmond 62 - Owls' First AP Ranking Next Day.
Jan. 27, 2005 Temple 72, Geo. Wash. 64 - Key win on way to perfect A-10 regular season.
Feb. 27, 2005 Temple 69, (a) St. Joe. 46 - Second Big Five title.
Mar. 7, 2005 Temple 70, (a) Geo.Wash 62 - A-10 tournament win.
Mar. 20, 2005 Temple 66, La. Tech 61 - First-round and first NCAA win at Storrs, Ct. Owls' 25th straight overall.
Dec. 19, 2005 Temple 69, #17 Georgia 66, ovt. - First outside-area win over AP ranked team.
Jan. 19,. 2006 Temple 48, (a) #9 Rutgers 47 - Win Over Hightest Ranked Opponent.
Feb. 17, 2006 Temple 59, St. Joseph's 53 - Second straight Big Five title and third overall.
Mar. 6, 2006 Temple 59, Geo. Wash. 54 - A-10 tournament win at St. Joseph's.
Feb. 12, 2007 Temple 68, La Salle 55 - Third straight Big Five title and fourth overall.
Mar. 18, 2007 Temple 64, Nebraska 61 - NCAA first-round win at Raleigh, N.C.
Jan. 19, 2008 Temple 68, #13 Geo. Wash 66 - Key A-10 win over nationally-ranked rival.
Feb. 2, 2008 Temple 60, La Salle 55 -- 4th st. Big Five title and City Series streak at 18.
Feb. 20, 2008 Temple 63, (a) St. Joseph's 60 -- Staley becomes winningest coach at 167.

--Mel

By Mel Greenberg

Who would have believed that in the three years since the Guru started blogging in the late winter of 2005 that Tuesday's post attempting to explain how a fifth-place team in the Associated Press women's poll could get eight first-place votes would draw an all-time one-day Guru-post record number of hits (around 500), perhaps with a bounce off the site-links out there still ahead.

That's a little more than the Imus controversy, more than the Penn State coaching change, slightly more than the recent mock bracket coverage at NCAA headquarters, and several other events.

But after watching some of the reaction to the post -- and "hi" back to the Rutgers message board -- the Guru would like to clarify what was discussed in terms of the knowledge base.

Most seemed to understand the discussion, but a better analogy, since we've seen it used during the current presidential campaign season, is the sampling of 17 "experienced" voters the Guru used can be compared to the "super delegate" concept being tossed around in coverage of the Democratic race for the nomination.

Understand, this is not a bad voting board -- AP headquarters rarely has to chase votes down except when someone might get caught out of pocket in a travel situation.

And there are probably as many worthy reasons votes not used in the Guru's sample were cast the way they were.

The "super delegate" group individually tends to look at things nearly parallel to the NCAA committee, so a lot more attention is placed on strength of schedule, the season-to-date of one team in total body of work compared to another, and the head-to-head against ranked teams, as well as the not-successful efforts. Because we sort of get around, at least regionally, we're also usually on the phone talking to each other about the teams we've seen.

But also understand that from reading philsophies of voters in the men's poll, there are legitimate differences of opinion -- some go with the way a team is playing now and toss out early bad losses, some still use a bit of a punishment factor.

Each week in New York from AP headquarters, Doug Feinberg, who does not vote but counts the ballots and then interprets the result, sends out records and reports of the five teams who just missed the poll from the previous week to help create a pool of candidates beyond the regular "fared" report.

He also emails the how-they-fared so those away from access to the wire report in the home office can have that information in their hotel rooms. And every ten days or so, he and I look at ways to grow the knowledge base to make sure there's at least an awareness of what's out there as we get deeper in the season.

That said, there are other factors that have affected voting in this particular season.

On a given week, losses have not been plentiful in the lower portion of the poll to cause vacancies. And when vacancies occur, either six teams might each have a good case for selection -- thus blocking consensus for one -- or some weeks no one does. For example, as previously stated, it was tough to really jump teams into the top 10 this week because of losses from No. 11 through No. 16.

Another problem with the growth of the internet is a way needs to be found to streamline email information coming from the sports information directors.

Many keep all of us on one list forcing a lot of unecessary duplication besides choking our servers and preventing outbound replies until we can get on the publishing systems to store what we need in side folders.

Example, last week the NCAA warned us of the approaching deadline for Final Four credential applications. The NCAA also sent the note to the various conference media contacts, who in turn sent the note to their member schools, who all in turn sent the same note to us.

