Women's Hoops Guru

(This is AP's coverage. More to come later -- Mel)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

GIBSONVILLE, N.C. -- North Carolina State women's basketball coach Kay Yow has been laid to rest a week after her death following a long fight against cancer.

Yow was buried Saturday in her hometown of Gibsonville, about 70 miles west of North Carolina State's campus in Raleigh. The Hall of Famer coached at nearby Elon for four years before taking over at N.C. State in 1975 and finishing her career with more than 700 career victories.

About 300 mourners attended the graveside service on a chilly and windy morning, including the Wolfpack team and coaching staff. Each placed a rose on Yow's casket, then boarded a bus for Sunday's game at Virginia Tech.

Gibsonville mayor Leonard Williams read a proclamation calling for flags to be lowered to half-staff for the day in Yow's memory.

The service capped an emotionally draining week for the Wolfpack. After her death last weekend, the team went to a mall Monday to choose clothes for Yow's funeral, a task interim coach Stephanie Glance said was easier to do together than individually.

The team returned to practice Tuesday, then attended a campus tribute ceremony at Reynolds Coliseum -- home of "Kay Yow Court" -- on Wednesday night. The next day, the team played its first game since her death, falling to Boston College 62-51.

On Friday, more than 1,400 mourners -- including Tennessee coach Pat Summitt and former NFL coach and N.C. State alumnus Bill Cowher -- attended Yow's funeral service at a church in Cary, just outside of Raleigh.

"We all have known this was coming and we've all known the life that Kay's lived," said Neil Whitaker, Yow's cousin and funeral director. "You move on, but there are things you have to keep in mind. You need to focus on what she wants us to focus on, and that's being the right kind of person and doing the right things and having a strong Christian faith."

Yow was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987, but led the U.S. Olympic women's team to a gold medal the following season. The disease recurred during the 2004-05 season, forcing to her to leave her team twice in past seasons to focus on treatment even as she raised research money and cancer awareness.

She took a four-game leave in December because she said she had very little energy, and announced shortly after the new year that she would not return this season. She soon entered a hospital and spent about a week there before she died at age 66.

Menwhile, teams across the country Saturday honored Yow, wearing pink ribbons and other attire as part of the ongoing fight against cancer with women's basketball programs supporting the fund begun in Yow's name a year ago by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

From pink whistles to pink warm-up shirts, Yow was honored at
women’s college basketball games around the country Saturday, the day
she was laid to rest.

Pink is commonly used by groups that try to raise awareness of the disease and
raise funds to help search for a cure.

Kansas and No. 11 Texas A&M wore pink shirts before their game at
College Station, Texas, and officials at the Rutgers-South Florida,
Oklahoma-Missouri, and Cincinnati-Notre Dame games all used pink
whistles.

“We do everything for her memory and in memory of those we have
lost and celebrating those who have survived and keeping the fight,”
said Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson after a 73-60 loss to No. 11 Texas
A&M. “It’s her awareness, her public fight with that disease.

“She didn’t lose it, she beat it three times and I think she wins
because she’s created so much awareness and she was willing to step
out in the spotlight and speak to all of us who can do so much. And we
need to do more.”

The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association issued a waiver this
week to allow teams to wear pink game jerseys, headbands, and shooting
shirts to honor Yow until Feb. 22.

N.C. State wore pink trimmed uniforms bearing the name “Yow” on
the back and pink shoes before its game on Thursday against Boston
College. The Wolfpack also had a pink heart with her last name on it
attached to their jerseys.

Teams had already been given permission to wear pink during the
week of Feb. 13-22 as part of “The Pink Zone” to help raise awareness
for breast cancer.

“Kay has championed the cause. All we need to do is whatever we
can do,” said Texas A&M coach Gary Blair, who along with his coaching
staff wore the pink breast cancer ribbons upside down for Yow. “Even
in this tough economic environment we need to find a way to help. It’s
a win-win situation not just for cancer, but for what women’s
basketball can do.”

(Guru's Note: This is AP's coverage of North Carolina State Hall of Fame Women's Basketball Coach Kay Yow's Funeral.)

By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer

CARY, N.C. — Kay Yow didn’t ask one of her famous friends to speak
at her funeral. Instead, the longtime North Carolina State women’s
basketball coach had a message for them.
“And now I say farewell,” Yow said. “And it’s been a wonderful
journey, especially since the time I accepted Jesus as my lord and
savior.”
In a video played to the hundreds of fans and colleagues who
gathered Friday at a suburban Raleigh church for Yow’s funeral, she
thanked the legion of supporters who guided her through a two-decade
long fight with breast cancer and recounted with passion her deep
Christian faith.
“It has changed my life,” Yow said. “It has changed the life of
every person who has accepted him.”
Yow was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987, yet went on to lead
the U.S. Olympic team to the gold medal the next year. She won more
than 700 games in her career and was inducted into the Naismith Hall
of Fame in 2002.
But for many, Yow was best known for her unwavering resolve while
fighting cancer, which recurred during the 2004-05 season and had
lingered in the years since. She raised awareness and money for
research while staying with her team through the debilitating effects
of the disease and chemotherapy treatments.
She had to take a four-game leave in December due to what was
described as extremely low energy. She announced shortly after the new
year that she would not return this season. She soon entered a
hospital for treatment and spent about a week there before she died
last weekend. She was 66.
“Her battle with breast cancer was never about herself,” said
Megan Smith, an employee at the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer fund in Atlanta,
before the funeral. “She was such a courageous and humble person at
the same time.”
UConn coach Geno Auriemma, North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell
and Miami coach Katie Meier stopped at a viewing for Yow, while Duke
coach Joanne P. McCallie and her team, Tennessee coach Pat Summitt,
Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer and Texas coach Gale Goestenkors, the
former coach at Duke, arrived early for the service.
Others paying respects included former N.C. State football coach
Chuck Amato and current coach Tom O’Brien, and N.C. State alumnus and
former NFL coach Bill Cowher. Yow will be buried Saturday in her
hometown of Gibsonville.
But none of Yow’s famous friends were slated to speak at a service
she designed.
“She did not want to show any kind of favoritism because there was
just none in her heart. None,” the Rev. Mitchell Gregory, her pastor
at Cary Alliance Church.
Retired professor Janie Brown, the former chair of the physical
education department at Elon University, remembered speaking to Yow a
couple of years ago for a project on the history of women’s sports.
She said Yow spoke about balancing teaching, academic advising and
even the little things like taping her players’ ankles.
“I think that was always her attitude. Whatever the situation, you
deal with it. That’s what she’s done,” Brown said. “I’m a good friend,
but I’m also a great admirer of what she does. And I think we would
hope we could live a life with that kind of influence.”
Friday’s events are part of an emotionally draining week for the
players and coaches she left behind at N.C. State. On Monday, the team
went to an area mall to pick out clothes for Yow’s funeral, a task
that interim coach Stephanie Glance said was easier to do together
than individually.
The team returned to practice Tuesday, then attended the campus
tribute ceremony at Reynolds Coliseum, home of “Kay Yow Court,”
Wednesday night. The next day, the team played its first game since
her death, falling to Boston College 62-51.
At each public event, there have been numerous fans wearing pink —
the color of breast cancer awareness — and eager to share their
stories of how Yow inspired them while battling the disease.
She spent 38 season as a coach, 34 with N.C. State. She won four
ACC tournament championships, earned 20 NCAA tournament bids and
reached the Final Four in 1998.
Yow took a 16-game leave to focus on her health during the 2006-07
season. Her return that year sparked an emotional late-season run to
the NCAA tournament’s round of 16.
She also served on the board of the V Foundation for Cancer
Research, which was founded by ESPN and her friend and colleague,
former N.C. State men’s coach Jim Valvano, who died of cancer in 1993.

(Guru's Note: The Guru's Own Commentary Will Come After Attending the Maryland-North Carolina Game Sunday Night. But this is another aspect of her wonderlife and career worth noting for the moment.).

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - In the long and illustrious career of North Carolina State's Kay Yow, whose Hal of Fame career as the legendary Wolfpack women's basketball coach ended Saturday when cancer claimed her at age 66 after a lengthy battle, the Philadelphia area was practically a second home.

Over the years her teams played three of the Big Five schools -- Temple, St. Joseph's and Villanova with the later two also matchup in NCAA tournaments.

One of Yow's earliest recruiting coups occurred when she was able to land Linda Page, who broke Wilt Chamberlain's high school record in scoring over 100 points in a game.

Page helped N.C. State quickly become a national women's basketball power.

"When it comes to coaches, Yow was one of the great ones," said Mike Flynn, the head of the nationally-regarded Blue Star AAU program who had Page as a member of the Philadelphia Belles and remembers the early trips here Yow made to evaluate the local high school superstar.

Yow also had strong contacts across the river in South Jersey and years later matched up against two local products on the sidelines -- Bernadette McGlade, now commissioner of the Atlantic Ten, and her sister Agnus Berenato, now coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers.

