Two No. 1s down, two to go.
No. 1 seed Connecticut’s women’s basketball team got taken apart in the Fresno regional final, 70-53, by a resilient LSU team, which played like it had something to prove. And it did. LSU, a No. 3 seed, is going to its fourth straight Final Four. Earlier, No. 4 seed Rutgers didn’t let the Sun Devils of Arizona State see the light of day, knocking them off with relative ease, 64-45, to advance to the Final Four in Cleveland after having shocked overall No. 1 Duke on Saturday in the Sweet 16.
Rutgers becomes the lowest seed to reach the Final Four since 2004. Still, if No. 7 seed Mississippi topples mighty No. 1 Tennessee tonight, the Rebels could supplant Rutgers for that distinction. Also still in the mix is No. 1 North Carolina, which faces No. 2 Purdue.
Connecticut and LSU are a study in contrasts. Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma has won five national championships. LSU’s acting head coach, Bob Starkey, has coached four games – all in the tournament, all wins. This is the third straight season that Connecticut has not advanced to a Final Four. LSU joins UConn, Tennessee and Louisiana Tech as the only teams to reach four straight. Still, they haven’t won a semifinal yet. Auriemma has been head coach at UConn for 22 years. LSU has gone to the four Finals Fours under three different head coaches.
In a pre-game news conference, Starkey, who took over after Pokey Chatman resigned March 7, was asked to compare himself to Auriemma. He sang the praises of the Hall of Fame coach, conceding Auriemma is the better coach, dresses better, is better looking, has a better sense of humor. Auriemma, always cocky and outspoken, agreed. But he pointed out one area where Starkey gets the upper hand.
“He’s got Sylvia Fowles,” he said.
Nuff said.
For most of the 2003 and 2004 seasons, Auriemma, when asked to assess his team’s chances against any and all opponents, would crow, “We’ve got Diana Taurasi, and they don’t.”
It was all he had to say. Most teams couldn’t contain the super-human guard. Whenever a big shot needed to be made, she’d make it – from anywhere on the court. She was virtually unmatched, especially in the big games. But the Huskies haven’t gone to a Final Four since she graduated.
So, now it’s, “LSU has Sylvia Fowles, and they don’t.”
Fowles was the difference. She finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds, 6 blocks and 3 steals. She was practically a one-woman team, dominating on both sides of the ball. At 6-6, she’s wiry and athletic, with tremendous body control and quickness.
Fowles locked down UConn’s Big East Freshman of the Year, Tina Charles, holding her to 1 point and 3 rebounds in 21 minutes of play. After a thundering block by Fowles on Charles midway through the first half, the Christ the King product wasn’t the same. Charles had scored 17 points and 9 rebounds in UConn’s 72-71 win over LSU in February in Baton Rouge.
It wasn’t just Charles who was ineffective; UConn couldn’t get anything going in the paint – LSU outscored UConn, 28-10 in the paint -- or much of anywhere else. LSU has the No. 1 scoring defense in country, and the Tigers played a sagging defense that held UConn to 33 percent shooting, with only two Huskies reaching double figures. Guard Renee Montgomery battled to keep her team in it, and finished with 17. Mel Thomas was 3-for-5 on three-point shooting and finished with 13 points.
The Tigers, on the other hand, were fierce. Aside from Fowles, three other players hit double figures, with Allison Hightower coming off the bench to 3-for-4 from three and total 12 points. Forward Ashley Thomas also had 12 and point guard Erica White, barely 5-foot-3, scored 11.
White and Fowles have been the picture of toughness and leadership since Chatman left the team abruptly amid allegations of improper relationships with former players. The juniors on this junior-laden squad – there are no seniors – have weathered the illness and subsequent death in 2005 of their beloved coach, Sue Gunter. Many team members and the coach staff had been personally affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. And then Chatman resigned on the eve of the tournament. Starkey and assistants Carla Berry and Christie Sides have kept the team focused, and the team believes in Starkey, a longtime assistant for the women’s and men’s teams. Fowles has put the team on her broad shoulders, and together they’re ready to take on anyone.
“We won’t let anyone break us,” White said.
Rutgers will certainly test them. C. Vivian Stringer – the only coach to take three different teams to the Final Four and now going for the fourth time – finally has her young Scarlet Knights team on the same page and it’s in the defensive playbook. Stringer-coached teams like to win ugly, in low-scoring, grinding, gutty, defensive battles. Duke had averaged 80 points on the season – had even beaten Rutgers, 84-45, back in December -- but the much-improved Scarlet Knights eliminated the Blue Devils, 53-52. They held ASU to 45, allowing only one player, guard Briann January, to reach double figures, with 12.
Rutgers shocked UConn in the Big East final, dictating the plodding defensive pace just s they did against Duke. Not to say Rutgers doesn’t have offensive weapons. Regional MVP Matee Ajavon is averaging 17 points in the tournament, and the junior point guard takes over when offense is needed. Sophomore center Kia Vaughn, a big 6-foot-4, is the Scarlet Knights’ best chance to try to neutralize Fowles, but she’ll need help. As UConn found out, putting one player on her isn’t going to do it.
When Rutgers (26-8) and LSU (30-7) meet Sunday in Cleveland, it’d be a shock if either team cracks 50, but it won’t be a shock that Fowles will dominate and, with Fowles, LSU will win.