The Guru counted no less than 120 duplications in a four-hour period. The same thing happens with the various national awards. "Wooden" sends out the names on the watch list and then every school in the country sends out a national email if they have a candidate.

Then, there's the campaigning for rankings and postseason awards.

And if a particular league has a teleconference scheduled, their notification should be enough. Taking the "make-pretend-conference" (to keep real names out of this) as an example: if they send me an email, the only other email where duplication is understandable is those that come from my "local" team in that conference. And if that "local" team has me on a national list, that's understandable, although usually in this part of the world the SIDs are smart enough to put us on one or the other.

So, hopefully, this little discussion has enhanced the previous discussion. But keep the dialogue going. And, while there's been a lot of Rutgers topics here, understand, they are also one of my "local" teams besides being on my national watch list.

Ok, Voepel, wherever you are, it's your turn to explain what I just explained.

-- Mel
But we will find a way in this area to get to a common solution to make both sides happy.

And in a few days, the Guru is going to post a capsule list here of teams with decent records that may have been overlooked -- some with good reason, which is why the warts will be shown with the beauty marks in a capsule -- good loses, bad losses, rpi, strength of schedule, and a few other items.

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA _ In a sense, there's a sort of irony that Temple coach Dawn Staley's eight-year journey with the Owls would lead to Hawk Hill, where Wednesday night against arch-rival St. Joseph's her team will attempt to make her the winningest coach in Temple's history.

Some of Staley's memorable moments have occurred either at or against St. Joseph's in terms of Atlantic Ten tournament titles and Big Five wins.

Last month, The Owls escaped the Hawks at home in the Liacouras Center and went on to win at La Salle a few days later to become the first women's Big Five team to win four straight outright City Series titles with a 16-0 record.

Beyond the extra attention on Staley's record is the Atlantic Ten race in which Temple is currently locked in a three-way tie for first. St. Joseph's, meanwhile, has gone on to play some of its most consistent ball since the visit to the Owls.

Furthermore, the Hawks are probably getting tired of the long spell the Owls have held with an 11-1 record in the last 12 games of the series.

Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, the site of Wednesday night's game, will again be a host site in next month's Atlantic Ten tournament. The conference is looking to go off campus locales in the near future.

On Sunday, Staley tied former coach Linda Hill MacDonald, who coached the Owls from 1980-1990, in total wins. The former Virginia star in her eight seasons is 166-78, while Hill MacDonald was 166-130 in 10 seasons on North Broad St.

Also, as Staley attempts to grab one record, she's about to lose another at Virginia, where Sharnee Zoll is 16 assists awat from topping Staley's mark in the early 1990s with the Cavaliers.

Here's a recap of highlight wins under Staley, although a few potholes in terms of setbacks are also tossed into the narraitve for historical purposes.:

Nov. 17, 2000 Temple 89, Lehigh 55 -- First Game, First Win, First Home Win.
Nov. 27, 2000 Temple 74, (a) Rider 65 - First Road Win.
Dec. 9, 2000 Temple 80, Penn 64 - First Big Five Win
Jan. 5, 2001 Temple 84, (a) St.Bonaventure 64 - First Atlantic 10 Game, First A-10 Win
Jan. 9, 2001 Temple 69, Geo. Washington 62 - First A-10 Win Over Perennial A-10 Leader.
Mar, 3, 2001 Temple 76, La Salle 69 - First A-10 Tourn. Game, First A-10 Tourn. win.
Feb. 24, 2002 Temple 71, La Salle 61 - First Big Five title
Mar. 4, 2002 Temple 63, St. Joseph's 58 - First Atlantic Ten title (at Liacouras Center)
Mar. 16. 2002 (a) Iowa St. 72, Temple 57 - First NCAA game (a loss).
Nov. 29, 2002 Kansas St. 72, Temple 65 -- Loss to No. 2 Jayhawks in Stanford's tourney.
Dec. 28, 2003 (a) Virginia 72, Temple 71 - Loses to alma mater in first trip to Charlotteville.
Mar. 8, 2004 Temple 53, (a) St. Joseph's 48 - Second Atlantic Ten title.
Nov. 28, 2004 (a) Tennessee 52, Temple 48 - Narrow loss to No. 1 Vols in Knoxville.
Dec. 13, 2004 Temple 71, # 22 Rutgers 60 -- First win over AP-ranked team.
Jan. 23, 2005 Temple 82, (a) ESPN-#25 Richmond 62 - Owls' First AP Ranking Next Day.
Jan. 27, 2005 Temple 72, Geo. Wash. 64 - Key win on way to perfect A-10 regular season.
Feb. 27, 2005 Temple 69, (a) St. Joe. 46 - Second Big Five title.
Mar. 7, 2005 Temple 70, (a) Geo.Wash 62 - A-10 tournament win.
Mar. 20, 2005 Temple 66, La. Tech 61 - First-round and first NCAA win at Storrs, Ct. Owls' 25th straight overall.
Dec. 19, 2005 Temple 69, #17 Georgia 66, ovt. - First outside-area win over AP ranked team.
Jan. 19,. 2006 Temple 48, (a) #9 Rutgers 47 - Win Over Hightest Ranked Opponent.
Feb. 17, 2006 Temple 59, St. Joseph's 53 - Second straight Big Five title and third overall.
Mar. 6, 2006 Temple 59, Geo. Wash. 54 - A-10 tournament win at St. Joseph's.
Feb. 12, 2007 Temple 68, La Salle 55 - Third straight Big Five title and fourth overall.
Mar. 18, 2007 Temple 64, Nebraska 61 - NCAA first-round win at Raleigh, N.C.
Jan. 19, 2008 Temple 68, #13 Geo. Wash 66 - Key A-10 win over nationally-ranked rival.
Feb. 2, 2008 Temple 60, La Salle 55 -- 4th st. Big Five title and City Series streak at 18.
Feb. 20, 2008 Temple (a) St. Joseph's. -- (To be updated at conclusion of game).