In the early 1990s N.C. State and Virginia, which had attracted Dawn Staley, matched up in some classic ACC confrontations including a triple-overtime encounter won by the Cavaliers.

After Staley became a head coach at Temple, the Owls travelled to Raleigh in Staley's first season and Temple lost in the closing minutes on a night that Yow reached her 600th career win.

Both coaches jokingly noted that the win against Staley was the price for Virginia's win in that game or Yow would have reached 600 one game before Temple's visit in the winter of 2000.

Another local star in later years who helped N.C. State was Gillian Goring, who had played at Germantown Academy and after several stops, joined the Wolfpack because she just knew she had to play for Yow.

Goring, drafted by the WNBA's Washington Mystics, was one of the key players helping the Wolfpack's fabled run to the NCAA's Sweet 16 in 2007 when Yow returned to the bench after missing 16 games because of her dramatic fight against breast cancer.

Yow was one of the charter voters when the Associated Press women's poll was launched in 1976 and her Wolfpack team along with Atlantic Coast rival Maryland were the last two of the teams from the very first preseason poll who stayed in the rankings the longest until dropping out the same week several years later.

Rutgers Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Strnger issued a statement on Yow's passing Saturday prior to the Scarlet Knights' game against DePaul in Chicago.

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Kay Yow. She taught all of us how to handle personal battles with a great deal of grace and acceptance and by believing that God would see us through. She rarely complained, as most of us would or ever wonder why this had happened to her. When I myself was diagnosed with breast cancer, Kay was one of the handful of people I told. I asked her why me? Kay was the person I could best identify with and knew would understand. And she did. I admired that she made her life so open and one day I hoped to do the same to help other women.

"Kay showed us how to handle one of the most difficult things-cancer-in the most dignified and courageous manner. She taught us what it is to have real passion for the sport, any sport. She continued to fight and went about doing what she loved best: coaching. She used every ounce of energy she had left to give to those young ladies. She was and will always be an inspiration to so many people.

"We have lost a pioneer and an ambassador of women’s basketball. I have lost a friend. My thoughts and prayers are with her family, both the Yow family and also the NC State family.”

On Saturday, both Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw and Villanova coach Harry Perretta commented on Yow after the Wildcats upset the No. 13 Irish at Villanova.

"She was someone everyone respected and admired for the way she always handled herself throughout her life," McGraw said.

"And I think it's a great loss for the entire basketball committee and our thoughts and prayers are with her."

Perretta had a long-standing friendship with Yow over three decades.

"I got a phone call at 8:30 this morning and hadn't seen anything on the ticker," Perretta said.

"I knew she wasn't doing well, because I had taked to Debbie Antonelli," Perretta said of a former Wolfpack player who now broadcasts games on ESPN and other networks.

"You couldn't get any information how Kay was doing, but I knew she wasn't doing well.

"I got the message to Sister Rose Maria, I called her mother," he said of former Wildcat star Shelly Pennefather, now a cloistered nun who played for Villanova against the Wolfpack.

"It's just a said thing, so many years she fought that disease," Perretta said. "I knew her pretty well.

"It was interesting, when I spoke to her in August, it was really like unbelievable, she was so calm. She said, `You know Harry, medicine can't cure me now, I need a miracle," he related.

"But she wasn't afraid. She wasn't scared. It was like inspiring and it's really sad. But from what I heard she was in a lot of pain so I'm happy she won't have to suffer anymore."

Perretta would like to attend the viewing Friday and funeral Saturday in North Carolina but like many coaches, he may not be able to do so because of his team's schedule.

"What they should do is either have a memorial service at the Final Four in St. Louis, or a week after and right before recruiting starts again, have it in Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh so every coach can attend."

Late Saturday, an email arrived with a reaction from USA basketball, which had Yow in its family off her coaching the U.S. to a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics.

That team had former Penn State coach Suzie McConnell-Serio, now coaching Duquesne and who was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame last spring.

"USA Basketball is mourning the loss today of Kay Yow, a friend, coach, mentor, leader and pioneer in women's basketball. Her accomplishments were many within the USA Basketball family. As a member of seven USA Basketball staffs over a 10-year span, the pinnacle of her USA career came when she led the 1986 USA World Championship and 1988 U.S. Olympic Teams to gold medals. Kay has been an inspiration both on and off the court throughout her storied career. However, it has been during her struggles with cancer that Kay has inspired us most. All of us in the USA Basketball family will miss her wonderful smile, personality and strength of character."

Kay Yow's History with USA Basketball:

As A USA Basketball Head Coach:
Event Medal Record
1988 Olympic Games Gold Medal 5-0
1986 World Championship Gold Medal 7-0
1986 Goodwill Games Gold Medal 5-0
1981 World University Games Silver Medal 6-1

-- Mel

(Guru's note: Here's an AP roundup of reaction to the passing of Hall of Famer and NC State coaching legend Kay Yow. I'll be back with more after the desk shift off emails that have been flooding the in-box, for good reason, Saturday. Some of thiose comments are in this AP story).

By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. — Sylvia Hatchell worked as an assistant to Kay Yow
in the Olympics and coached against her for more than 20 years in an
Atlantic Coast Conference rivalry of next-door neighbor programs.
She can’t imagine what it will be like to not see her friend on
the sideline for North Carolina State again.
“Her presence and competitive spirit will be greatly missed in the
ACC,” the North Carolina coach said in a statement after Yow’s death
Saturday following a two-decade fight against cancer. “I don’t know of
anyone in the world of women’s basketball that doesn’t owe a debt of
gratitude to Kay.”
Yow’s death prompted an outpouring of condolences and
recollections, especially from those in the coaching community who
witnessed her long battle with breast cancer. Nearly all remembered
Yow’s grace and courage as she fought the debilitating effects of the
disease, which she was diagnosed with in 1987 and recurred during the
2004-05 season.
She won 737 games in 38 years on the sideline and served on the
board of The V Foundation for Cancer Research. It was founded by ESPN
and former N.C. State men’s coach Jim Valvano, her close friend who
died of cancer in 1993.
Duke men’s coach, Mike Krzyzewski, who’s been active in Coaches
vs. Cancer for years, credited Yow for the “amazing awareness” she
brought to the fight against cancer.
“The really great thing about her was she had the courage to fight
the battle in public,” Krzyzewski said after his second-ranked Blue
Devils beat Maryland on Saturday. “As a result, she not only fought
for her, she fought for everyone who has cancer or will have cancer
and the families involved.”
Duke women’s coach, Joanne P. McCallie, remembered Yow for her
courage, particularly in how open she was as she fought cancer.
“I’ve never known a woman to share her story so eloquently under
such incredible conditions,” she said. “A lot of people are afraid,
they’re afraid to share their story. And Kay was never afraid.
In partnership with The V Foundation, Yow joined efforts with the
Women’s Basketball Coaches Association to launch the Kay Yow/WBCA
Cancer Fund. Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said getting the fund going
“put Kay on a mission.”
“She fought for cancer funding the same way she fought the
disease, positive and determined every step of the way,” Summitt said
in a statement.
Debbie Antonelli, who played for Yow in the mid-1980s, knew her
for more than 30 years and said Yow’s influence went far beyond how
she played the game.
“She’s impacted everything about my personal life, including how I
raise my children,” said Antonelli, a color analyst for FOX. “She gave
a lifetime of service to her faith and to her family and her friends
and certainly to all her former players.”
As news of Yow’s death spread, several schools held a moment of
silence to honor her before games, including the N.C. State-Boston
College, Maryland-Duke, Tennessee-Memphis and Connecticut-Notre Dame
men’s games. There was also a moment of silence before the Kansas
State-Kansas women’s game, where Jayhawks coach Bonnie Henrickson
described Yow as “an unbelievable presence in our profession.”
“You would try to cheer her up and 75 percent of the time, she was
trying to cheer you up. It was never about her,” Henrickson said. “It
was never about her battle. ... I’ve never heard anybody say a bad
word about that woman. And in this business, that doesn’t happen. I
promise you that doesn’t happen.”
Yow’s absence will be most felt by coaches in the ACC, where Yow
has been a fixture for more than three decades. Georgia Tech coach
MaChelle Joseph said Yow “represented what was good about our game,”
while Clemson coach and former Wolfpack player Cristy McKinney
expressed some relief along with sadness that her mentor “is in a
better place” after such a long, painful fight.
As ACC commissioner John Swofford said in a statement, “What an
impact Kay had on so many.”
“She was kind of the soul of our coaching group in the ACC,” said
Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, who has had her own battle with pancreatic
cancer. “It’s just a very, very sad day for all of us.”
———

AP Sports Writers Doug Tucker in Lawrence, Kan., Charles Odum in
Atlanta and Hank Kurz Jr. in Richmond, Va., contributed to this
report.

