holy toledo! rockets win wnit championship

The Toledo Rockets women's basketball team will be at Savage Arena again on Thursday.

This time, the Rockets will not be playing any games. They're going to hold a community celebration on their WNIT championship on Saturday, the first postseason title in school history.

Toledo fans will get to listen to fans and players talk about their historic run to the WNIT title. The Rockets won all six WNIT games at Savage Arena, including a 76-68 win over USC in the championship game on Saturday.

When the Rockets opened their season on Nov. 12 at home against St. Francis (Pa.) in opening-round Preseason WNIT game, only 845 people showed up.

When Toledo opened its Postseason WNIT tournament play on March 16 with a 58-55 win over Delaware, a total of 1,245 people were in attendance.

Suddenly, as Toledo kept winning, more fans started showing up to Savage Arena. The Rockets had a total of 25,669 fans in their six WNIT games at home, including a school-record 7,301 in Saturday's championship game with USC.

Toledo also had wins over Auburn, Alabama, Syracuse and Charlotte in the tournament. With the victory over USC, the Rockets prevented the Pac-10 (it will become the Pac-12 next year) from winning a WNIT title for the second year in a row. California won it last year, but was eliminated in the second round this year.

Overall, Toledo turned in a brilliant home season, going 19-1 and averaging 3,078 fans a game at Savage Arena. Missouri State handed the Rockets' only home loss on Nov. 20.

Melissa Goodall and Jessica Williams are Toledo's only seniors. They combined to score 15 points against the USC.

But the top player for Toledo was junior Naama Shafir. The guard from Israel scored a game-high 40 points and finished as the team's leading scorer at 15.3 points per game.

Toledo finished its season at 29-8. The Rockets' NCAA tournament hopes were diminished on March 11, when they lost to Eastern Michigan in the Mid-American Conference semifinals.

Four months ago, Toledo was eliminated by eventual champion Purdue in the Preseason WNIT quarterfinals. On Saturday, the Rockets made sure they wouldn't leave Savage Arena empty-handed.

"Even though we would have loved to be part of the NCAA Tournament, this may have been the best thing to ever happen to our program," Toledo coach Tricia Cullop told the Toledo Independent Collegian on Monday. "We got to be part of a national tournament and our fans got to enjoy all of this with us."

On Thursday, the Toledo fans will get to celebrate the WNIT title with the players and coaches one final time.

gig this: aggies are champions!

The national championships are continuing to pile up at Texas A&M University.

Since 2009, the school from College Station has won six national titles, including one in women's basketball on Tuesday.

The Aggies' women's basketball team captured its first national crown in program history with a 76-70 victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Texas A&M closed out the game with a 10-4 run.

With Tuesday's win, Texas A&M now has a total of 11 national titles. The women's basketball team joins the men's and women's track and field, softball, football, men's golf and equestrian teams as the only Texas A&M programs to win national titles. The men's and women's outdoor track and field teams won back-to-back national titles in 2009 and 2010 and the men's golf team captured a crown in 2009. The football team, which is Texas A&M's most popular sport, won its only title in 1939. Texas A&M's softball squad won titles in 1982, 1983 and 1987 and the equestrian team won it all in 2002.

Texas A&M became the first Big 12 school to win the national title since Baylor in 2005. Ironically, the Bears won their first and only national championship in Indianapolis. The Aggies also became the fourth Texas school to win a women's basketball national title, joining Baylor (2005), Texas Tech (1993) and Texas (1986).

"We were not going to lose this game," Texas A&M senior Danielle Adams told the Texas A&M Battalion on Wednesday. "We've fought hard from day one at 6 a.m. to practice and worked hard through this whole season to prepare for this point."

The Aggies also prevented Notre Dame from becoming the first school in 19 years to win a national title in its home state. The Irish, who beat powerhouses Tennessee and UConn to reach the national championship game, finished 31-7.

The win on Tuesday was a good ending for Texas A&M seniors Adams, Sydney Colson, Maryann Baker and Catherine Snow.

Adams played at Jefferson College (Mo.) for two years before joining Texas A&M last year. When she was a sophomore, Adams helped Jefferson reach the JUCO national championship game. On Tuesday, she scored 22 of her game-high 30 points in the second half and earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honors.

Colson bounced back from foul trouble in the first half to finish with 10 points and five assists. Colson played for Texas A&M all four years and was named team captain in her sophomore and junior seasons.

Two years ago, Baker suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Now, she's part of a championship team. The Dallas native played 10 minutes and scored two points. Baker earned first-team all-Big 12 Academic honors.

Snow played in her second and final season with the Aggies. She played in nine games this year. While attending Troy High School in Temple, Texas, Snow lettered in five sports -- basketball, volleyball, softball, cross country and track.

Texas A&M beat McNeese State and Rutgers in the first and second round at Shreveport, La. Then, the Aggies beat Georgia and Baylor in the Dallas Regional to advance to the Final Four for the first time. Texas A&M advanced to the title game by upsetting Stanford in the national semifinals.

With the win over Notre Dame on Tuesday, the Aggies finished 3-0 against Big East opponents this season.

The third win turned out to be an historic one for Texas A&M.

irish returns to final four

A week ago, the Notre Dame men's fencing team won its eighth national championship.

This week, the Fighting Irish are looking to add another national title to their trophy case, this time in women's basketball.

Notre Dame is playing in its third Final Four and its first in 2001. The Irish are playing UConn in the national semifinals, the fourth time the two teams will square off this season.

Notre Dame is looking to win its second national championship. The Irish won it all in 2001 in St. Louis. That year, the school beat UConn in the national semifinals before beating Purdue in the title game.

