Sweet dreams for regionals
Women gear up to move to Elite 8
A year ago, Louisville's first trip to the NCAA Tournament's Round of 16 looked like it would be just a brief stop on the way to the regional final. Instead, the Cardinals blew an 18-point lead and were left wondering how everything went wrong.
Now the Cardinals have returned to the regional semifinals, another step in their bid to develop a consistently elite program. But they're trying to focus solely on the challenge of one game against Baylor today in Raleigh, N.C.
"We're not putting any extra pressure on trying to get to an Elite Eight or anything like that," second-year coach Jeff Walz said yesterday. "We're just trying to make sure we take care of business [today]."
Louisville (31-4) is the No. 3 seed in the Raleigh Regional and has won 10 of 11 games in the past six weeks, with the only loss coming against unbeaten Connecticut in the Big East tournament championship game.
Perhaps it's a sign of the program's progress that there isn't that much being made of a return to the Round of 16. Instead, the Cardinals know they have the talent to keep going behind seniors Angel McCoughtry (23.3 points per game) and Candyce Bingham (12 points, seven rebounds).
Louisville cruised past Liberty to open the tournament, then beat LSU in Baton Rouge, 62-52. Baylor (29-5), the region's No. 2 seed, has had a much tougher time getting here.
The Bears survived an overtime scare from No. 15 seed Texas-San Antonio in the first round, then needed a last-second basket from Kelli Griffin to beat South Dakota State, 60-58.
Also in Raleigh, Maryland has made itself right at home on Tobacco Road. After winning the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament earlier this month in Greensboro, the Terps are the league's last team standing. They're hoping to play their way back into the Final Four, starting today against No. 4 seed Vanderbilt.
"We're coming into the tournament, obviously, playing some of our best basketball, and I just love the fact that we're clicking on all cylinders," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said.
After breezing through the NCAA Tournament's first weekend, Maryland (30-4) is sure to face a tougher test in the third round. The Commodores (26-8), the last remaining team from the Southeastern Conference, once again stand between the Terps and a spot in the regional finals.
Not that there's much value that either team can extract from the tape of Maryland's 80-66 win in last year's Round of 16. With Marissa Coleman and guard Kristi Toliver the unquestioned leaders, these Terps are more perimeter-based than they were when Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper clogged the paint.
In Berkeley, Calif., Jayne Appel and her Stanford teammates cruised into Haas Pavilion yesterday morning after a picturesque 45-minute drive across the Bay Bridge.
The arena will be packed with Cardinal fans when Stanford takes on Ohio State in perhaps the NCAA regional semifinals' most intriguing matchup.
But this is hardly home sweet home for Stanford - and familiarity isn't necessarily a good thing for Appel and the second-seeded Cardinal (31-4).
"I don't think we're counting on any points or any extra advantage because we're so close to home," said Appel, the Pac-10 player of the year preparing for a matchup with Big Ten player of the year Jantel Lavender. "I would love to say that it's an advantage, but my freshman year, we lost [an NCAA Tournament game] at home, on our own court."
One other thing, Appel says: "This was the last place we lost."
The Buckeyes (29-5) aren't worried about Stanford's short trip to get here.
"We're used to being the team that comes in and doesn't have as many fans," said Lavender, who is averaging 21.0 points and 10.8 rebounds. "We just have to come out and play poised, like we always have at road games."
Iowa State has had a couple of big potential obstacles knocked out of the way during its run to the Berkeley Regional.
The good fortune of having two-time defending champion Tennessee and top-seeded Duke each eliminated a game before playing Iowa State came at a price. An even bigger barrier is now in the Cyclones' way: Allyssa DeHaan, Michigan State's 6-foot-9-inch shot-blocking center.
DeHaan's presence is one of the biggest reasons ninth-seeded Michigan State (22-10) has been so successful defensively this season and reached the regional semifinals against fourth-seeded Iowa State (26-8) tonight.
The Big Ten's career leader in blocked shots is averaging 3.2 per game this season, anchoring a defense that is sixth in the country in field goal percentage allowed at 34.3 percent.
The winner will face the winner of third-seeded Ohio State or Stanford for a trip to the Final Four. 