By Jonathan Tannenwald
Philly.com

The news broke a bit before 9 a.m. Eastern Time, just as those of us in this part of the country who decided to sleep in this morning were waking up.

RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina State's Kay Yow, the Hall of Fame women's basketball coach who won more than 700 games while earning fans with her decades-long fight against breast cancer, died on Saturday. She was 66.

The Associated Press and the Raleigh News and Observer have both posted obituary stories that are worth reading, as well as retrospective photo galleries.

I also have this quote from Yale women's basketball coach Chris Gobrecht, whose team beat N.C. State back on Nov. 22 in Minneapolis. Gobrecth was speaking during the Ivy League women's basketball coaches teleconference on Jan. 14, and I asked her what it was like to play and beat Yow's team.

That was a very special experience and it was one of those things that when the game was over I turned to my assistants and said there's probably 100 coaches in this country that I would have rather beaten than Kay Yow.

I had a chance to talk to her before the game and she's just in such a good place with everything she's dealing with. She's a tremendous individual. I think she's very proud of all the good that's come out of the circumstances she's had to endure. Her team just loves her and you can just feel it, everything that goes on. She's got a really wonderful group of players.

They had every reason to be pretty ticked off that an Ivy League team would come in and play like that against them, and they just handled themselves with so much class. There wasn't a single attitude or uppityness about any of those players. It's just a class program and she's one of the great, great women in America, not just in basketball.

By Mel Greenberg

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The way top-ranked Connecticut excelled in its “board” scores Monday night in an unbeatens battle of 1 vs. 2 against North Carolina, the Huskies performed as the Rhodes Scholars of women’s basketball.

UConn dominated the rebound stats 53-32 and torched the Tar Heels 88-58 to remain perfect at 18-0. North Carolina (17-1) suffered its first loss of the season.

“We played 17 games but this one was nothing like those others,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “They came into our house and showed us how to play basketball. It was never going to be a game if we didn’t rebound any better than we did.”

The Huskies went on a 9-0 run early in the game and had answers the rest of the way to counter any threat the Tar Heels attempted to toss.

North Carolina’s only positive statistic of the night in the Smith Center was an all-time attendance figure of 12,722.

The Tar Heels are using the more spacious men’s arena this season while their own Carmichael Auditorium is undergoing renovations.

In the home state of NASCAR, speed was a major factor from both teams which enjoy to zoom up and down the court.

“I think we surprised them a little,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. “They’re fast. But we’re pretty fast also.”

The Huskies are also resilent.

Two days removed from a major roster loss when Germantown Academy’s Caroline Doty’s freshman season was cut short by a knee injury, Lorin Dixon stepped into the backcourt as a starter and kept the Huskies on the move.

“What can you say about a kid whose season has ended,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said of Doty’s second knee injury in two seasons including her senior high school year.

“You can’t. You put your arm around her and then you move on.”

Dixon was inserted as a starter a year ago when former senior guard Mel Thomas was hurt,

But she conceded her confidence level was much higher against the Tar Heels than her first start 12 months ago.

“I was like a deer in the headlights,” Dixon recalled last year’s situation after scoring 14 points and dealing six assists against UNC.

“After Caroline went down I was thinking as a team we just have to regroup and pull together,” Dixon said. “Now teams are going to think we have a weakness and just attack us. It was important that we all come together and just say we’re going to handle this the best we can and just work on our strengths.

“Caroline is a great three-point shooter,” Dixon continued. We’re just going to have to find a way to work around that.”

All five Connecticut starters scored in double figures with senior Renee Montgomery getting a game-high 21 points. The senior guard has a chance to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft considering Atlanta, which owns the pick, is believed to be looking for backcourt help from the senior collegiate class.

Sensational sophomore Maya Moore had an off night and still finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Tina Charles earned a double double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

North Carolina’s Italee Lucas had a team-high 15 points, while Rashanda McCants scored 13 points, and Jessica Breeland scored 10.

Hatchell praised the Huskies, saying, “They compete hard and they are extremely physical. This game was much, much more physical than any game we played this year and I think it bothered us, it got to us.

“But this is the way a game is going to be when you get into the NCAA (tournament) and play for a national championship.”

Connecticut’s players were prepared from the opening tip to set the tone of the marquee matchup.

“Our coaches told us whoever controls the paint is going to win the game and I think our post players took it to heart,” Montgomery said.

“Every night we need to prove ourselves because every night someone’s going to come out and have their best game and walk away feeling they did something good,” Montgomery said. “So every night we just come in with a mindset we have to play really well, especially coming in to play the No. 2 team in the country.

“I think we really came in focused.”

--Mel

By Mel Greenberg

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Caroline Doty, the former Germantown Academy star who suffered a second knee injury Saturday playing for top-ranked Connecticut, is set to have surgery Thursday.

“That’s what we’re looking at,” Doty said here about the injury prior to Monday’s night’s major showdown between the Huskies and No. 2 North Carolina at the Smith Center.

“Right now I’m excited for the game, excited for the team to see what we have here to give to North Carolina,” Doty said to reporters from the team bench an hour before tipoff.

The freshman, who had started all 17 games for the Huskies, went down right before the half Saturday during the Huskies’ lop-sided win over Syracuse.

Doty, one of the top five high school prospects in the nation a year ago, missed her senior season in basketball when she suffered an ACL injury during a soccer match in the fall of 2007 with Germantown Academy.

“The past couple of days have been kind of like a roller coaster, but I’m trying to stay as positive as possible,” Doty said. “Just the fact that it happened kind of brings me down sometimes.

“But the coaches and my teammates have been doing a good job of keeping my spirits up.”

The injury Saturday was on the same left knee as the one suffered last season.

“My ACL is gone, it’s completely torn,” Doty said. “But it’s different because I didn’t tear any other ligaments. It feels a lot better (than last time). I can walk, but not normally, but with a limp.”

Doty, who had connected on 5-of-11 three-pointers for 17 points, knew right away what had happened when she went to the floor and grabbed her knee, although there was no contact on the play.

“Oh yeah,” Doty said. “I felt it click.

“I was thinking, `Not again.’ The feeling was just too familiar. And knowing that we were just getting to fun part of the season. I knew we had this game. Just a million, million thoughts ran through my head – just disappointed.”

Doty’s parents, her grandparents, and her twin brother were all at Saturday’s game when she became sidelined.

Despite the injury, Doty said she had to be here to support her teammates.

“Just because it’s 1 vs. 2. I know it’s a huge game for my teammates – for the women’s program and I wanted to be here to support them as much as I could.”

Doty said the surgery will happen much earlier than when she underwent the medical procedure for her previous injury.

“I’ll rehab. Go to classes and be as much as part of the team as I can,” Doty said.

Doty spoke of her emotions that ran through her Saturday night hours after she got hurt.

“It was tough,” she said. “Especially after the hard preseason we had gone through. The Big East had just started and everyone was saying how the Big East time is a huge, huge part of the season. It’s fun.

“I was looking (ahead) to the Big East tournament. I was looking to this game. I was looking to the NCAA tournament. I was looking to everything in the future,” Doty continued.

“Then again, I have three more years. I’m still young. I still have a lot of time to play.”

Doty has little doubt that Connecticut will continue to succeed and win the NCAA title everyone has projected for the Huskies despite the reduction in depth and outside shooters on the roster.

“We have so many great leaders,” Doty said. “They’re all so high-spirited. They felt for me. They all came to my room when I got back (after the postgame examination at the hospital). They all brought me cakes. They all brought me hugs – just moral support.

“Having that I know they’re going to come out here as hard as they can and try to pull out the “W.”

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

VILLANOVA, Pa. _ An array of Villanova women’s basketball players from some of the great and not-so-great teams of the previous 30 years participated Saturday in the annual alumnae game at the Pavilion.

Then it was time for the Wildcats star of the present to do her thing.

Laura Kurz once again delivered, connecting on two foul shots at the finish to give Villanova a 54-52 victory over West Virginia in the Big East.

It was an improbable victory for the Wildcats (10-7, 7-2 Big East), who trailed the depleted Mountaineers (11-6, 0-4) by 13 points early in the second half.

West Virginia, which is now 0-12 lifetime at Villanova, is down to eight players because of injuries and illness.

“It was an ugly game, but we did what you have to do in the Big East – pull it out in the end,” Kurz said. “West Virginia played really great in the first half but we were able to make some adjustments. Our shots started to fall. We were making better passes and we weren’t turning the ball over as much.”

Kurz, a former Germantown Academy star whose collegiate career began at Duke, had a game-high 17 points as the only Wildcat scoring in double figures.

Takisha Granberry had a team-high 16 points for the Mountaineers.

Villanova had possession in the final moments when West Virginia’s Ashley Powell appeared to go for a steal and fouled Kurz with five seconds left in regulation.

