Changes at the top

Sporting News, The, March 25, 2005 by Kara Yorio

Quick, name the best teams in women's college basketball. Tennessee and Connecticut? For the past 10 years, that has been the easy Answer--only twice in that time did another program win the NCAA title (Notre Dame in 2001; Purdue in 1999). But this year, equality has hit women's hoops.

"This is the most remarkable season as far as parity," says Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman, an ESPN analyst. "Any one of six or seven teams can win."

Tennessee, No. 3 in the latest AP poll, certainly is one of them; 13th-ranked UConn probably isn't (Lieberman prefers Baylor as a dark horse). With an assist from Lieberman, we've got four picks every bit as strong as the Lady Vols.

LSU

                                                         THEY'LL WIN
  THEIR GAME        BEST PLAYER      TALLEST STARTER    IT ALL IF ...

The Lady          Seimone            Tillie Willis,    ... they don't
Tigers play       Augustus, a 6-1    F, 6-3            have to face
uptempo and       junior guard, is                     Tennessee. There
have one of       the SEC player     SHORTER STARTER   is a history
the country's     of the year and                      there that the
best defenses,    a finalist for     Temeka Johnson,   Tigers can't
swarming          the Women's Woo-   G, 5-3            seem to break,
shooters and      den Award. She                       Tennessee
blocking shots.   averages 20.1                        knocked them out
                  points and hits                      of the tour-
                  87 percent of                        nament last year
                  her free throws.                     and beat them in
                                                       the SEC tourney
                                                       final this year.

STANFORD

They are big      Candice            Brooke Smith,     ... they can
and strong,       Wiggins, a         C, 6-3            handle six games
well-balanced     5-11 freshman                        against elite
and smart.        guard, was the     Susan King        competition they
They're not       Pac-10 player      Borchardt, G,     don't normally
particularly      of the year and    5-7               have to face in
athletic, but     is a Wooden                          the Pac-10. The
they get the      finalist. She                        Cardinal is a
job done          averages 17.3                        mystery team--no
defensively.      points and 5.4                       one knows if
                  rebounds.                            it's as good as
                                                       its ranking.

NORTH CAROLINA

The Tar           Larkins, a         Erlana Larkins,   ... this young
Heels rebound     freshman, is a     F, 6-2            lineup can play
well, get a lot   force down low,                      with a consis-
of points off     blocking shots,    Ivory Latta,      tency greater
their defense     grabbing           G, 5-6            than expected of
and don't give    rebounds (7.1                        freshmen and
up a lot of 3s.   rpg) and scor-                       sophomores.
Erlana Larkins    ing (15.1 ppg).
and Camille
Little are an
excellent post
pair.

MICHIGAN STATE

The               Junior guard       Kelli Roehrig,    ... their top
Spartans, an      Lindsay Bowen, a   C, 6-4            six players
excellent road    Wooden finalist,                     avoid foul
team, try to      is second on the   Lindsay Bowen,    trouble and
push the          team at 13.8 ppg   G, 5-7            injuries. This
tempo and are     and is its best                      is not a deep
balanced; they    3-point threat.                      team.
can shoot from
the perimeter
but don't live
and die there.