Yes, there has been a lot of buzz about the NCAA Final Four, what with no Number 1 or Number 2 seeds, plus a back-in-the-Final Four Butler and high-riding 11th-seeded VCU.
But there is another Final Four out there, and, though it also includes a team from the University of Connecticut boasting a high seed and serious talent, there's no Kemba Walker in sight.
Tuesday night, the two-time defending champion Lady Huskies of UConn dismissed the #2 Duke Blue Devils (Lady Devils?), 75-40, in the third game of the NCAA Women's Elite Eight, sending Coach Geno Auriemma's crew to their twelfth straight Final Four. The win was UConn's 114th in their last 115 games. Yes, you read that right.
UConn's win made the Lady Huskies the third of the women's Final Four teams, joining #2 Notre Dame (a Big East rival they've beaten three times this year) and #1 Stanford (the only team to beat UConn in the last three seasons). They were joined some three hours later by the Texas A&M Aggies, who upset the Baylor Lady Bears, 58-46.
While there may not be any storylines as compelling as #11 VCU's jaw-dropping run through a slew of powerhouses (USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Kansas), or Butler's returning to the Final Four for the second straight year while being a Number 1 or 2 neither time, but the ladies' tournament has drama aplenty.
First, as mentioned, there is the fourth meeting of the year anticipated between UConn and their archrivals, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
"It's going to be rough," UConn Superstar Maya Moore said of the match. "We know each other so well and there are not a lot of surprises. It's going to be a battle to grind it out. We're representing well for our conference. It should be fun."
While it's unlikely that anyone but the eventual winner will look like they're having fun at any point during Sunday's Final Four matchup, if anyone was, it ought to be Moore. The senior point guard is a four-time All-American, whose final shot of Tuesday night's game (she had a game-high 28 points) gave her 3,000 points for her career, a distinction only 7 other women have reached in the NCAA.
"I don't think about [that] right now," Moore said.
"We did talk in the locker room that this was going to be a big night for Maya," Auriemma said after cutting down the nets in the aftermath of the Elite Eight victory. "You could just sense it."
What many are wondering is if Moore is sensing a third-consecutive national championship, which is a very real possibility, considering their 3-0 record against the Irish this year. The Irish, though, are riding high after dismissing #1 Tennessee, an all-star laden team led by legendary coach Pat Summit.
Despite all the attention heaped on UConn, Moore, and the Big East rivalry, the other Final Four matchup isn't one to sleep on, either.
Number two Texas A&M, which is playing in the program's first Final Four, just beat a team against whom they were previously 0-3 this season, #1 Baylor.
"Our team has gone through so much; we've gone through so many things," A&M point guard Sydney Colson said. "We have so much resilience."
They needed it to get by Baylor, led by 6'8 sophomore Brittney Griner. Griner had an impressive game, with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, but she made just 6 of her 18 shot attempts from the floor, and was hounded the whole game by fellow All-American Danielle Adams, who stands 6'1.
"My shots weren't falling," Griner said glumly after the defeat. "It wasn't anything A&M did."
A&M will play the other remaining #1 (other than UConn), Stanford, who handily beat 11th-seeded Gonzaga, 83-60, in the Elite Eight. The Cardinal romped to a 33-2 schedule this year, which, of course, includes THE victory, the one that ended UConn's 80-game winning streak, back on December 30.
The women's Final Four will be played Sunday evening, the day after the men's semifinals.
No comments:
Post a Comment