“This conference is unbelievable once you get below (top-ranked) Connecticut,” Villanova coach Harry Perretta said. “Every game is life and death like this one.”

The game seemed to be a montage of everything the former players experienced in Perretta’s three decades on the Main Line.

“This game had all of that – bad play, good play, close game, rally, everything you could ask for was in one game.”

-- Mel_

By Jonathan Tannenwald
Philly.com

Legendary Georgia coach Andy Landers recorded his 800th win as a head coach this evening when the Lady Bulldogs beat Savannah State, 74-28, in Athens.

718 of those wins have come at Georgia, while the first 82 came during the 1970's at Roane State Community College in Harriman, Tenn., according to the AP story linked above.

Overall, Landers' career record is 800-252 in 33-plus seasons. He is the fifth women's basketball coach to reach the 800-win mark, following Sylvia Hatchell, Pat Summitt, C. Vivian Stringer and Jody Conradt.

You all probably also remember that Landers was a member of the 2007 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame class that included one Mel Greenberg. I got a chance to meet Landers when in Knoxville for the induction ceremonies that summer; not that he would remember me, but it's nice to be able to say that.

Thinking back to that weekend, I dug around in the blog's archives a bit and came across a photo of Andy and Mel that seems appropriate to post tonight. I'll finish with that, and a guess that Mel will have more to say about all of this later on.

(Guru’s note: This is a combination of the Temple-Rhode Island and Villanova-Rutgers game with the raw copy for print for both games because space considerations in the sports section will feature only one game as the lede with the night game having replaced the Temple afternoon game.)

Temple Sizzles in A-10 Win Over Rhode Island

By Mel Greenberg
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Temple got things done the easy way for a change Wednesday by cruising to a 95-48 victory over Rhode Island in an Atlantic Ten matinee game at the Liacouras Center.

A School Day crowd of 1,470 saw a balanced attack in which all five starters scored in double figures, three of them setting career highs.

Lindsay Kimmel had a team-high 22 points, while Shenita Landry and Kristen McCarthy each added 19 points. Landry also grabbed 11 rebounds and McCarthy grabbed 10.

LaKeisha Eaddy added 12 points and Shanea Cotton scored 10 for Temple (10-5, 2-0 A-10).

Lindsay Harris was the sole player in double figures for Rhode Island (7-9, 0-1), scoring 12 points.

In several instances, Temple first-year coach Tonya Cardoza was able to relive her days as an assistant with powerful Connecticut where routs are commonplace.

“You had trouble finding something to yell (at halftime) about to the players,” she said with a smile after the game. “Today was an unbelievable day for us. I’m shocked at how well we performed. It’s something we talked about – playing 40 minutes of good basketball.”

The game was decided so quickly – the Owls bolted to a 21-4 lead -- that the only elements of suspense was over whether Temple could break a team record for shooting three-pointers or could the Owls hit the century mark on the scoreboard.

Temple fell just short of the three-point mark, sizzling on 11-of-21 attempts.

Kimmel was exceptionally hot matching her career high beyond the arc on a 6-for-11 effort.

“One of the big things with Lindsay is she has opportunities, but today she was a little more focused. oday she shot them knowing they were going in. And her teammates did a good job finding her.”

As for the 100-point plateau, Cardoza explained that certain manners are required in becoming a head coach.

“When I was an assistant coach and whenever you had an opportunity to score a 100 points, as an assistant coach we were always, `Yeah, let’s get 100.’

“But as a head coach that is something you don’t want to do. If it ever happens within the flow of the game, that’s different. But you don’t want to ever embarrass your opponent.”

Villanova Empties Bag of Tricks Too Early Against No. 23 Rutgers

By Mel Greenberg
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Villanova women’s basketball coach Harry Perretta has pulled a few stunning upsets out of his hat in his 31 seasons on the Main Line.

The magician, however, admitted he ran out of tricks Wednesday night at the Pavilion when No. 23 Rutgers pulled away in the final minutes on a 9-0 run to a 60-51 victory in the Big East Conference.

“To be honest, we used every special play we had between the 10 minute mark and the five minute mark,” Perretta said. “They worked and we were able to get some easy baskets but the problem is they only work once.

“We usually try not to use use those plays until we get under five or four minutes, but I just felt when we were down seven (points) and nine, we had to try to do something to get an easy basket.”

Laura Kurz had 12 of her team high 19 points for the Wildcats (9-7, 1-2 Big East) in the second half. Lisa Karcic also scored in double figures with 15 points.

Epiphanny Prince continued to be the princess of the Rutgers offense with as game-high 29 points that included 7-of-14 baskets from the field, including 3-of-5 on three-point attempts.

She also was a perfect 12-for-12 on free throw attempts.

Equally important, Prince took the game over, scoring 12 of the final 18 points for the Scarlet Knights (9-5, 1-2).

Khadijah Rushdan, a graduate of St. Elizabeth High in Wilmington who missed most of her freshman season last year because of a knee injury, grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Wildcats trailed early in the game at 19-5 before closing the gap to 32-23 at the end of the first half.

Villanova drew even closer when Rutgers missed its first seven shots in the second half and eventually grabbed a 47-46 lead on Heather Scanlon’s three-pointer with 7:20 left in the game.

An upset still seemed realistic when Karcic’s trey tied the game at 51-51 with 3:35 left.

But Prince countered with a trey of her own and Villanova was shut down the rest of the way.

Rutgers snapped a three-game losing streak as Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian

Stringer used a four-guard lineup with center Kia Vaughn.

Reluctant to play newcomers against the likes of Villanova, Nikki Speed was the only freshman to see action until near the end of the game when she was replaced by another freshman in Brooklyn Pope.

The other four starters played all 40 minutes and Pope was replaced in the last minute by senior Heather Zurich, who had been a starter in the past.

“We did it out of necessity,” Stringer said of her strategy. “I didn’t think that there would be many people that would play because of who they (Villanova) are.”

Stringer was pleased in her team making just 11 turnovers and everyone playing their roles as she desired.

“I’m still trying to find out what makes us tick,” Stringer said. “What is the lineup, what is the Scarlet Knights. What do we look like. Who are we.”

Guru's update: No one pointed it out to him, but the Guru in a moment of clarity realized he overlooked his notes on the Mountain West which are now inserted.

By Mel Greenberg

Hello all. As conference races have gotten under way in this year of a multiude of upsets in the first two months, here is an early skinny as to who needs to do what.

As you begin looking at this bear in mind much can change. Some teams being called locks now could play themselves out and others can play their way in by the time we get to the mock bracket in February.

But looking at data, records and performance, the tried to create a core group of field contenders without regards to automatic bids. There is a chance that the committee will get lucky and actually get a break point at 64th pick or fall four or five short and then have a slew of teams that will have to be compared against each other.

Let's begin with first identifying the conferences which need no further discussion because they project as automatic bid winners, although within the race in those places a donnybrook will occur and in many cases, the regular season chamo may not be the tournament champ.

If that occurs, the only teams seem worthy of at-large rescue on this date are Marist in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Confernce, South Dakota State in the Summit League, and Middle Tennessee in the Sun Belt.

Assuming they all win - thereby no longer considered in the vote for 33 at-lage slots -- the other one-team only leagues are: America East (Hartford faded after the Duke upset), Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Conference USA, Horizon, Ivy, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southland, Southern, Southwestrn Athletic, Western Athletic, and West Coast.

Additionally, the Colonial Athletic Association may be in this group, but right now the Guru's eye is on both Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth, which takes care of that discussion.

As for the rest here we go:

Atlantic Coast -- North Carolina, Duke, Maryland and Virginia in the tournament. On this date, North Carolina and Duke would be considered for one seeds, at worst two. Maryland would be in the 2-3 group and Virginia perhaps 3-4.
Boston College, Florida State and Georgia Tech are not much behind and likely to get picked. They strengthen their cases for seeds on how they fare against the four mentioned and among themselves while avoiding losses to the rest of the conference. Conversely, those teams get into the mix with wins against these teams and no losses among themselves.

Atlantic Ten -- There could be multiples and maybe not. The conference race will say much but today Xavier is probably in with eyes on Richmond and Temple. George Washington is going to have make a deep run while Dayton and Charlotte know what they have to do against this group to become factors.

Big 12 -- The dynamic is the same as the Atlantic Coast with many teams in play but remember this is based on right now. Baylor, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Iowa State, Texas, and Oklahoma are in the tournament with Oklahoma State and Texas Tech also likely. The rest of the conference needs some wins against these teams and no losses among themselves. Baylor and Oklahoma are in the 1-2 talks, Texas A&M in the 2-3.

Big East -- Connecticut -- maybe we should stop this post with the mere mention of the Huskies -- Louisville and Notre Dame are in. The other two on this date are in discussions for very high seeds. Rutgers is probably in on the asumption things will get better but the damage to date will result in lower seeds unless the Scarlet Knights can get to the upper group without too many more losses without regard to the two Connecticut games.
Some others will probably make the field, also, perhaps Syracuse in the crowd. And the crowd is such that it is not worth identiying names -- some fare better against similar contending NCAA teams in other conferences then they do among themselves. Clarity will develop the next few weeks or it will get even messier.