If Notre Dame wins it again, it will become the third school (Stanford in 1992 and USC in 1984) to win a national championship at its home state. Notre Dame is just 147 miles from Indianapolis.

"We do get to get on a bus instead of a plane which is kind of nice but other than that we're going to be staying in a hotel in a different city," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw told the Notre Dame Observer on Thursday.

The Irish earned a trip to Indy by beating Tennessee in the Dayton Regional championship game on Monday, making them the 10th team to play in the Final Four at their home state. Baylor was the last team to accomplish that feat in 2010 in San Antonio.

Notre Dame is looking to become the first at-large team to win a national championship since Maryland in 2006.

But first, the Irish have to get past UConn, who beat Notre Dame three times this season.

uconn shoots for three-peat

Can it happen again?

Can UConn pull off another double, just like it did in 2004?

The Huskies are getting closer of doing just that. The UConn men's team is one victory away from its third national championship after beating Kentucky on Saturday in the national semifinals in Houston.

About 1,160 miles away, the UConn women is looking to win its third consecutive national championship. The Huskies will play Big East rival Notre Dame in the national semifinals on Sunday in Indianapolis.

It's the third time UConn had both its men's and women's teams in the Final Four in the same year. In 2009, the UConn men's team lost in the national semifinals in Detroit and the women's squad won the national title in St. Louis. In 2004, the men's and women's teams won national titles in San Antonio and New Orleans, respectively.

A total of seven schools had both men's and women's teams in the Final Four. Georgia became the first school to accomplish that feat in 1983.

On Tuesday, Baylor and Texas A&M played for the fourth time this season when the two teams squared off in the Dallas Regional championship game.

On Sunday, UConn will play Notre Dame for the fourth time this season. The Huskies won all three meetings, including the Big East title game.

The Huskies are playing in their fourth straight Final Four. During its Final Four trips the last four years, UConn, which is located in Storrs, Ct., has traveled a total of 5,318 miles. Indianapolis is 860 miles from the UConn campus, making it the shortest Final Four trip for the Huskies during that four-year span. A year ago, UConn made the 2,029-mile trek to San Antonio and won the national title.

So far, the Huskies haven't lost in the 2011 portion of the women's basketball season. UConn had its 90-game winning streak snapped by Stanford two days before New Year's Day.

When UConn became the first Division I team to win the men's and women's basketball championships in the same year in 2004, Diana Taurasi was the best player on the women's team.

Now, Maya Moore is the best player on the UConn women's team. On Saturday, she became the first three-time winner of the Wade Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding player in women's basketball.

Lorin Dixon is the other senior on the UConn team. Like Moore, she played in the last three Final Fours.

The Huskies will take a 36-1 record into Sunday's game with Notre Dame. They advanced to their fourth straight Final Four by beating Duke 75-40 in the Philadelphia Regional championship game on Tuesday.

Moore scored her 3,000th career point against Duke.

"I don't really think about it right now," Moore told the UConn Daily Campus on Wednesday. "Of course, it's really exciting to be able to be at a program where I've been able to flourish."

Now, Moore is looking to end her career with a flourish. All she needs is two more wins.

aggies set for stanford

In the 29-year history of the NCAA women's basketball tournament, three Texas schools -- Baylor, Texas and Texas Tech -- have won national titles, which is more than any other state.

Now, Texas A&M is looking to become the fourth Texas school to win a championship. The Aggies are making their first Final Four appearance and will face Stanford in the semifinals on Sunday at Indianapolis.

"When we go to the Final four, what we're going to have to do is put our cell phones away, quit saying hello and goodbye to all our family," Texas A&M coach Gary Blair told the Texas A&M Battalion on Thursday. "We're honored to get to the Final Four, but it will not be worth it if we do not win it."

Texas A&M qualified for the Final Four by beating Baylor in the Dallas Regional finals on Tuesday. The Aggies beat the Bears for the first time this season after losing the first three contests.

Baylor won its first and only national title in 2005 in Indianapolis. Texas became the first Texas school to win a national title in 1986. Texas Tech, behind Sheryl Swoopes' 47 points in the national championship game, won it all in 1993.

Blair will make his second Final Four appearance. In 1998, he coached the Arkansas Razorbacks to their first and only Final Four trip in 1998 at Kansas City. But they lost to Tennessee in the national semifinals.

In order for the Aggies to clear the national semifinal hurdle on Sunday, they have to get past a Stanford team that is making its fourth straight Final Four apperance and is looking to win its first national title since 1992.

Texas A&M is also looking to become the first at-large team to win a national title since Maryland in 2006. The Aggies finished second to Baylor in the Big 12 regular season standings and lost to the Bears in the conference championship game.

stanford ready for another long trip to final 4

For the fourth year in a row, the Stanford Cardinal will be playing in the Final Four.

And for fourth year in a row, the Cardinal will be making another long trip.

Out of the four teams competing in this weekend's Final Four in Indianapolis, Stanford will have the longest commute. Indianapolis is 2,336 miles from the Stanford campus.

Players like seniors Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen and junior Nnemkadi Ogwumike are getting used to these long trips. During their trips to the Final Four to Tampa (2008), St. Louis (2009) and San Antonio (2010), the Cardinal logged in a total of 6,967 miles. So after this weekend, Stanford will have traveled 9,303 miles in its four straight trips to the Final Four.

But the Cardinal aren't planning leaving Indy empty-handed like they did in Tampa, St. Louis and San Antonio. Stanford lost in the championship game in 2008 and 2010 and was knocked off by UConn in the semifinals in 2009. The Cardinal haven't won a national title since 1992.

"Yeah, I'm so excited, I really can't even put it into words right now," Pohlen told the Stanford Daily on Tuesday. "Going to the Final Four every year, I mean it's a dream for people, some people don't even get that close."

