Women's Hoops Guru

By Mel Greenberg

When Connecticut beat Tennessee and won the first of five NCAA women’s titles in 1995, Huskies coach Geno Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown, reflected afterwards that it had been a fairytale season and a happy ending was meant to be.

UConn did not take the lead in that game until the closing minutes and went on to finish at 35-0.

On Sunday night at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., the pseudo Cinderella crown belonged to Stanford, whose 82-73 national semifinals victory over UConn advanced the Cardinal (35-3) into Tuesday night’s championship for the first time since 1992.

Several hours later defending champion Tennessee (35-2) won in another photo finish, beating LSU, 47-46, on Alexis Hornbuckle’s putback with seven-tenths of a second left in regulation.

Unlike the Vols’ similar narrow win in February over Rutgers in Knoxville, this triumph was free of controversy.

No stalled clock was involved, but the brilliant collegiate career of Sylvia Fowles was frozen shut along with senior classmates Erica White, Quianna Chaney, and Ashley Thomas, among four others, one game short of that elusive championship.

Fowles, who scored 24 points and pulled 20 rebounds, will be back in news on Wednesday as the No. 2 overall pick behind Tennessee junior Candace Parker in the WNBA draft, which will be held near Tampa.

Parker, who struggled with a shoulder separation injury but finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds, now gets a chance to exit college with another title before turning pro, while Tennessee coach Pat Summitt will seek to improve her championship ring collection to eight.

Joining LSU (31-6) and Connecticut (36-2) on the sidelines is the fervent season-long desire of ESPN, which took a frenzied approach to a potential UConn-Tennessee title match after Summitt cancelled the regular rivalry between the two powers last summer.

Until another potential matchup looms next season, one now has all summer to get caught up in the history of the stillborn series in Richard Kent’s new book: Lady Vols and UConn: The Greatest Rivalry (iUniverse Inc., $14.95).

Although both coaches have not commented publicly on the precise cause of the breakup, each deferring to the other to speak first, Auriemma had stated several months ago he would address the issue once the season was over.

With the autopsy on the demise of the overall top-seeded Huskies virtually concluded almost as soon as Sunday’s game ended, look for the media pack to pursue Auriemma. He has some free time now with only two official duties remaining in Tampa. One is to accept the United States Basketball Writers Association’s coach of the year award Tuesday morning. The other is to handle obligations in his role as the next president of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

In the wake of their respective defeats, both the Connecticut and LSU contingents addressed the adversities life can dispense along with the joyous occasions.

The Huskies, who had to overcome the season-ending knee injuries to starters Kalana Greene and senior Mel Thomas, seemed capable of gaining a sixth title, primarily on the play of freshman sensation Maya Moore. She finished with 20 points, scoring 14 in the second half as UConn tried to rally.

Ever since leaving Mississippi to lead the Houston Comets to the first four WNBA titles, LSU coach Van Chancellor found a way to rise above all those Southeastern Conference disappointments with the Rebels in a league ruled by Tennessee.

Chancellor’s WNBA success begat his achievement as the first male coach of the United States Olympic women’s team in 2004, which enabled him to guide the Americans to a gold medal in Athens.

That additional triumph earned him induction in September to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, which already includes Auriemma and Summitt. All three and Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer are also members of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn.

Chancellor returned to the collegiate level last spring after a very brief retirement following his WNBA career and led LSU into a fifth straight Final Four. The Tigers routed Tennessee in Knoxville in February after a deep deficit early in the game. They later lost a close encounter with the Vols in the SEC championship.

“Life’s thrown a lot of things at us this particular season,” Auriemma said Sunday night. “Took away two of our players. Limited one of them. And now the fairytale didn’t have a happy ending. But that’s life.”

The setback to Stanford was a reversal of a victory in November when a healthy Huskies squad beat the Cardinal, 66-54, in the Virgin Islands.

The loss Sunday meant the end of the UConn careers of Charde Houston, Brittany Hunter, and Mel Thomas.

Chancellor opened his postgame remarks, saying, “Tough way to lose a basketball game. I really feel for our seniors. They have done everything I’ve asked them to do since I was appointed LSU coach.

“And they’ve done so much and overcome so much and I’m really proud of them graduating. They do such a great job. And I am sorry I couldn’t help them win.”

Chancellor agreed on the loss being the toughest of his career.

“Yeah, especially when I thought we had it won, and I had it won …” he said.

“(LSU) Up 1, they’ve got to go the full length of the court. And it’s really a tough loss when I think about these kids and what all they have gone through for four years. I really feel for them,” Chancellor said.

In recent seasons, the Tigers have had to deal with former coach Sue Gunter’s death caused by cancer, a controversial resignation last season by former coach Pokey Chatman before the NCAA tournament began, a run to another finals under assistant Bob Starkey, who was briefly in charge as an interim head coach; and the hiring of Chancellor.

LSU’s first finals appearance in 2005 was a last-second loss to Tennessee on a steal. The Tigers blew a huge lead to eventual champion Baylor in 2006 and were routed by Rutgers last season.

“Just because you’ve been here five times in a row, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your turn,” White said. “You have to make it your turn. The game of life isn’t fair. Basketball isn’t fair.”

Meanwhile, if any team is making the Finals its turn, it’s Stanford, which will try to make it two straight over Tennessee this season, including an overtime triumph in Palo Alto, Calif., in December.

The Cardinal, carrying a bruised ego since being made a No. 2 seed behind Maryland in the Spokane Regional, is on a roll right now under VanDerveer, who also coached the U.S. to a gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Perhaps Stanford’s positive omens could have been found a few days ago in senior Candice Wiggins, likely the No. 3 pick in Wednesday’s draft.

The daughter of former baseball player, the late Alan Wiggins of the San Diego Padres, she was a surprise Wade winner selection Saturday as the WBCA’s player of the year.

Wiggins followed a few hours later with another top honor, receiving the Lowe’s Senior Class Award that emphasizes academic success.

She made good on the accolades Sunday night against UConn with 25 points and 13 rebounds. The Cardinal also have other threats to avoid the focus on Wiggins, courtesy of freshman flash Jayne Appel (15 points, 10 rebounds), and Kayla Pedersen (17 points).

Despite Connecticut’s setback after missing the finals the last three seasons, the Huskies could return stronger than ever with a blue chip recruiting class highlighted by Wilmington’s Elena Della-Donne. The nation’s top recruit, she was the MVP of the winning Red team Saturday in the WBCA’s high school all-star game in Tampa.

Auriemma promised he and his Huskies will witness Tuesday’s title game, although he is required to do so anyway in his role with the WBCA.

“It’s part of who you are. It’s part of what you do,” Auriemma said. “It’s our game.”

Erin Semagin Damio contributed to this story from Tampa.