(Guru's note: We were down here in Philadelphia on the desk but Stephen was on the scene at Rutgers.)

By Stephen K. Lee

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – On Tuesday, the Rutgers women’s basketball team once again used a second-half surge to come away with the win at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.

The No. 5 Scarlet Knights (21-4, 11-1 Big East), who received a school-record eight first-place votes in Monday’s AP poll, overcame an eight-minute scoring drought from the end of the first half into the second to down No. 14 Notre Dame 57-51.

“We were getting the looks but we weren’t capitalizing off of the good looks,” said Rutgers point guard Matee Ajavon at the postgame press conference. “Credit to Notre Dame defense – they kept us scrambling and at times making bad decisions. We just had to get ourselves together.”

Notre Dame tied the game at 22-22 by halftime after overcoming an eight-point deficit with 6:16 remaining in the first. After the break, the Fighting Irish held Rutgers without a field goal until the 15:36 mark of the second half when center Kia Vaughn made a layup to bring the Scarlet Knights to within 28-26.

Following a couple of lead changes over the next four minutes, the Scarlet Knights finally took control of the game with a 9-0 run that gave them a 41-33 advantage and allowed them to keep the Irish at bay the rest of the way.

Rutgers was able to surge ahead thanks to the play of its big players in the second half.

Sophomore center Rashidat Junaid was half of that solution for the Scarlet Knights.

“In the first half I wasn’t hitting my shots and we talked about it as a team at halftime,” said Junaid, who scored four of her six points during RU’s big run. “Coach told me I need to be calm and take my time and that’s what I was thinking all second half – be calm and settle myself.”

“(Notre Dame) looked a little nervous,” she added in regards to the Irish’s failure to contain Rutgers two big players. “Their center Williams was trying to play both me and Kia – it kind of made it difficult.”

Junior center Kia Vaughn scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half. The combination of Vaughn and Junaid helped Rutgers control the paint as the duo accounted for 12 rebounds.

Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer said that Notre Dame’s zone defense was giving her team problems.

“(Notre Dame’s zone is) very active, it’s wide and it changes,” Stringer said. “They went from 2-3 to 1-3-1 and probably everybody in the country knows that we struggle with it. I don’t think it’s anything special for us, that’s just the way they play. We just didn’t handle it, we never have because it requires a heck of a lot more patience – there is no one-on-one.”

Stringer added that Rutgers can use this game as a learning tool for the future.

“Just like every game that we’ve played, the LSU’s, the Tennessee’s, the Connecticut’s, this team, Notre Dame, that plays a zone, it’s important with their style of play. Notre Dame was capable of giving us a 1-3-1 half-court press. Well you know who else plays that extremely well? North Carolina."

Depending on how the draw is designed in next month's NCAA tournament, it's possible Rutgers and the Tar Heels could meet in a regional title round.

That site could also be Greensboro, which is near UNC as it was to Duke a year ago when the Scarlet Knights pulled off the upset that sent the overall No. 1 team home after the regional semifinals.