It's a possibility UConn and Stanford will square off in the Final Four for the fourth straight year. UConn plays Notre Dame in an all-Big East semifinal and that follows the Stanford-Texas A&M semifinal at 7 p.m. EST.

Pohlen and Petersen will play in the Final Four for the fourth straight year. So far, Pohlen is turning in her best college season, winning Pac-10 Player of the Year honors and earning a first-team all-American award. Petersen earned all-American honorable mention honors after averaging 12.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Pohlen and Petersen join Ashley Cimino and Hannah Donaghe as the first class members in Stanford history to reach four consecutive Final Fours.

Stanford advanced to the Final Four by cruising past Gonzaga 83-60 on Monday in the Spokane Regional championship game. The Cardinal had the longest commute among the Elite Eight teams (Spokane is 1,047 miles from the Stanford campus).

By going to Indianapolis for the Final Four, Stanford will be making its third trip east of the Mississippi River this season. This time, the Cardinal hope the third time will be the charm. On Dec. 16, the Cardinal traveled to Chicago to play DePaul and lost 91-71. Three days later, Stanford headed south to Tennessee to play the Lady Vols and lost 82-72. The Cardinal haven't lost a game since.

wnit final 4 is set for wednesday

Now that California is out of the Women's NIT tournament, the USC Trojans are looking to give the Pac-10 another WNIT title.

USC is two wins away from doing just that. The Trojans advanced to the WNIT Final Four by cruising past future Pac-12 opponent Colorado 87-70 in Sunday's quarterfinals. USC is in the WNIT Final Four for the first time in school history and, on Wednesday, will play an Illinois State team that is competing in the tournament semifinals for the third straight year.

USC will be making the 1,986-mile trip to Normal, Ill., for a chance to qualify for the WNIT championship game against either Toledo and Charlotte.

Cal had a similar path in reaching the WNIT championship game last year. The Bears made the 2,128-mile trek to Normal to play the Redbirds in the tournament's semifinals and they not only left Illinois with a win, but they earned a bid to host the championship game against Miami and beat the Hurricanes for their first postseason championship in school history. Cal's bid for its second straight WNIT title ended in the second round with a loss to Colorado.

Now, USC is two wins away from its third postseason title in school history. The Cheryl Miller-led Trojans won NCAA titles in 1983 and 1984.

USC is also playing its fourth straight road game in the WNIT. After starting its tournament play with a win over UC Santa Barbara at the Galen Center, USC picked road wins over Nevada, BYU and Colorado.

On Wednesday, the Trojans will be playing in the Midwest for the first time since December.

So far, junior Ashley Corral has been USC's shining star in the WNIT. She scored 75 points in the four games, including 32 off the bench against the Buffaloes on Sunday.

"She wouldn't let us die," USC coach Michael Cooper told the Colorado Daily on Monday. "Most of the plays were drawn up for her and she was able to deliver."

The Trojans also beat Colorado for the second time this season. USC beat the Buffaloes 68-54 in the Women of Troy Basketball Tournament on Dec. 18.

aggies prepare for elite eight

Gary Blair has been there and done that.

He has been to the Women's Final Four before. In 1998, he coached the Arkansas Razorbacks to their first and, so far, only Women's Final Four appearance. As on Monday, Arkansas is the lowest seed to compete in the Final Four. The Razorbacks were the No. 9 seed.

On Tuesday, Blair has another opportunity to go to his second Women's Final Four. His Texas A&M will play Baylor in a Texas-sized Dallas Regional championship game. Texas A&M has never been to the Final Four.

"It's great," Texas A&M senior Danielle Adams said in the Texas A&M Battalion on Monday. "I've never been to an Elite Eight. This is my first one, and I'm pretty sure these girls are happy to get back to the Elite Eight. So it's all a dream come true to us. We just have to keep our focus and keep pushing towards the next game."

Adams is one of 27 seniors who are setting their sights on going to the Final Four in Indianapolis. Connecticut's Maya Moore, Stanford's Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen, Tennessee's Angie Bjorklund, Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot and Baylor's Melissa Jones are among the other star seniors who are playing in the round of eight this week.

UConn is playing Duke in the Philadelphia Regional championship game on Tuesday. The Dayton Regional (Tennessee vs. Notre Dame) and the Spokane Regional championship games will be played on Monday.

The Aggies are looking to prevent Baylor from qualifying for the Final Four for the second straight year. So far, Texas A&M is 0-3 against Baylor, including a loss in the Big 12 championship game in Kansas City.

The Aggies qualified for the Elite Eight by crushing Georgia 79-38 in the Dallas Regional semifinals on Sunday, making it the second time Texas A&M made it to the round of eight. Three years ago, the Aggies lost to Tennessee in regional finals.

The win over the Bulldogs was a historic one for Texas A&M. The Aggies improved to 30-5, guaranteeing their first 30-win season in program history.

Now, Texas A&M is one win away from making more history and helping Blair get back to the Final Four for the first time in 13 years.

Basketball powerhouses look to clear Sweet 16 hurdle

So far, things have been sweet for the Stanford, Duke and Ohio State women's athletic programs in the 2010-2011 school year.

Stanford, Duke and Ohio State are the only schools in the country that have reached the Sweet 16 in three sports -- soccer, volleyball and basketball.

In volleyball, Stanford and Duke were eliminated in the regional finals and Ohio State lost to Stanford in the regional semifinals. In soccer, Stanford lost to Notre Dame in the championship match, Ohio State lost to Notre Dame in the national semifinals and Duke was eliminated in the Sweet 16.

This weekend, the Stanford, Duke and Ohio State women's basketball teams are in regional action and all of them have potential of reaching the Final Four in Indianapolis.