Big Ten -- Ohio State and Wisconsin are in the tournament and Purdue, also likely. This conference, once one of the very best, can't be discussed further until some pecking order develops over the next few weeks. It can be said there are a few teams who won't make but would in an entire at-large tournament that would eliminate the required automatic bid leagues mentioned at the top of this discussion.

Mountain West -- New Mexico and Texas Tech in the tournament with BYU and Utah, despite a low RPI, on the radar because of the competitiveness oif the conference,

Pacific Ten -- Stanford and California are in the tournament with Stanford potentially backing into a one seed-- depending on the other power conference results. Arizona State is probably in and UCLA is on the radar. The rest know what they have to do.

Southeastern -- Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Auburn, and probably Florida are in the tournament. LSU could get there but will need some upsets and be the best of the group if the four mentioned finish that way. Georgia needs some key conference wins to become a factor.
Tennessee has some games left that could get the Vols back into discussion for the highest seed, but as of now they would land in a place in which they could be dangerous as an underdog by seed at the end of the regular season.
The lack of the annual Connecticut game destroys a chance to have something of value in the resume to offset the earlier upsets. The Huskies would be a big favorite in the contest, but on this date the opportunity to reverse that forecast would still exist.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

It was the Guru's intention to use this space to begin looking at who's done what heading into the start of conference races so it can be forecasted who needs to do what in the next two months in terms of the NCAA tournament.

But in consideration that Sunday offers some key matchups at the outset in different places the Guru decided to wait another 24 hours.

That offers the opportunity to once again let you along for the ride at the very beginning with an eye to what will be a second annual attempt by media and select coaches to participate on Feb. 5-6 at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis simulating the tournament committee experience in seletion and placement of the 64-team field.

Already, the dynamics are much different than a year ago when seven teams had quickly separated themselves from the rest of the nation leaving about three to fight for the eighth spot.

Ultimately, it played out that way in reality a month later although some seeds changed -- Rutgers, for example, losing to Louisville in the Big East tournament cost the Scarlet Knights a No. 1 seed and helped caused the collision with conference rival Connecticut in the Greensboro Regional.

And the controversial matchup with Tennessee involving the clock at the finish had yet to occur but would have been a major discussion had it been in the history books at the time of our gathering.

This time as we look at St. Louis toward the 1+3, er, Final Four, the landscape is wide open, so much so that it will take a few weeks before submitting advance ballots to pick 33 at-large teams without regard to how they may ultimately finish in their conference races.

Obviously, eventual winners with automatic bids go directly to the field of 64 and off the at-large board.

Also, although there was not time to go deep in the placement a year ago, we are now looking at the first two rounds in terms of 16 sites, as opposed to eight the past several seasons.

A year ago, three prominent former coaches -- Marsha Sharp, Joe Ciampi, and Theresa Grentz -- were panel members.

This time that category will be filled by former Colorado coach Ceal Barry, who undoubtedly will be asking the Guru the status of Kate Fagan, her former star point guard who is now the 76ers beat writer in the Guru's home office after her hire last spring.

Four current coaches will be involved, however, this time -- Texas A&M's Gary Blair, Oklahoma's Sherri Coale, who is also president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association; DePaul's Doug Bruno, and Notre Dame's Muffet McGraw.

Given past reactions to situations involving their teams on selection day, this will also cause a rare mix of whine with wine at dinner. But it also sets up a Big 12-Big East challenge, with ESPN.com's Mechelle Voepel returning and in position to break deadlocks. (A little Big 12 inside humor there.).

The AP's Doug Feinberg, who will return, already noted to the Guru, who conveyed the consideration to real chair Jacki Silar on our recent visit to Duke, that in regard to coaches on hand whose teams will obviously be discussed at all levels, they should be made to leave the room when their particular team is deliberated as what occurs on the real committee.

Other coaches were invited but had to decline given their particular team's schedule.

Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer was one such invitee, but given her sometime lengthy precision on matters in postgame press conferences it is probably just as well considering the shorter time frame in the mock bracket exercise.

(A little Guru humor there, you know we love you coach.).

Already, in another change, there have been some advance assignments given as to which participants are responsible for personally tracking which conferences.

In terms of the rest of the group, the WBCA will be represented by Beth Bass and the ever-present Betty Jaynes.

The podcast sisters: Debbie Antonelli and Beth Mowins will be among a rather large ESPN group that includes Charlie Creme, the bracketmeister who will want to make sure we match his ongoing projections; Nancy Lieberman, Josh Osborne, Holly Rowe, Laura Sandillo, Voepel, and Carol Stiff.

Amy Farnum Novin of NCAA.com will be on hand. The print group will include yours truly, who oversees the women's wing of the United States Basketball Writers Association; Fenberg, USA Today's Dick Patrick, and Stu Durando of the tournament host city St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Based on the makeup -- the low number of print people yet another reflection of the state of newspapers these days in terms of travel - one can envision much debate once the field is established.

A year ago in this excercise as the first seed attempt went on the board, the Guru made an aside to Voepel noting how he couldn't wait for her to blast herself for the result the way she has had some taken exceptions previously to seed and placement.

This time forget about coaches complaining about their teams. Given the 9-4 advantage ESPN has over print on the committee, the Guru could expect many phone calls from colleagues on the beat of individual teams moaning that the field was designed to offset the ESPN expenses for transporting trucks and personnel to the various sites.

And holding the votes and with an eye to ratings, Voepel has already alluded to such fun reunion matchups as Duke-Texas, Tennesee-UConn, and Purdue-Tech to name a few. If South Carolina and Temple both make our field of 64, well, enough said. Maybe the NCAA can put them on the advance list as wrong conference winners such as they did a year ago with situations to throw monkey wrenches into the process as they occur for real in March.

Since part of this is all fatansy, if we get Delaware as a wrong-winner, the Guru would try to match the Blue Hens early with Connecticut to encourage you know you, as she is known in Hartford, to come out of youthful retirement.

Actually, the Guru is checking eligibility situations to see if three UConn teams from earlier eras can be inserted into the other regions. All would get to St. Louis, but at least the current Huskies could face a tougher challenge from several of their own.

Given the site location in the East, some print media strapped for cash will be happy to follow their schools deep in the tournament to the Trenton Regional -- an easy train or auto ride -- even if the placement causes short circuits to any of the three teams who will be in the same group as Connecticut.

But the Huskies' appearance always cause the most media entertainment away from the court. The Guru is already scouting restaurants.

As to the advance assignments, the Guru has been paired with the NCAA's Amy Farnum Novin responsible for tracking the Atlantic 10, Atlantic Coast, Northeast, and Patriot League. Secondary assignments are the Big East, Ivy League, and Southwestern Athletics Conference -- Hey, the Guru has already seen Prairie View A&M.

In a sense, the Guru automatically will play the role of a committee person in that his assigned conferences are in his coverage area -- such as Sunday's St. Joseph's-Temple game in town that will be a key Big Five battle along with the Atlantic Ten debut of new Temple coach Tonya Cardoza.

We'll be back on this topic as we near the date.

Riding Along with Debbie & Beth

So in a phone coversation the other week with Debbie Antonelli, the Guru was asked if he had ever listened to the podcast featuring herself and Beth Mowins, and the Guru couldn't answer in the affirmative other than he enjoyed the "live" broadcasts at the Final Four last year and at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductions last spring.

However, while doing some music downloads -- it isn't all basketball and play -- the other night, the Guru remembered the conversation and popped into the ITunes podcast section and grabbed the duo's recent comentary.

He then slipped the file into one of his Ipods -- not to be confused with one of his blackberries --l and plugged it into the car radio to listen while making some stops in the neighborhood.

They were great and it sounded like one of those oldtime morning radio conversations, given the makeup of the audio system -- ain't technology wonderful when it works.

So this is your shout-out from this site and the Guru looks forward to the next podcast.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - There are a myriad of options available in one's first seven minutes after arriving here in the campus town of the Universiy of Maryland.

One can sit at a busy intersection near the Washington I-495 Beltway on Baltimore Ave. waiting for a traffic light to change.

Or one can spend the small amount of time deliberating whicfh of the fine eateries to dine for a pre-game meal.

Or one can catch up on the latest local news here from our friends running the D.C. Basket Cases web site.

Or one can quickly enter the Comcast Center home of the Terrapins to view the shrine created honoring the NCAA championships of the men's and women's basketball teams.

In the case of Wake Forest University, which had been unbeaten until the previous 45-33 loss at Richmond Tuesday night, the Demon Deacons chose to do absolutely nothing.when it came to the opening of their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule against No. 14 Maryland.

