By Mel Greenberg
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - We're on the scene down here primarily for Temple's game against Arizona State at the end of another marathon day in the 9:30 p.m. start at Maryland's Comcast Center.
Besides advancing the contest, which can be found in the print section of Philly.com, the Guru had a chance to keep an eye on everything else and it was certainly a day of mixed bag results in the Big East.
Rutgers, having a chance to take out its displeasure over its No. 2 seed by the NCAA tournament committee, took it out on No. 15 Robert Morris in Des Moines, Ia., with the rout of the day by the numbers -- 85-42.
While everyone was quick to think all is well again in Scarlet Knights land and it certainly looked that way, let's see if Rutgers can pass the next test of continuity when it meets No. 7 Iowa State (21-12) Monday night.
The Wildcats, who will play in their home state, advanced with a 58-55 win over No. 10 Georgia Tech.
Des Moines later in the night was also the scene of the upset special of the first round: No. 11 Florida State's 60-49 win over No. 6 Ohio State, marking not only another quick NCAA exit for the Buckeyes, but a second rapid departure in two weeks after their dispatch by Illinois in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.
A lot of voices knocking the NCAA committee for picking the Seminoles as an at-large are probably a little quieter at the moment.
In another upset, the Big East took it on the chin when No. 10 Hartford beat No. 7 Syracuse, 59-55, marking the second time coach Jen Rizzotti's Hawks, champions of the America East, have felled an opponent from a higher-regarded contest.
The next opponent might be a bit tougher after No. 2 Texas A&M's 91-52 blowout of No. 15 Texas-San Antonio. One has to go back all the way to Mexico's romp at the Alamo to find the last time San Antonio took such a drubbing.
Meanwhile, another Big East setback occurred at the behest of last year's NCAA Cinderella Marist. The No. 7 Red Foxes, who wouldn't be considered the underdog by seed, overcame and 11-point deficit to dispatch No. 10 DePaul, 76-57, marking another impressive win for a mid-major.
On the other hand, the Big East could smile over No. 5 West Virginia's gritty last-minute, 62-60 over No. 12 New Mexico in the Lobos' tough arena in Albuquerque. No. 6 Pittsburgh was also on the on the winning side, producing a 63-58 win over No. 11 Wyoming, giving credence that perhaps the Panthers would have been a better No. 25 in the final AP poll than the regular season Big Ten champion.
Out West, No. 6 George Washington, which shared the regular-season Atlantic Ten title with Temple, made it two straight over No. 11 Auiburn this season with a 66-56 win over the Tigers in Palo Alto, Calif. In the other game in the doubleheader, No. 32 California had little difficulty beating No. 14 San Dego, 77-60. The ensuing next matchup of California and George Washington will be the first sideline competiton between the Colonials' Joe McKeown and Bears' Joanne Boyle since Boyle used to coach against him at Richmond in the Atlantic Ten.
On the social scene down here, the Guru arrived at the Marriott-Maryland Conference Center on Campus Friday night to be greeted by the young woman at the check-in desk who recognized the Guru because of her former role as an intern in the media room of the WNBA's Washington Mystics.
Needless to say, between that acknowledgement and our Marriott membership, we are in good surroundings.
Soon afer, the Guru was invited to Duke's team meal at a nearby hotel where he regalled Blue Devils' coach Joanne McCallie's husband about tales of how she landed the Auburn graduate assistant job back in 1989 under former coach Joe Ciampi when she found the restaurant by the lake in Tacoma where the Tigers were preparing for a Final Four appearance.
"I forgot you were there," McCallie noted to the Guru who told Mr. McCallie that she had the job wrapped up before she arrived but Ciampi wanted to put her through the paces.
After Saturday's media interviews, Maryland SID Natalia Ciccone and Duke SID Lindy Brown led a delegation to a spot in nearby Hyattsville where we were able to dine and watch some of the other games.
The best quote of the day down here belonged to Murray State coach Jody Adams, a former Tennessee player -- they're everywhere -- who in reacting to a question about Duke's high profile, said, "We're famous, too. They just forgot to put us on TV."
Click here on the "jump" to keep reading.
Villanova Wins Again
Villanova clinched a winning season with an upset of host Wisconsin in Madison in a game in which associate head coach Joe Mullaney Jr. ran the team while head coach Harry Perretta remained in Philadelphia because of a death in the family.
"Joe's got a better winning percentage then me," Perretta joked about his friend, who is also a former head women's coach at Providence and St. John's.
Villanova next meets Monday night's winner between Colorado and Gonzaga and Perretta informed that if Gonzaga wins, the game will be at the Pavilion as his Wildcats keep taking season-ending encores in their home arena.
"I'm like the Godfather. I keep coming back," Perretta quipped.
Because the game may have ended too late for the Inquirer's print edition, here's an account from the Villanova web site.