Stanford is two wins away from its fourth consecutive trip to the Final Four. The top-seeded team in the Spokane Regional, the Cardinal will play fifth-seeded North Carolina. With UCLA and Xavier getting knocked out in the second round, Stanford is heavily favored to win the Spokane Regional and head to Indianapolis.

But in order to get out of the Spokane Regional, Stanford may have to get past Gonzaga. The Bulldogs, who beat UCLA in the second round, are playing just 1.3 miles from campus, so they get to sleep in their own beds. Stanford beat Gonzaga 84-78 in a non-Pac-10 matchup earlier in the season.

The Cardinal are making their 18th Sweet 16 appearance. They will be playing a North Carolina team that has caught fire since the ACC tournament. The Tar Heels reached the conference championship game, then beat Fresno State and Kentucky to reach the Sweet 16. Now, they're traveling over 2,600 miles to Spokane to take on a Stanford team that hasn't lost a game since December.

Ohio State is making its second Sweet 16 trip in three years. The Buckeyes will make the 72-mile bus ride on I-70 west to Dayton to play Tennessee in the regional semfinals.

Ohio State is the lone Big Ten team in the Sweet 16. The Buckeyes advanced to the regional semifinals by beating Georgia Tech 67-60 in the second round last week at Columbus.

"I definitely think that game prepared us for anything we could potential face, because I don't think any other team is going to play physical-slash-dirty like that," Ohio State senior Jantel Lavender told the Ohio State Daily Lantern on Thursday. "I think that Tennessee will be physical, and that game definitely prepared us for Tennessee."

The Buckeyes will take an 11-game winning streak into Saturday's game with the Lady Vols. Ohio State hasn't lost a game since Feb. 6.

Duke will be playing in a Big East-dominated Philadephia Regional. The Blue Devils play DePaul in the regional semifinals on Sunday and the winner of that game will take on either UConn or Georgetown in the Elite Eight.

The Blue Devils advanced to the Sweet 16 by coming from behind to beat Marist in the second round on Monday at Duke.

"That wasn't a great game for Duke, and there was very little emotion after the game," Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie told the Duke Chronicle on Thursday. "I don't believe in the philosophy of survive and advance. I don't aspire to it. I believe in being a powerful team on the floor and going after things, so I can just tell you there was very little celebration."

Hopefully, Duke will leave Philly on Tuesday with plenty to celebrate. The Blue Devils lost to Baylor in the Elite Eight last year. They haven't reached the Final Four since McCallie took over the program four years ago.

tar heels set for long trip to sweet 16

The North Carolina Tar Heels will be ready for another long trip out West.

Last week, the Tar Heels traveled 1,770 miles to Albuquerque, New Mexico to play in the first and second-round games at the University of New Mexico.

This weekend, North Carolina will be making the longest commute out of all of the Sweet 16 teams. The Tar Heels will make the 2,613-mile trek to Spokane, Wash., to play last year's runner-up Stanford in the regional semfinals on Saturday at Spokane Arena.

Hopefully, all of those long trips will pay off for North Carolina, which is seeking for its first Final Four appearance since 2007. The Tar Heels won their only national championship in 1994.

The winner of Stanford-North Carolina will play the winner of Gonzaga-Louisville in the regional finals on Monday. After its stunning victory over Xavier in the second round on Tuesday, Louisville will make the second-longest commute out of the Sweet 16 teams. Spokane is 2,091 miles from the Louisville campus.

Gonzaga, Ohio State, Baylor and Texas A&M are the only teams that will play in regionals at their home state. Gonzaga, which beat UCLA in the second round on Monday, is just 1.3 miles from Spokane Arena. Ohio State will make the 72-mile trip on I-70 west to Dayton to play Tennessee in the regional semifinals on Saturday. Baylor and Texas A&M are playing in the Dallas Regional and will play Green Bay and Georgia, respectively, on Sunday.

North Carolina is playing in the NCAA tournament at Washington State for the second straight year. Last year's trip to Washington was something the Tar Heels would like to forget.

North Carolina shot 38.5 percent in its first-round game against Gonzaga and lost to the Bulldogs 82-76. The Tar Heels were the No. 10 seed, their lowest seed in school history.

Now, UNC will be playing in a game that will start late at night for those people who are living in the Triangle area. The Tar Heels' game with top-seeded Stanford is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. Eastern/8:30 Pacific. North Carolina will leave for Spokane at 4:45 p.m. Thursday en route to the Raleigh/Durham International Airport.

The New Mexico trip was a good one for the Tar Heels last week. North Carolina beat Fresno State 82-68 in the first round and knocked off Kentucky 86-74 in the second. Senior Italee Lucas scored 22 points in both games.

Lucas, senior Cetera DeGraffenreid and juniors Chay Shegog and Laura Broomfield are among the players who played in last year's game with Gonzaga. All of them scored in double figures. Senior Jessica Breland didn't play while sitting out the season due to Hodgkin's lymphoma.

On Saturday, Breland will get an opportunity to play in the state of Washington. This time, Breland and the Tar Heels want to leave Washington as regional champions and have a pleasant, 2,613-mile flight back to Chapel Hill.

"We worked so hard, and we're playing our best basketball right now," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said in the Daily Tar Heel on Wednesday. "We got it going in the ACC tournament, and they've all stepped it up, doing whatever they can to help out...It's a lot of fun to see them play like this and of course to be doing all of this at the right time."

seniors ready for ncaa tourney

There are 180 seniors who will be playing in this year's NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

And all of them share the goal -- cut down the nets at Indianapolis on April 5.

