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Sports

Next stop on the trip: Final Four

A-Short 

Arie Graham

The road to the women's NCAA Final Four has been an awesome ride, so far. 

Tennessee, North Carolina, LSU and Rutgers have shown no signs of letting up. For that matter, neither has the drama that continues to plague the LSU program.

Earlier this month, the Tigers were hit with the news that former head coach Pokey Chatman had an alleged relationship with a former player. Despite having to endure the media frenzy that followed with Chatman's subsequent resignation, the team sprinted through the NCAA field and into the Final Four. And yet, the allegations surrounding Chatman continued to be dangled by the media.

Obviously, the relationship is old news and the media shouldn't have made the issue as big of a deal of as it did. Sadly, this was all anybody talked about while teams were preparing for the tournament.

Nonetheless, LSU (30-7) does not seem to be affected by this at all. Junior center Sylvia Fowles has been the team's driving force during the tournament. Rutgers will have a tough time stopping her when the two teams square off at 6 p.m. Sunday in Cleveland.

Rutgers (26-8) is the surprise team of this group. The Scarlet Knights' 53-52 upset victory over Duke in their Sweet 16 matchup is one that will go down in women's college basketball history. It also adds another disappointing loss to the list of NCAA Tournament heartbreakers for Duke.

Nevertheless, the Blue Devils had their chances in that game, none bigger than the one that came with a mere split-second left in the game and the Blue Devils trailing by a point. ESPN.com National Player of the Year, Lindsay Harding, stood at the foul line to attempt two free throws that, if made, would have likely given Duke the victory. 

In an odd twist of events, both free throw attempts rimmed out and Rutgers walked away with the biggest upset of the tournament. 

Poor Duke. As talented as the Blue Devils have been in recent years, they just cannot seem to finish when it counts the most.

It will be exciting to see how the Scarlet Knights match-up against LSU. They do not have much experience at this level since it is only the second Final Four appearance in school history, but this game will be no less interesting to watch.

Also on Sunday, the nation will be treated to another great matchup between Tennessee and North Carolina. There is no telling which way this game is going to go, but the phrase "going down to the wire" is floating in the air. 

After all, they don't call it March Madness for nothing.

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