MADISON, Wis. - In a second round WNIT game on Saturday night, Villanova (17-15) shot 57 percent in the second half - including 7-of-9 three-pointers in the period - and defeated Wisconsin (16-14) by a score of 60-54 at the Wisconsin Field House.
The Wildcats advance to the third round of the WNIT and will play either Colorado or Gonzaga on Thursday night.
Seven of the nine players who saw action for Villanova hit at least one three-pointer and the Wildcats finished 11-of-21 from behind the arc in the game. That level of accuracy was pivotal to the outcome of a game in which the two sides were separated by no more than four points for a span of 23 minutes that included the last six minutes of the first half and the first 17 minutes of the second period.
Senior Stacie Witman (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) scored a team-high 17 points and junior Laura Kurz (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) added 15 for Villanova. Kurz added seven rebounds while Witman had five boards and five assists in the game.
Beyond the production of the Wildcats two leading scorers, however, the game may have turned on the contributions of sophomore guards Maria Getty (Centerville, Ohio) and Tia Grant (Lido Beach, N.Y.), and junior forward Briana Weiss (Piedmont, Calif.). The trio combined to score all 22 of their points in the second half to help carry Villanova into the third round.
The Wildcats never trailed after Getty's three-pointer with 8:32 to play gave Villanova a 43-42 lead. Two minutes later Weiss snapped a 45-45 tie with the second of her three triples to put the Wildcats in front for good. She finished with nine points on the evening. Her first two three-pointers gave Villanova the lead and her third stretched the Wildcat advantage to a game-high eight points, 54-46 with 1:52 to play.
Rutgers' Carson Joins AP Blogging Team
Amtrak has been making a quick dollar off Associated Press national women's basketball writer Doug Feinberg, who is shuttling between Bridgeport, Conn., and the home office to work the desk in New York.
(Aside: Sounds familiar to the Guru's experiences.)
Meanwhile he has managed to assemble a player-blogging team of three ACC stars -- Maryland's Crystal Langhorne, Duke's Abby Waner, and North Carolina's Erlana Larkins along with Rutgers' Essence Carson to describe their respective experiences through the NCAA tournament.
Here's the first reports.
Savoring a Victory _ With a Few Stitches
Let the Madness begin! College stars Essence Carson of Rutgers, Abby Waner of Duke, Crystal Langhorne of Maryland, and Erlana Larkins of North Carolina will provide a snapshot of their tournament experiences right up to the championship game in Tampa, Fla. on April 8:---
SATURDAY, March 22:
Essence Carson's File:
DES MOINES, Iowa - Wow. Today was a long day!
The weather isn't bad in Iowa, but my lip is. Lip, you might ask?
In the second half of our game with Robert Morris today with only two minutes remaining, I caught a vicious elbow from my own teammate, Kia Vaughn. That would be the last time I go in to rebound.
Just kidding, of course.
The result of that elbow was a couple of stitches in my lower lip. Aside from my war wounds, we played a great game as a team. We established our own tempo and played 40 minutes of Scarlet Knight basketball.
After having some time to reflect on the day, many brighter things came to mind. I finally got a chance to acknowledge this first round as my last time around. The years have been great but I'm looking to make this one the best yet.
The atmosphere of the NCAA Tournament is unlike any other. It is only here that we wish to touch the ball for practice so the clock can start.
LOL.
The crowd at the arena was good today, cheering for us. I am sure it's because of their love for Coach Stringer. On Monday, I know it will be a different story. My teammates and I are looking forward to the task at hand of playing in front of a sea of Iowa State supporters.
As the minutes tick away on my senior season, I look forward to Sunday's practice, the film session and our next 40 minutes of play.
- Rutgers senior Essence Carson
Crystal Langhorne's File:
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - I'm so excited about the tournament. This is my last go around and I want to make it the best I can.
You know it's the NCAAs when you see that blue carpet everywhere (lol). It's kind of weird because even though we are playing in our own arena, we have to get checked in when we walk into the building and wear wristbands to get around our own gym. But I'm just happy to be playing at home.
Our practice before the Coppin State game went really well. We had a lot of energy and with the open practice, a few fans got to watch us.
Since our loss in the ACC tournament, we've been practicing really well. We've practiced hard and have been very focused. I think we are definitely reaching our peak at the right moment. I think everyone has finally realized that this is it for our season. Our seniors are especially motivated because this is the end of our college career.
Coppin State is going to be very tough team to play. They have great guards that love to attack. A lot of people are asking us if we will take this team lightly because we are a No. 1 seed playing a No. 16 seed.
But I think losing to Ole Miss in the second round last year when we were expecting to go back to the Final Four taught us a lot of lessons about taking teams lightly and we're not going to do that anymore.
I actually played against one of their guards in a high school playoff game my senior year. We beat her team in a state tournament game. A reporter told me today that she said she talked about my ending her high school career and now she wants to end my college career.
We'll see what happens when we get to play, it should be a good one.
- Maryland senior Crystal Langhorne
We'll be back later in the day.
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