Four of those seniors have experience of cutting down the nets -- Connecticut's Maya Moore and Lorin Dixon and Tennessee's Angie Bjorklund and Sydney Smallbone.

Moore and Dixon helped UConn win national titles in each of the last two years. When they were freshmen, they were part of a UConn team that lost to Stanford in the national semifinals at Tampa, Fla. Now, they're looking to help UConn complete a three-peat for the second time in program history. The Huskies had a string of national titles from 2002-2004.

Bjorklund and Smallbone are looking to end their college basketball careers the same way they started -- playing on a national championship team. When they were freshmen, Bjorklund and Smallbone helped the Lady Vols beat Stanford in the championship game at Tampa. But they didn't have much luck the next two years. When they were sophomores, Tennessee lost to Ball State in the first round. When they were juniors, the Lady Vols lost to Baylor in the Memphis Regional semifinals.

Bjorklund, Smallbone and the Lady Vols will begin their quest for their ninth national championship on Saturday, when they play Stetson in a first-round game at Knoxville. Tennessee is the No. 1 seed in the Dayton Regional.

Or will Moore and Dixon end their college careers by helping UConn tie Tennessee for the most national titles with eight? The Huskies begin their quest of a three-peat on Sunday, when they play Hartford in a first-round game at UConn. The Huskies are the No. 1 seed in the Philadelphia Regional.

Stanford's senior duo of Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen hopes the fourth time's the charm for them this year. They played in the Final Four in each of the last three years, but they didn't celebrate a national championship.

It's been 10 years since Notre Dame last won a national championship. Seniors Becca Bruszewski, Mary Forr, Brittany Mallory and Devereaux Peters are setting their sights on helping the Irish end that drought.

The Baylor Bears were the Queens of Indianapolis when they won their first national title there in 2005. Melissa Jones and Whitney Zachariason will look to help Baylor leave Indy with another crown.

After the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl last month, Wisconsin-Green Bay seniors Heather Golden, Celeste Hoewisch and Kayla Tetschlag will look to help the Phoenix bring another championship to Titletown.

After seeing her big brother Ben lose in the Super Bowl, Oklahoma senior Carlee Roethlisberger hopes to make up for it by helping the Sooners win their first national championship. It's her last chance.

On March 5, Alecia Weatherly celebrated her 23rd birthday by cutting down the nets in the Ohio Valley championship game. On April 5, Tennessee-Martin's lone senior would love to cut the down the nets at Indy. But first, her team has to get past Duke in the first round.

After spending last year in the hospital bed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, North Carolina's Jessica Breland wants to help the Tar Heels get back that national championship magic just like in 1994, when Charlotte Smith hit a buzzer-beater against Louisiana Tech.

Xavier's Ta'Shia Phillips and Amber Harris will look to celebrate a national championship in their hometown of Indianapolis. Last year, they came up one win short of going to the Final Four.

Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot won the NCAA assist title after averaging 10.2 assists per game. Could she add a national title to her resume?

This could be a year where no seniors will celebrate a national championship. Maryland was the last seniorless team to win a title. This year, the Terrapins are seniorless. Will they do it again?

Last year, Tina Charles, Kaili McLaren, Kalana Greene, Meghan Gardler and Jacquie Fernandes ended their college careers as national champions as they helped UConn beat Stanford in the national title game in San Antonio.

Who will be this year's lucky senior group? Or will there will be any seniors standing on the championship podium at all? We'll find out on April 5.

notre dame, purdue aim for short trip to indy

In 2001, Notre Dame and Purdue squared off in the championship game in St. Louis.

It turned to be one of the best championship games in women's basketball history as Ruth Riley hit two free throws in the closing seconds to help Notre Dame knock off Purdue 68-66.

Also that year, Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) played in the Women's Final Four in St. Louis. It was the last time a school played in the Women's Final Four in its home state.

This year, Notre Dame and Purdue will look to end that drought. If both teams win their first four games, they will be playing in the Women's Final Four in Indianapolis. Notre Dame is three hours from Indy, while Purdue is just an hour away. The Irish and Boilermakers are the only Indiana schools in the 64-team tournament.

Notre Dame is the No. 2 seed and travels to Salt Lake City to play No. 15 Utah in the first round on Saturday.

"We're excited about being a No. 2 seed in the tournament," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw told the Notre Dame Observer on Monday. "We knew there were six teams in contention for the No. 2 spot and we were rewarded for a great season."

Purdue is the No. 9 seed and will play eighth-seeded Kansas State in a first-round game on Sunday at the University of Connecticut.

Purdue has been successful in first-round games, going 16-1, with its only loss in 1996.

The road to the Final Four will not be easy for Notre Dame and Purdue. The Irish are in the Dayton Region and have to get past teams such as Tennessee, Ohio State, Miami. Purdue is in the Philadelphia Region and has to get past teams such as two-time defending champion UConn, Duke and DePaul.

The Irish will take a 26-7 record into Saturday's game with Utah. Last year, Notre Dame reached the Sweet 16.

Purdue returns to the Big Dance after a year hiatus. The Boilermakers will take a 20-11 record into Sunday's game with Kansas State.

If Notre Dame and Purdue win their respective regional tournaments, they will face each other in the national semifinals at Indianapolis. Notre Dame and Purdue haven't played in the Final Four since that classic championship game 10 years ago.

cal shoots for another wnit title

Cal Poly will accomplish some history on Thursday.

The Mustangs will be playing in their first postseason game in program history. They will play California in the first round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament at home.

Cal Poly hopes its first postseason game will be a memorable one. With a win over the Bears, the Mustangs not only pick up their first postseason victory, but they also will knock off the defending WNIT champions.

Cal certainly has other ideas. The Bears are looking to win the WNIT for the second year in a row. Last year, Cal beat Miami 73-61 in the WNIT championship game at Berkeley.

