Finals Set for Tuesday

Nice games last night. I said a week or so ago that Stanford's offense was going to be tough to stop, and it was. Conneticut lost its second game of the year and it was the only time they have given up more than 80 all season long. Candice Wiggins was great again (25 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists), but the offense was very evenly distributed. Appel, Hones, Harmon and Pederson played very well off Wiggins and hit the open shots. It was Candice's back to back three pointers (on the very same play) that changed the tone of the game. Maya Moore worked hard (20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 assists and 2 steals) but just didn't have enough help. Geno said after the game that he just didn't have enough bodies available to pressure The Cardinal the way he needed to in order to win. The game was still much closer than the final score indicates. The Huskies were within 1 point before Wiggins took over.

In the second game of the night, it was Sylvia Fowles who was the star, but she couldn't lead her team to advance past the Final Four. Fowles had 24 points, 20 rebounds, and 5 blocks, but no other Lady Tiger reached double figures. Fowles played all 40 minutes of the game and she was in obvious pain in the waning seconds. Cramps seemed the likely suspect, but she continued to fight through it. LSU's defense was stifling but no one could score a basket. Tennessee on the other hand found a way to get the ball in the hoop when they needed that score. In the end Alexis Hornbuckly almost blew the game fowling Erica White on the last possession. White hit both free throws to put the Tigers up by one. On the next possession, with no time left on the clock, Fowles AGAIN stopped Parker in the lane, Anosike missed the open layup but Hornbuckle redeemed herself with the game winning tip. This felt like it was the championship game already, and I am not sure Tennessee has enough gas left in their tank to stop Wiggins and the rest of her Stanford team.

Tuesday will be a crazy night.

On a side note, Katie Gearlds got some clips and a mention in the NCAA three point competition. Eventual winner Chioma Nnamaka from Georgia Tech was compared as being strong just like Katie Gearlds last year. She let herself get intimidated by men's winner Darnell Harris and she broke the streak of the women's champion beating the men that was two years running.