By the time Brittany Waters connected with a three-pointer Thursday night one second after the aforementioned lapse of time with 12:59 left in the first half, the Deacons needed more than a few prayers to overcome what had been a 20-0 deficit.

And as witnessed Saturday at Rutgers, apparently Tennessee is one of the few to have prayers answered when down by double decade numbers.

Unlike the nationally-televised contest on the weekend, this one featured a rout by the same team in both halves -- although the 46-37 Terrapin advantage in the second half was a bit more competitive for a while than the lopsided 46-28 differential compiled in the first 20 minutes.

"It was fool's gold," Wake Forest coach Mike Petersen said of the way the action went after the opening salvo by Maryland (13-2). "Teams ahead 20-0 play differently than teams involved in a 10-10 game.

"The biggest thing was our offense at the start of the game," Petersen continued after an opening in which he offered to discuss issues of the day outside women's basketball. "You're not going to stop Maryland from scoring - that's what they do. We had zero push to our offense. That's not us."

Air power was definitely lacking from beyond the arc where the Terrapins shot 13-for-27 on three points attempt compared to a 7-for-23 effort by Wake Forest (12-2). which is holding a No. 25 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.

Kristi Toliver was the top Terrapin in that category shooting 4-for-8 on the way to a game-high 22 points. Freshman Lynetta Kizer wowed from the inside with 17 points, while Marah Strickland scored 12. Maryland also got double digit scoring from Drey Mingo and Marissa Coleman with 10 points each. Demauria Liles grabbed 13 rebounds.

Corinne Groves scored 17 points for the Deacons, with Brooke Thomas and Camille Collier scoring 12 points each. Alex Tchangoue added 11 points.

In some fairness to Wake Forest, Petersen's team has made a change at point guard with Thomas, a freshman, inserted after Tiffany Roulhac suffered a potential season-ending knee injury on Dec. 26.

"She'''ll eventually be fine," Petersen said of his newcomer. "But not now against this," he nodded toward the Terrapin dressing room.

Maryland coach Brenda Frese was obviously pleased considering that the Terrapins next head south to No. 5 Duke, which should be at least a spot higher by the time both teams take the floor in Monday night's nationally-televised contest in the Blue Devils' Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"It's great to see the statement we made today for our first ACC game," Frese said. "What I was really pleased with was our defense. Obviously, to come out and make the statement we made from a defensive end, that just got us clicking on all cylinders. Defense led to offense.

"It was very exciting to see so many new players and how they were going to play in their first ACC game."

Of course, their second ACC game will tell much more about both teams in the earliest phase of the conference schedule.

Prior to the game Wake Forest assistant coach Bob Clark, a native of Philadelphia (now we know the cause of the blog traffic report from Wnston-Salem, N.C.), introduced the Guru to associate head coach Natasha Adair, who was prominently mention by the Guru last spring during the Temple search of which she was a finalist.

Guru's travels. On the way down I-95 he made a slight detour a mile off the highway to visit with his Hofstra friends prior to what became a stirring 62-53 overtime victory at Delaware in a Colonial Athletic Association contest.

The win by the Pride (9-4) continues a dramatic turnaround from last season's 5-25 effort for third-year coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey, who played at North Carolina State.

The loss dropped Delaware (8-5) to 0-2 in conference play after what had been another positive turnaround from last season's 7-24 effort.

The Atlantic Ten's Fordham, which was 0-30 a year ago, is another team making mark progress from a year ago.

Meanwhile, no one is knocking on Delaware volleyball freshman Elena Delle Donne's door with a help wanted sign to urge her to return to the sport of her high school acclaim.

But the Guru is hearing reports of alumnae scattered around the CAA from Wilmington's Ursuline Academy where Delle Donne starred suggesting that she could be in a Blue Hens basketball uniform next season.

However, it could just be wishful thinking.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

At mid-afternoon on Saturday Rutgers held a 23-point lead on Tennessee and was dominating into halftime.

If the performance at that moment was a glimpse of the future through the rugged Big East, there was a lot one could legitimately dream in terms of the NCAA committee's deliberations in March.

A No. 2 seed could become a reality, though it would be helpful to be a weak No. 2 to avoid Connecticut in the same region. Even a No. 1 could come into play depending on how the crush shakes out by the time conference play concludes.

After all, a win over Tennessee certainly enhances a profile in any year and helps separate one from others in an upward movement when teams are being slotted.

But a nationwide audience saw the meltdown and now on Tuesday night an upset loss at Syracuse followed to start conference play.

That setback sets the stage for more nightmare thoughts than dreams.

Things won't be as bad as what happened three years ago when normal short-bet Penn State got a first-round site and never made the tournament.

But with more bumps expected the nature of those rough spots will determine much.

The loss to the Orange basically conceded the Big East regular season title to UConn in that the Scarlet Knights needed to be unbeaten when the first of the two matchups between the 1-2 preseason picks occurs early next month.

Now, it would take a perfect run including a sweep of the Huskies to get the top seed in the conference tournament. The problem is more rough sailing before the ship rights itself -- and that should happen eventually, shouldn't it -- could cost a Big East bye.

The good news is that as powerful as the conference is, Rutgers could get lots of help from a free-for-all in the next two months if the Scarlet Knights take care of their own business.

The other good news is that Rutgers will still be at home to start the NCAAs no matter what their tournament seed.

But losing to Syracuse is the equivalent to losing to a middle of the upper pack seed in the postseason.

In that regard, keep in mind that if Rutgers is only a No. 3, a No. 6 will be at the RAC and the way the national scene is playing out at the moment, there are a lot of teams that could land in that spot and cause trouble.

A No.4 seed brings a No. 5, which means an even tougher opponent.

A No. 5 or No. 6 and Rutgers becomes an inherent underdog in its own house.

On the other hand, even though it could take longer than two years ago to operate smoothly, one could recall the words of Geno Auriemma last season.

"Rutgers is not the team you want to play in March, especially in the tournament."

If that becomes reality again, one can just take a deep breath and consider all the miscues of the moment as Rutgers shooping at the shoe store to find the best pair of Cinderella slippers available.

Penn On The Rebound -- Again

Following Penn's tough loss to La Salle at the finish in The Palestra Monday night, which conversely was a great win for the Explorers, Quakers coach Pat Knapp left some reaction on the Guru's phone while the Guru was in the air Tuesday returning from North Carolina.

"Yeah, it was very, very tough," Knapp said of the loss. "I thought the game was in our hands. We didn't play well enough to win. It was a combination of a lack of aggressiveness on our part on offense and some inexperience out front in the guard spot with Sarah Bucar being out.

"And certainly La Salle made some big shots," Knapp said. "We have to take our experiences of getting that far and turn the corner. So now it's time to move on to Princeton."

The Quakers begin play in the Ivy League Saturday on the road against the Tigers.

Meanwhile Knapp's father suffered a hip injury during the Temple game at The Palestra Friday night when a youngster running in the aisle way didn't see him and knocked him over.

Knapp said the surgery went well, his father is strong and there are no complications but it will be a long recovery period.

-- Mel

By Jonathan Tannenwald
Philly.com

You might have seen it already, but the AP is reporting that North Carolina State coach Kay Yow will not return this season as she continues her fight against breast cancer.

From the story:

In a statement released by the school Tuesday afternoon, the Hall of Fame coach said she just doesn't have the energy to coach the way she always has before. She has missed the past four games.

Yow said she will revisit the decision no later than the end of the season.

As Mel has said, everyone over here wishes Yow all the best in her fight, and we hope and pray that she wins it once and for all.

(Guru's note: A game story from Duke for print to lead the women's roundup is at Philly.com)

By Mel Greenberg

DURHAM, N.C. - Remember two weeks ago when things came together all over the planet to help the Eagles land a playoff berth. The home team routed Dallas and got help elsewhere with great comebacks.

Temple sort of had the same thing happen in reverse Monday night at Duke.

The Owls got routed, 87-52, by the No. 5 Blue Devils, who will probably move up to No. 4 next week.

Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie was pleased that her squad finally was able to dominate all the way as opposed to some previous games that go beyond her arrival from Michigan State last year.

"This was the first time we dominated them," McCallie said.

Asked if she had some areas of concern facing the Owls, McCallie responded, saying,

"They do so many nice things; I had tremendous concerns about their inside game with (Shanea) Cotton and (Shenita) Landry. I was very concerned about those two as seniors and players who are very comfortable. I was very concerned about (Lindsay Kimmel) as an outside and very pleased that she didn’t get open or get access to really be effective there. You treat every opponent exactly the same, and we were very prepared for Temple.”

Unfortuately for the Owls, the game was witnessed by Duke senior women's adminstrator Jacki Silar who is also the chairwoman of the NCAA tournament committee.

Fortunately, she also watched Temple's performance against Rutgers last month.

Meanwhile back home in Philadelphia some of sting down here was in being alleviated with the news that Penn was on the verge of beating La Salle in a Big Five game.