Five players from last year's championship team -- Rachelle Federico, DeNesha Stallworth, Talia Caldwell, Eliza Pierre and Layshia Clarendon -- are on this year's squad that will take a 17-15 record into Thursday's game with Cal Poly.

Federico said experience will help her team in this year's WNIT.

"It gives us tremendous confidence going into the tournament again, seeing what it feels like to do it and seeing that we have done it," Federico told the Daily Californian on Thursday. "The preparation and the mental, quick turnaround games is something that we're used to. Against a team like Cal Poly, it's almost like the first NCAA tournament round."

Cal's hopes of going to the NCAA's were diminished last week, when it lost to UCLA in the Pac-10 tournament semifinals in Los Angeles.

California started its season with a win over Rutgers, which is playing in the NCAAs this week, and was 8-3 going into Pac-10 play. But the Bears struggled in conference play, going 7-11, including a six-game losing streak. Cal beat Washington and Arizona State in the first two rounds of the Pac-10 tournament before losing to UCLA in the semifinals.

Stallworth and Clarendon are the Bears' top two scorers. Stallworth is averaging 13.6 points per game and Clarendon is averaging 12.8. Caldwell is Cal's top rebounder at 8.4 boards per game.

Federico and Rama N'Diaye are the Bears' only seniors. Federico has been with the program since her freshman year and N'Diaye returned to the team this year after redshirting last year due to knee problems.

Thursday, Cal is playing a Cal Poly team that won its first-ever share of the Big West Conference regular season championship and earned Big West Player of the Year (Rachel Clancy) and Coach of the Year (Faith Mimnaugh) awards.

The Cal Poly-Cal winner plays the winner of Colorado and UC Riverside in the second round.

home sweet home for 12 teams

The Maryland Terrapins had a pair of reasons to celebrate on Monday.

First, they're back in the Big Dance after a year hiatus. And they also found out they will be playing their NCAA tournament games at home.

Maryland is the No. 4 seed and will play St. Francis (Pa.) on Sunday in College Park. The Terrapins are one of 12 teams that will play their first and second round games at home.

If Maryland wins its first two rounds, it will possibly play two-time defending national champion Connecticut in the Philadelphia Regional semifinals.

"To be able to sleep in your own bed, to not have to travel -- we hope it gives us an extra push," Maryland coach Brenda Frese told the Diamondback on Wednesday. "But it's the NCAA Tournament. You're going to get any team's best shot."

UConn also will play its first two rounds at home. The Huskies open tournament play against Hartford, the No. 16 seed, on Sunday. Hartford is coached by former UConn standout Jen Rizzotti.

Baylor, Tennessee, Stanford, Penn State, Gonzaga, Xavier, Ohio State, Utah, Duke and Louisiana Tech are also hosting first and second-round games.

Louisiana Tech is playing its opening games at Shreveport, which is an hour from campus. But the Lady Techsters are playing the host of the first and second-round games. Louisiana Tech, the No. 10 seed, is playing seventh-seeded Rutgers in the first round on Sunday.

Penn State will play Dayton in a first-round game on Saturday in Happy Valley. It's a rematch of the Nittany Lions' season opener against the Flyers. Penn State knocked off Dayton 112-107 in two overtimes.

If the sixth-seeded Nittany Lions get past the first two rounds, they'll travel east to Philadelphia for the regional tournament. Penn State played in the Final Four at the City of Brotherly Love in 2000.

"It's a tremendous advantage to play at home the first two games. Then, we'd be playing in Philadelphia," Penn State senior Julia Trogele told the Daily Collegian on Tuesday. "A lot of us are actually from Pennsylvania, so I think we'd still have a lot of support coming out to those games."

Xavier will play South Dakota State in the first round on Sunday in Cincinnati. The Musketeers, who are seeded second, came up one win short of a trip to the Final Four last year.

Gonzaga, which is the No. 11 seed, will play sixth-seeded Iowa in the first round on Saturday. The Bulldogs reached the Sweet 16 in 2010.

In order for top-seeded Baylor to get to the Women's Final Four, the Bears must win all four of their games in Texas. If it survives its first two rounds in Waco, Baylor qualifies for the regional tournament in Dallas.

Senior Melissa Jones will be ready for the NCAA tournament as her vision continues to improve. She suffered a head injury on Feb. 27 against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament, causing problems for her to see out of her right eye.

"I don't know why I wake up randomly in the middle of the night, but every time I do, I just kind of look. It was a shock, like, 'Whoa, there's actually something there,' " Jones told the Baylor Lariat on Tuesday. "I can see things right now, but it's really blurry."

Tennessee plays Stetson in the first round on Saturday in Knoxville. A win qualifies the Lady Vols to the second round against either Marquette or Texas on Monday.

Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt's alma mater, Tennessee-Martin, will be in the tournament for the first time. The Skyhawks play Duke in the first round on Saturday.

Duke drew the No. 2 seed and if it gets past Tennessee-Martin, it will play either Iowa State or Marist in the second round on Monday.

"You can't let what other people think get to you, and I think this team will only go as far as we motivate ourselves to go," Duke senior Jasmine Thomas told the Duke Chronicle on Tuesday. "We can't rely on people to try to fire us up or people that doubt us, so we're excited to prove ourselves."

After winning the Big Ten tournament, Ohio State earned a No. 4 seed and will play Central Florida in the first round on Saturday. The Buckeyes were eliminated in the second round last year.

By winning the Mountain West tournament, Utah earned a No. 15 seed and will second-seeded Notre Dame on Saturday. If the Utes pull off the gigantic upset, they will play either Arizona State or Temple in the second round.

