Sports

The rich get richer; Lady 'Sips upset LSU

Women's NCAA Notebook

Christian Schmidt

And then there were four. The Final Four for the NCAA womenis basketball tournament is set, and some familiar faces are back again. Connecticut, Tennessee and Duke, all perennial playoff participants, are back competing for the national championship. The new kid on the block is Texas, making its first Final Four appearance in the last decade.

Huskies survive

What looked like a runaway victory got very interesting for the Connecticut Lady Huskies on Tuesday night. The Huskies held on late to beat Purdue 73-64 and take a place in the Final Four.

Connecticut had a 24-point lead early in the second half, but a 19-2 run by the Lady Boilermakers, sparked by forward Shereka Wright, cut the lead to 64-57 with less than three minutes remaining in the game. Connecticut completed nine consecutive free throws down the stretch to ice the game.

Texas upsets LSU

Texas, the No. 2 seed in the West region, beat Louisiana State 78-60 to advance to the Final Four. Texas is the only team in the Final Four that is not a No. 1 seed.

The Lady Tigers roared out to an early lead, but the Lady Longhorns fought back and took the lead, one they would never relinquish. Texas was never seriously challenged in the second half, building a 30-point lead at one time in the game.

The last time Texas was in the Final Four was 1987. This marks the third time head coach Jody Conradt has taken her squad to a Final Four. In 1986, she led the Lady iHorns to an undefeated national championship season.

Harry and Pat

It was a showdown not just between two good teams but also between two good coaches who happen to be friends as well. Tennessee, led by head coach Pat Summitt, beat Villanova, led by head coach Harry Perretta, 73-49 Monday night.

Villanova trailed for the entire game but kept things close in the first half, cutting the Tennessee lead to a single point with 1:50 remaining in the first half.

In the second half, Tennessee opened with a 23-3 run during which Villanova was held scoreless for more than seven minutes. During that time, Tennessee opened up a double-digit lead and never looked back.

Villanova finished the best season in the schoolis history with a 26-8 record and its first ever Elite Eight appearance.

Summitt and Perretta became good friends after Summitt asked the Villanova coach for help implementing a motion offense last summer. Perrettais offense is an unusual one that relies on ball movement and passing and compensates for less talented players.

Beard comes up big

No team consists of one player, but it sure helps to have a superstar on your side when the going gets tough. For Duke, that superstar is junior forward Alana Beard, who is widely considered to be one of the best players in the nation.

Beard was the difference in a 57-51 Duke victory over Texas Tech on Monday night. Beard scored 28 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals for the Lady Blue Devils.

The game was close throughout, with neither team able to get a secure lead. Beardis three-pointer with less than two minutes remaining broke a 51-51 tie. Duke forced three Tech turnovers and Iciss Tillisi block on Texas Techis Plenette Pierson secured the win.

Duke will face Tennessee in the first national semifinal Sunday night in Atlanta.

In other news

Texas A&M announced former Arkansas head coach Gary Blair as the schoolis new basketball coach Monday. The move comes less than a month after former head coach Peggie Gillom was told her contract would not be renewed.

Blair has a 408-163 career record in 18 years at Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin. A press conference to make a formal announcement about the hiring will be held today.

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