“So, in advance I already know in my mind what things other people do and Notre Dame was an excellent game for us to play. We struggled quite a bit. I should hope that we do better – it’s been exposed. We’ll get better and we’ll do better.”

Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw was pleased with her team’s effort against a tough Rutgers opponent.

“We’ve played all four of the teams that a lot of people think are going to go to the Final Four, probably be No. 1 seeds,” McGraw said. “I think a big difference – I think we’ve gotten a little bit better each game and this was a great defensive effort out there.”

Though they lived up to their billing as second-half warriors, the Scarlet Knights know that they would be better off not having things come down to post-halftime surges.

“I actually think that’s bad because in any game you always want to play 40 minutes and that’s what Coach Stringer has been stressing to us,” said Ajavon, who finished with 15 points and seven assists. “We have to play both halves. We can put ourselves in trouble in the first half and we can’t always expect ourselves to dig ourselves out in the second half. So, we just have to become a 40-minute team.”

Epiphanny Prince led RU in scoring with 18 points on six-of-eight shooting. The sophomore guard also had five assists.

Rutgers's next game is a trip Saturday to face Providence (12-13, 2-10), which can't be taken lightly following Tuesday night's 62-58 upset of No. 22 Syracuse at home.

Future Fab Five Freshmen Ease Sadness Over Departing Seniors.

The time is drawing near when Rutgers seniors Essence Carson, Matee Ajavon, and Katie Adams will transform into the past as one of the brighter eras of the Scarlet Knights' storied history.

But after the farewell tears are shed and the postseason dinner has concluded, an air of eager anticipation will exist over the super recruiting class that will be arriving in the fall.

All five of Rutgers' future freshmen -- Jasmine Dixon and Nikki Speed from California; Chelsey Lee of Fla., Brookilyn Pope of Texas, and April Sykes from Mississippi -- have been named McDonald's All-Americans.

“I’ve never had five McDonald’s All-Americans," Stringer said of her incoming abundance of talent. "They’re going to be in Tampa, Florida. Wow.

“The coaches did a great job – in particular Charlene Mitchell, who’s our recruiting coordinator," Stringer said. "I’ve been coaching many years, I really don’t know, we may have had something close to that when I was at Iowa, but never five people…

“To have five All-Americans. Most people only have one,"Stringer added. "So, we have five and I’m happy to say that because my statement to them was they need to serve notice to everyone: play hard, play great defense, be sharp, be friends, become the family that you are now so that the whole world can see the future Scarlet Knights.

"And so I’m going to look forward to them doing that and I’m going to look forward to hanging out with them and making sure that they begin to think like a Scarlet Knight," the Rutgers coach said.

“That’s pretty special for New Jersey and the future of our basketball team.”

By Mel Greenberg

So go ahead and say it:

Guru, given your analysis and expectations going into Sunday night's vote, you must have been a little surprised that Rutgers landed where it did in Monday's Associated Press women's poll from a nationwide media panel?

The answer is in the affirmative but now the Guru knows the reason the Scarlet Knights stayed in fifth place and it's a harsh truth: Simply, the knowledge base across the 50-member panel is not as deep as one would like.

Let's pause a moment, though, to go through some parameters.

When the voting panel is assembled in the early fall, the attempt is made to get the best people. But in trying to fulfill a number, the slots are usually greater than the available candidates to meet requirements.

Then comes the next step. Find candidates who are at least on top of their "local" game and as the season moves along, it's hoped that they'll figure out how to get more into the local/national mix.

Some people on the voting board have been around for quite a while, but others are still sort of finding their way. And in a season, such as this one, it becomes a bit challenging as to where the levels of acceptance for rankings truly exist.

Voting the top 10, itself, was an adventure Sunday because to drop Baylor a few slots for losing to Texas or drop Oklahoma for losing to Baylor, one had to find replacements. But except for Old Dominion, which has less challenging competition in the Colonial Athletic Association, most of the next-in-line contenders all took hits.

Meanwhile, some voters only get to see certain Top 10 teams from outside their area once or twice during the season.

Some have wondered why the Scarlet Knights didn't fare as well among Southern voters.

One reason is the only "live" impression some have was the loss at Duke. That was a game that in one stretch the Scarlet Knights took so long to score between field goals that when the previous shot was made, a baby girl was born somewhere in America. By the time Rutgers scored their next field goal, coach C. Vivian Stringer was said to be arranging a home visit to her for recruiting purposes.