"They are hosting, so we get to play them on their home court in more of a tournament atmosphere," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw told the Notre Dame Observer on Tuesday. "We like playing in front of a crowd, and they're coming off a win (in the Mountain West tournament). They're going to be a challenge."

Stanford plays UC Davis in the first round on Saturday. If they win, the Cardinal will play either Texas Tech or St. John's in the second round on Monday. Stanford is setting its sights on winning its first title in almost 20 years.

"I'm really excited for our team to be selected as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer told the Stanford Daily on Tuesday. "As a team, we know we can only play six more games together, and do the absolute best that we can."

Maryland, which participated in the WNIT last year, is looking to win its first championship in five years. But first, the Terrapins have to get past a St. Francis team that won the Northeast Conference this year. If they do that, they likely will play Georgetown in the second round on Tuesday. Maryland lost to the Hoyas 53-45 at Georgetown in November.

Maryland is also one of four teams (the others are Purdue, Rutgers and Miami) that don't have any seniors on their roster. The Terrapins have four juniors, four sophomores and six freshmen on their team.

ncaa tourney moves on without four teams

After 34 years, Debbie Ryan is stepping down as Virginia coach.

But she will not celebrate an NCAA appearance in her last year with the Cavaliers. Still, Ryan will get a taste of the postseason as Virginia plays Morgan State in a first-round Women's NIT game at 7 p.m. EST Thursday at home.

Virginia is one of four teams that are hosting first and second-round NCAA tournament games, but are not participating in NCAA play. The others are Wichita State, New Mexico and Auburn.

Wichita State, which lost in the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals, plays at Kansas on Wednesday in a first-round WNIT game. The Shockers (17-14) are playing in the WNIT for the first time in 10 years.

"Even through the losses this year, we are still a great team," Wichita State coach Jody Adams told the WSU Sunflower on Monday. "We have great talent. We have just got to grow, and that is what you saw in this long run was some growth; some youth blown away."

Auburn travels to Tennessee Tech to play the Ohio Valley Conference regular season champion Eagles in a first-round WNIT game at 8 p.m. EST Thursday. Auburn is 15-15.

New Mexico will not be playing in the postseason. The Lobos' season ended at 13-18 with a 61-40 loss to TCU in the Mountain West semifinals last week at Las Vegas. New Mexico's only chance of getting to the NCAAs was to win the Mountain West tournament.

The Cavaliers will come in Thursday's game against Morgan State with a 16-15 record. The 94-92, quadruple-overtime win over North Carolina State on Feb. 10 was the main reason Virginia's season -- and Ryan's coaching career at Virginia -- continue on Thursday. Had the Cavaliers lost, they wouldn't be playing on Thursday.

Virginia will be playing a Morgan State team that is making its first postseason appearance in the NCAA Division I level. The Bears, who lost in the MEAC semifinals, will take a 17-14 record into Thursday's game with the Cavaliers.

Ryan began coaching in Virginia in 1975 and took over head coaching duties two years later. She has posted a 736-323 overall record and led the Cavaliers to 24 NCAA tournament berths, including last year's first-round exit. Led by Dawn Staley, Virginia made three straight appearances in the Final Four from 1990-92, including a trip to the national championship game in 1991.

"This has been a great ride for me," Ryan told the Cavalier Daily on Tuesday. "It's been really fun; it's been the best years of my life."

Now, the Cavaliers are setting their sights on giving the longtime coach a nice send-off present and that's a WNIT championship. Virginia played in the tournament's quarterfinals in 2006 and 2007, but never won it.

wichita state looks to shock the valley

For the first time, Women's March Madness will hit Wichita.

Wichita State will host the first and second round games of the NCAA women's basketball tournament at the all-new Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita. The $205-million building opened on Jan. 2, 2010 and is the largest indoor arena in state of Kansas. First-round games will be played on March 20 and a second-round game is scheduled for March 22.

The new building hopes the Shockers will be playing in the tournament. If that happens, it will Wichita State's first trip to the NCAA tournament in program history.

But right now, the Shockers' chances of going to the Big Dance are slim. They have a 16-13 record with a 122 RPI.

So in order to go the tournament -- and to get a chance to play in front of their home fans -- Wichita State has to do one thing -- win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament this week.

The Shockers will play Creighton at 2:35 p.m. Friday in a first-round game at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. Wichita State, the No. 5 seed, has to win the MVC tourney in order to get its first NCAA automatic bid.

New Mexico, Ohio State, Duke, Tennessee, Utah, Gonzaga, Stanford, Penn State, Auburn, Virginia, Xavier, Maryland, Louisiana Tech, Connecticut, Baylor also are hosting first and second-round games. Ohio State, Duke, Tennessee, Gonzaga, Xavier and UConn will get to play their NCAA tournament games at home as they won their respective conference tournament championships. Even though it lost in the Big 10 finals, Penn State will likely play its NCAA tournament games at home. Maryland, which lost in the ACC quarterfinals, will likely get an NCAA at-large bid. Louisiana Tech, New Mexico, Utah, Stanford, Baylor are in tournament action this week. Virginia (16-15) and Auburn (15-15) will not play in the NCAAs and are likely headed to the WNITs.

The Shockers also are looking to win the MVC tourney for the first time. They haven't been to the conference finals since 1997.

The MVC women's tournament has a history of upsets. Just ask Northern Iowa (2010), Evansville (2009), Drake (2007), Missouri State (2006) and Illinois State (2005). During the last six seasons, the No. 1 seed won the MVC tournament only once and that was in 2008, when Illinois State placed first in the tournament's first year at the Family Arena.

Last year, Northern Iowa won the tourney as the No. 5 seed. The year before, Evansville won the championship as the No. 9 seed.