That was going to be helpful in terms of the Temple possibly still being a stand-alone champion, but with one loss, which is usually a rarity in the final standings.

Then the Guru's blackberry was hit simultaneously from La Salle and Penn that Ashley Gale hit a three-pointer at the buzzer and that La Salle scored the last 12 points to win the game.

That cost Temple's outright chances if the Guru has the match deduced correctly.

Someone should give a tarnished trophy for Penn and Villanova to share at the postseason dinner. Either the Wildcats or Quakers with a few extra minutes and points could have been unbeaten champions. Villanova finished 1-3 with the one being an upset of Temple that ended the Owls' 18-game City Series record win streak. Penn was 0-4 being in every contest as opposed to a year ago when the Quakers were crushed in all four games. They have now lost 17 straight.

All this does is make Temple's visit to Philadelphia University Sunday to play St. Joseph's a key game as the start of the Atlantic Ten schedule and also in the Big Five race.

St. Joseph's and La Salle are both 2-0 and can win outright with a sweep.

For Temple to share a title, the Owls need to beat the Hawks and La Salle to finish 3-1 while piling up Atlantic Ten wins at the same time.

Then whoever wins between La Salle and St. Joseph's in the final Big Five game in February would share the crown with the Owls at 3-1.

The Voting Gap

For the first time there is an unusually wide differential between teams ranked in the Associated Press women's poll and the coaches poll that is sponsored by ESPN and USA Today through the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

Now in this particular year it could be hard to see which group will be proven right in their deliberations.

But the Guru has heard whispers from a few coaches not on the voting board questioning how teams are getting ranked on that side of the aisle.

The Guru has responded, it is not his area of concern but said he would mention it just to note the discussion has taken place.

Things could still sort themselves out in conference play and maybe not.

Wake Forest, for example, has a great record. How great?

That will be answered with a visit to Maryland Thursday night.

Thats it for now.

We'll be back in the next 24 after we return home.

(Guru's note: A print story off the game with focus on ailing North Carolina State coach Kay Yow is over at philly.com)

By Mel Greenberg

RALEIGH, N.C. - South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley, who left a successful eight-year stint at Temple to revive the Gamecocks' functions, still thinks much of her native Philadelphia far from home.

On Sunday, after a win over South Carolina at the buzzer for Staley's first triumph over North Carolina State in four tries as a coach, Staley sent a cheer for the Eagles prior to their playoff win over Minnesota to advance in the NFL playoffs.

"Overall, we're taking steps in the right direction," Staley said of her new life in Columbia. "We're trying to get better and we did that today."

Then, she paused and a grin crept over her face.

"Now, we have to get the Eagles on board."

It was then pointed out to her that the Phillies finally won a world series after she left town.

"I was glued to it. I was glued to it," Staley said.

Meanwhile as the fates evolved, Staley's former Temple team watched part of the action of its previous coach in Reynolds Coliseum before heading to nearby Durham where the Owls will meet Duke Monday night. The Blue Devils should be at least No.5 in a few hours from this writing in the new poll in the wake of No. 4 Texas' loss to San Diego State last week.

Duke Homecoming

When Temple takes the floor in Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday night against Duke it will be a homecoming of sorts for assistant coach Brittany Hunter, who once was the nation's top recruit as a Blue Devils freshman.

Her arrival was a major triumph at the time in that Connecticut was a runnerup in the hunt for her talents.

She then unmwittingly touched off a mild firestorm when the Huskies were about to play the Blue Devils in a 1-2 matchup that season.

Asked by the UConn media contingent what was a deciding factor in her choice of schools, Hunter alluded to the value of a Duke diploma later in life.

In an ensuing interview with Huskies coach Geno Auriemma on his reaction, he quipped about the number of persons holding Duke diplomas he knew who were waiting on tables in restaurants.

He got the final say, however, when Hunter later decided to transfer to UConn, where she graduated last season and was brought to Temple as an aide to Tonya Cardoza, who had been a longtime assistant with the Huskies.

Hunter, in a preseason interview at Temple, said, like Dawn Staley, coaching was not a thought in her future as a player.

"It's funny," she said. "I didn't remember having interest before Tonya asked me to join her. But I remember talking to (former Connecticut star) Shea Ralph, once, and she told me she wasn't thinking of a coaching career, either, when she was an undergraduate."

Ralph, however, was an assistant to Agnus Berenato, helping to build Pittsburgh into prominence, before Auriemma then coaxed her back to her alma mater to fill Cardoza's spot on his staff.

Rutgers Fallout

If New Jersey transportation officials ever finish widening Route 18 near the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, the improvement will be worthy.

It will put the fan base that much closer to the Raritan River on the way home after excruciating losses such as the one Saturday in the Louis A. Brown Athletic Center to national rival Tennessee.

The Scarlet Knights had led by as many as 23 points in the first half and 20 at the break.

The differential created the worst half in Tennessee's history and the 13 points were the lowest total.

Following last year's controversial loss at the finish in Knoxville when Tennessee benefited from a timer malfunction to beat Rutgers, media types were wondering how many headlines were going to have a new spin: Scarlet Knights Clock Tennessee.

The fan base was quite guiddy at the time although a portion of the sellout crowd was there to cheer for the Vols and coach Pat Summitt, who is nearing 1,000 career victories.

"Write a good headline," one yelled to the Guru as he headed down from the upper press area to the media room.

The Guru, however, wondered whether the lead could hold based on the fact it could have been worse and Rutgers has a history of letting opportunity slip through the Scarlet Knights' fingers.

He already sensed some bad karma, wondering why ushers in the crowd managed to be distributed shirts colored orange for their working attire.

As for the long range implications -- it is now not out of the question that Rutgers could be grouped again with Big East rival Connecticut in a potential NCAA tournament Sweet 16 appearance in Trenton.

That would delight organizing officials but would mean something else to Rutgers coach C.Vivian Stringer after last year's regional title matchup in Greensboro, N.C.

If Connecticut continues to dominate the nation, geographical preference would place the Huskies No. 1 in the Trenton regional.

At this point with so many unknowns, anything could happen to Rutgers that would need a great closing finish, along with a slew of other teams, to get to at least a No. 2 seed.

Ideally, on each line, Rutgers would be better as a weaker No. 2 or No. 3, or No. 4, etc. because under the infamous committee principles and procedures, anyone else in the East on the same line as the Scarlet Knights would then get the dreaded Trenton geographical placement as the stronger seed in that particular group.

The next geographical site closest to Rutgers is down here in North Carolina, which is becoming the Scarlet Knights' second tournament home. Raleigh will be one of the four sites.

But before any of the Rutgers fans start heading into that construction lane on Route 18 near the "banks," it is a long way until the end of the season.

Unlike a year ago when seven teams pretty much had claimed the top two NCAA bracket lines barring a plunge in conference competition, it is quite messy right now.

How messy?

When it came to voting in this week's poll on Sunday night, little consensus existed on what were now two potential open slots in the top 25.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

Hello everyone. The Guru is having a major quiet rage moment in that this entry page blew up on him when he tried to append quotes from the email sent by Rutgers off of Friday's session with the Scarlet Knighrs that he was unable to attend due to matters here in Philadelphia that also included coverage of the Temple-Penn game in the previous post.

Mich as the Guru grew up in The Palestra, he does not feel like hanging around in the underbelly of the fabled around for another hour or so to recreate what he just lost.

Those thoughts are safe in the recesses of his mind and when he is in a more serene state 24 hours from now he will give his context on the game in this space after the outcome here.

Meanwhile, here are comments from Rutgers Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer and a few players. They speak for themselves, so to speak.

Basically, the Guru, in tying back to last year's controversial finish, noted that many participants are gone and this is about learning and that perhaps Rutgers gets more in the long run from a win and less from a loss depending how the Scarlet Knights proceed through the Big East.

Tennessee has already been nicked but enough is in front of the Vols in the Southeastern Conference, but not as much as Rutgers in the Big East, to pick up NCAA resume honors along the way.

That said, here are the quotes, which did make it into this template this time, even if the Guru's own intro now exists somewhere among the space junk revolving around the planet.
.
(If he did not think it actually sounded like a good read, the Guru would not be in such a state )

Here's what was said.

Grrrrrr :)

Head Coach C. Vivian Stringer

What can you take away from a 6-0 December:

“They weren’t challenging games. I know we’re getting better. I appreciate that we have an opportunity to play a Tennessee because we can measure ourselves.”

On Tennessee:

“Tennessee is an excellent rebounding team and we’ve done a poor job of that. They’re an extremely aggressive defensive team and we don’t even handle that well at practice.”

On the tough schedule leading up to BIG EAST play:

“We’re going to be tested at the highest levels and what’s good about that is we can measure and know that we’re going to be fine in the BIG EAST or we’re going to have problems.”