Some people were focused more Rutgers' losses, forgetting that a loss to a lesser ranked team in the Big East conference is allowed to happen at least once. Writers who cover the Big East seemed to understand that.

In turn, we, here in the East would like to see California a little more, when possible, so the Bears don't feel like an oddity with their top 10 ranking, which is new for them. Of course, it's a given that we know their coach Joanne Boyle comes from good stock in having built the program so quickly.

The Guru was forecasting a top three ranking for Rutgers while mentioning the potential for a No. 1 because of the discussion among a bunch of the voting veterans in phone calls last week after the Scarlet Knights were victimized in the "frozen" clock debacle at Tennessee.

The disparity in knowledge is a reason that Rutgers, as a No. 5 team became the first to get so many first-place votes (eight) at that ranking level.

And as it is, if one looks at the total points, Rutgers is in a virtual third-place tie, trailing No. 4 Maryland by 18 points, and No. 3 Tennessee by 35 points. Several shifts of sixth and seventh-place ballots to fourth and fifth place votes could mean an improved ranking of one or two slots.

Having seen the vote initially analyzed on the Rutgers message board during the day, your Guru went in a different direction Monday night after his desk duties in sports.

Having spoke of the "knowledge base," the Guru went to the AP voting site and randomly grabbed names of media whose awareness of the scene and rhythm of the season might be more extensive than others. Some exceptions were made to get "beat" writers of local teams in the mix, while not every name was taken from those considered to be a bit more aware, nationally.

Ballots were not looked at until the printouts were made of a group of 17 voters, including the Guru's own ballot. (That's because you all think the guru is is knowedgeable.).

Geographically, five ballots were from the East, five from the South, five from the Midwest, and two from the West. -- they're a little younger out there.

Using that subset, the result was quite revealing in that Rutgers landed third and was very close to second.

The first seven teams in the real poll were used for ranking purposes and totals were the same applied in the regular formula for a full poll. All seven took seven spots in each of the 17 ballot, with the exception of one in which Baylor got a fifth-place vote, pushing LSU to eighth.

Here's how the teams ranked when the counting was done.

!. Connecticut (10 first-place votes), 413 points.
2. North Carolina (1), 395 points.
3. Rutgers (6), 386.
4. Maryland, 367.
5. Tennessee, 366
6. LSU, 351
7. Stanford, 339
8. Baylor, 21.

Breaking down the ballots:

Connecticut 10-first, 6-second, 1-seventh.
UNC 1-first, 6-second, 7-third, 2-fourth, 1-fifth.
Rutgers 6-first, 2-second, 1-third, 2-fourth, 3-fifth, 1-sixth, 2-seventh
Maryland 2-second, 3-third, 4-fourth, 3-fifth, 4-sixth, 1-seventh.
Tennessee 1-second, 4-third, 4-fourth, 3-fifth, 4-sixth, 1-seventh.
LSU 1-third, 4-fourth, 4-fifth, 5-sixth, 2-seventh, 1-eighth.
Stanford 1-third, 1-fourth, 2-fifth, 3-sixth, 10-seventh
Baylor 1-fifth.

Meanwhile, if these were the only votes on the board, Virginia, which is vastly underrated, would be ranked. The Cavaliers, who have only lost to Maryland, North Carolina, and Duke in the ACC, were on most of the ballots,including the Guru's,

Notes of Irony

Notre Dame will visit Rutgers Tuesday night in a key Big East game. The matchup comes one day after the Irish's coach Muffet McGraw tied Stringer's total at Iowa at 22nd for most ranking appearances for a coach at one school with 155 appearances.

Wendy Larry, at 139, needs two more ranking appearances to tie former coach Marianne Stanley's Old Dominion total at 141. Stanley is now an assistant coach at Rutgers.

Ohio State's Jim Foster has tied former Auburn coach Joe Ciampi at 10th place on the all-time list for overall poll appearances at 290, just two behind Virginia's Debbie Ryan.

His Buckeyes' ranking total -- he also had ranked teams at Vanderbilt and St. Joseph's -- is 91, ahead of previous coaches _Tara VanDerveer and Nancy Darsch -- with ranked teams at Ohio State.

Temple's Dawn Staley is about to add one record and lose another. Her next win will give her the all-time total for the Owls at 167, which could come Wednesday night at St. Joseph's. Meanwhile her assist record for Virginia in her glory years in the early 1990s as the Cavaliers' all-American point guard of 729 will soon be surpassed by Sharnee Zoll, who needs 16 to set the new mark.

-- Mel