On both Rutgers and Tennessee having so much young talent:

“Sometimes you can be so young that you don’t even know what you don’t know. That’s also true of our kids; we don’t know what we don’t know either. In this case, they’re playing. So much of it has to do with your mindset. When Matee (Ajavon) and Essence (Carson) were freshmen they started. They took care of LSU, Tennessee and Texas. Three games in one week, back-to-back-to-back like that and we won all of them. And they were a major part of that. But they were so young that they didn’t even know what they didn’t know. But they had to play and produce. There was no hesitation, no fear, they just played. That’s the difference, it was their mindset.”

What’s it like playing Tennessee:

“For us it’s almost the same because we play Tennessee every year. It’s not like we’re seeing them once every three or four years and we just heard about Tennessee. We’ve been playing them quite a bit, at least I have personally. What it’s like is, a team overcoming the mystique of another team and realizing that it was all in their head in the first place. They were good and everyone knows that they’re good, but you lose when you give them more credit than they deserve. You can’t do any talking; you have to back it up. You do recognize that they are fundamentally sound and they are the best athletes in the country, there’s no question about that but you have to find a way to get it done.”

“I can look at tapes from last year and they’re doing the same things. They just do what they do and they do it well. Some of the patterns they ran for Candice Parker, now they run them for Glory Johnson. The difference may be replacing her with the same kind of quality. Can you really take out a Candice Parker and put in a kid that just got a scholarship. But she has quality people coming in behind her.”

Is this a better team now than when the team returned from the west coast road trip:

“Yes. There’s no question, we are light-years ahead of that. Our challenge is playing the highest level of competition.”

Is the rate of improvement that the team is making satisfactory:

“I’m never satisfied with that. I’m not because we don’t compete well enough against each other. We just need to be competitors in practice. There’s such a thing as having 10 players and there’s such a thing as having 10 competitive players. We are getting better out there, but we have a long way to go.”

Kia Vaughn, Senior Center

Does it strike you that you are playing in a game with two coaching legends:

“They are. Although both of our teams started off slow and we have young players that are actually the majority of the team, everyone knows that regardless of how bad we start off, it’s Vivian Stringer and Pat Summitt’s team’s so obviously they are going to come out and show improvement. Later on is when everyone starts to peak and this is always going to be a good game.”

On how the team has improved since the west coast trip:

“We came from that trip, being a four in my mind to being a six and a half or seven. So we have a long ways to go to get to 10.”

How do you feel about your offensive game:

“I’ve been up and down. I think it was just me wanting to win so bad that I actually shut myself out more. I try hard to get my teammates to learn everything and with that I lost what I should be doing. So I had a conversation with my teammates and I told them to just play hard and I’m going to be who I am.”

“I do as much as I can. If I’m getting double and triple teamed, it’s the whole team. I have to be calm and find them. They have to hit open shots in order for it to come back to me so I can be effective. I can’t score on two or three people. In order for me to be effective, I need my guards to be relaxed and do what they have to do.”

What’s it like this time of year with the extra practice time:

“For me it’s exciting because it’s all about basketball. There’s no school. It helps as an individual because you have extra time to work on your game. And you have extra time to stay here to help your teammates understand here. This is the time I actually get back into game shape. This is when we actually get to bond more.”

Epiphanny Prince, Junior Guard

Has Coach Stringer used the events at last year’s game as motivation for match-up with Tennessee ?

(Stringer took away the team’s practice gear and have them doing their own laundry since Dec. 2)

“She hasn’t been using that. She has been telling us things like ‘we should want to win. The real motivation is that if we win we get our stuff back (laughter).” Question from reporter, what if you don’t win, you don’t get your stuff – gear- back? “We won’t get anything back if we don’t win. This is our real test. This and GW are our real tests, she said. I guess we have a 50, so far. I just want to win. I don’t need any extra motivation, ready to play hard and win.”

Would a Tennessee win motivate you as you begin the BIG EAST schedule?

“It’s very important because it would give us a lot of confidence going into BIG EAST play. We were predicted second in the league and we have already have some very close games that we shouldn’t have. We know that anyone can win on any given day so we want to come in here with a lot of confidence, especially in conference.”

You have a six-game streak, how much better in this team playing?

"The only game that we played very good in was GW (in the six-game win streak).We have played down to competition a lot and we don’t come out to attack teams. We have come out lackadaisical and letting others attack us first. The only team we attacked first was GW. We tried to attack them first both offensively and defensively.”

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - A typical swing in momentum in City Series competition in the home of the Big Five enabled Temple to rally past Penn Friday night for an 81-70 victory in The Palestra that kept the Owls' defense of four straight titles alive.

La Salle and St. Joseph's also have a chance to win the Big Five outright and all three teams have yet to play each other in games that will also count in the Atlantic Ten race.

Friday's victory in The Palestra was the first Big Five win for first-year Temple coach Tonya Cardoza. It came after the Owls (8-4, 1-1 Big Five) had lost at Villanova last month to end a local record 18-game win streak in the Big Five matchups.

Temple was in danger of elimination for all purposes Friday night when the Quakers' Carrie Biemer and Kelly Scott led a perimeter attack combining for 6-for- 9 from beyond the arc in the first half.

The torrid shooting fueled a Penn (3-8, 0-3) run to a 26-12 lead with 10 minutes, 50 seconds left in the half.

Furthermore, Temple center Shanea Cotton, who has been consistently breaking career highs in scoring, was on the bench virtually all of the half after being assessed three personal fouls in less than three minutes after the opening tip.

But the Owls fought back and actually took the lead at 36-34 on newcomer Ranecia Fields' jumper with 20 seconds left in the period.

Penn, however, had final say before time expired on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Beamer.

"It was a big win for us because if we had lost, obviously we would have been out of it, we wouldn't have stood a chance," Cardoza said afterwards. "I told the team before the game that we were going to have to deal with adversity because we were normally going to have to play people that don't play."

Various players are dealingt with injuries and startking point guard LaKeisha Eaddy was sidelined with an ankle sprain.

"I thought 'Rece' stepped in and did a remarkable job," Cardoza said of the native of Palo Alto, Calif., a junior college transfer guard who had been recruited by Cardoza's predecessor Dawn Staley. "For her not to have played all season, and to be in a game like this that wasn't a blowout or anything like that, the fact we're losing and she was the reason we took the lead, I just can't say enough for the job she did."

Fields finished with a career-high 18 points, behind Shenita Landry's team-high 19 points. Cotton, who stayed in the game the second half, finished with 10 points as did BJ Williams.

"We just pulled together as a team," Fields said. "It's not me, alone, definitely not me alone. I just credit my team and definitely the leadership on the floor."

Penn continued to hang tough in the second half, still leading 59-54 with just under eight minutes left in the game.

But then Temple put its athleticism to good use and went ahead 61-59 on Cotton's two free throws with 5:17 left in the game.

The Owls never trailed again, extending their differential in the final minutes.

Biemer finished with a game-high 21 points and Scott scored 19 for the Quakers.

Penn has now lost 17 straight Big Five games dating back to the 2004-05 season after the Quakers took a 2-0 lead. But this time has been exceptionallhy tough.

After being routed in all four games a year ago, Penn has remained alive untl the final minutes in all three games with Monday's visit from La Salle the only remaining Big Five game on the Quakers' schedule.

"To be honest, I don't think we've come up empty," Penn coach Pat Knapp said. "I know the score says that, but I think we're gaining something each time.

"We're playing hard, we're playing together," Knapp said. "I told the team the middle of the second half we started to get outrebounded. It got a little too wild for our taste. We can't do that.

"And the second thing was we made a couple of mistakes on the press, late, and that hurt as well."

As for their shooting prowess, Scott said, "We got open looks and set good screens and came across shooting with confidence."

Biemer noted, "We knew their big players had trouble defending ball screens on the outside and that kind of plaed to our advantage in terms of moving and getting open shots.

"We got lucky on a few, especially that one at the end of the half."

The win was also the first in The Palestra for Temple assistant Dan Durkin, a former Duquesne women's head coach who was a high school teammate of Knapp in the Catholic League.

Temple travels to No. 6 Duke, which will probably be at least one spot higher in the rankings when the Owls take the floor at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.

The Blue Devils have been scared twice in successive seasons by Temple, especially two years ago when the Owls almost pulled an upset in the second round of the NCAA tournament in nearby Raleigh when Duke was the top seed of the tournament.

"It's a big game but we treat every game the same. We just have to get it done," Landry said.

Ironically, when the Owls land in the Tar Heel State early Sunday afternoon, Staley will be nearby with her new South Carolina squad, which is playing North Carolina State that day in Raleigh.

Wolfpack coach Kay Yow, who has been battling breast cancer, has missed three straight games and it won't be known until sometime before the 2 p.m. tipoff on Sunday whether the Hall of Fame coach has recovered enough energy to return to the sidelines.

-- Mel