On Friday, Wichita State will play a Creighton team that lost the MVC tournament final in three of the last four years. Creighton is the No. 4 seed.

The two teams split their two meetings this season. Creighton beat Wichita State 50-48 on Jan. 29 in Omaha and the Shockers beat the Bluejays 60-51 on Feb. 25.

Wichita State will enter the tournament on a roll. The Shockers have won their last five games, four of those wins were by double digits.

A trip to the NCAA tournament will be a good way to end Morgan Boyd's college basketball career. The only senior on the Wichita State roster, Boyd originally signed with Arkansas before a coaching chance forced her to sign with Middle Tennessee State. But after playing just one game at MTSU as a freshman, Boyd transferred to Arkansas-Fort Smith, where she earned honorable mention NJCAA All-American honors as a sophomore. She joined the Shockers last winter and played in all 33 games.

This year, Boyd is part of a Wichita State team with eight freshmen and sophomores and three juniors. Junior Haleigh Lankster, who is the Shockers' leading scorer at 12.9 points per game, earned all-MVC honors.

Big jump: North Carolina came up short of an ACC tournament championship as it lost to Duke 81-66 in the finals on Sunday.

But the Tar Heels have the biggest jump among the top 25 teams this week, moving up five spots from No. 19 to No. 14. North Carolina beat Clemson, Florida State and Miami in the first three rounds before losing to Duke in the ACC tournament and will take a 26-8 against Kennesaw State on Sunday as a tune-up game for the NCAA tournament next week.

Welcome aboard, Buckeyes and Jackets: After winning the Big Ten tournament title last week, Ohio State received another reward -- a spot in the top 25.

The Buckeyes are 22-9 after beating Iowa, Michigan State and Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament. It's Ohio State's third consecutive Big Ten tournament championship.

Joining the Buckeyes in the top 25 is Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are No. 24 after reaching the semifinals of the ACC tournament. They beat Virginia Tech and Maryland in the first two rounds before losing to eventual champion Duke in the semifinals. Georgia Tech will enter the NCAA tournament with a 23-10 mark.

women's basketball celebrates seniors

Senior night can be emotional.

Just ask Ohio State senior Jantel Lavender. She was in tears after she was recognized in a brief ceremony before the Buckeyes' regular season finale against Wisconsin last week. But they later became tears of joy as Ohio State cruised to an 80-47 victory over the Badgers.

Senior night also can be an joyous time, even if she doesn't play. Just ask Baylor senior Melissa Jones. Jones sat out in the Bears' regular season finale against Missouri on Wednesday due to a head injury she suffered against Oklahoma that resulted in a loss of vision in her right eye. But she remained upbeat as she saw Baylor clinch the Big 12 regular season championship from the bench.

There were numerous senior night ceremonies around the nation in the last several days. Among the top seniors who played their last home games were Connecticut's Maya Moore, Stanford's Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen of Stanford, Duke's Jasmine Thomas, Krystal Thomas and Karima Christmas, North Carolina's Jessica Breland, Tennessee's Angie Bjorklund, Kentucky's Victoria Dunlap, Oklahoma's Carlee Rothlisberger, Danielle Robinson and Lauren Willis, Xavier's Ta'Shia Phillips and Amber Harris, James Madison's Dawn Evans, Iowa's Kachine Alexander, Michigan State's Kalisha Keane and Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot.

When her college basketball career career ends, Robinson isn't planning on giving up on basketball.

"I plan to go pro, play in the WNBA and overseas, do that for a couple of years and hopefully get into coaching," Robinson said in the Oklahoma Daily on Wednesday. "As far as the WNBA, it's always been a dream. I think that I've worked in such a way to get myself there."

Alexander will finish as one of the top players in Iowa basketball history. She passed the career 1,000-point, 800-rebound and 300-assist marks this season.

"It's meant a lot to be here," Alexander said in the Daily Iowan on Feb. 23. "If you ask any alumni who have come through this program, they would say the same thing. It's an honor to be coached by the coaching staff that we have and also to wear the Iowa uniform and be proud of it."

Bjorklund, who is Tennessee's all-team leader in 3-pointers, turned in a strong effort in her final home game on Monday against LSU, scoring 17 points, including 12 in the first half.

"Angie, there's no doubt she's a difference maker," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said in the University of Tennessee Daily Beacon on Monday. "A lot of energy."

This weekend, several more seniors will be recognized, including Colorado's Brittany Spears.

Brittany Spears? Who the Buffaloes will have next? Jessica Simpson? Christina Aguilera?

Like the pop star Britney Spears, Colorado's Brittany Spears has been a big name. She's scored 20 or more points 42 times in her career and scored in double figures 26 of 28 games this season. With 2,031 points, Spears is 37 points away from tying Colorado's all-time career scoring mark. Spears and the Buffaloes play Baylor on Saturday in Boulder.

Also, Yale senior Mady Gobrecht will celebrate her senior night on Saturday, when her team plays Cornell. Her mother, Chris, is Yale's head coach.

"I grew up thinking I was definitely not going to play for my mom," Mady said on NCAA.com. "I didn't think I could play on one of her USC or Washington teams, especially because I was pretty scrawny back in the day."

Finally, there's Texas A&M's Danielle Adams, who's in the top five in the nation in scoring at 23.3 points per game. Adams and the fifth-ranked Aggies will play Nebraska on Saturday to wrap up their regular season.

Big jump: Marquette and Kentucky tied for the biggest jump among the top 25 schools this week. Both teams moved up four spots from last week's rankings.

Kentucky ended its regular season last week with wins over Arkansas and Auburn and is ranked No. 16 this week after being No. 20 last week. The Wildcats beat LSU 60-58 in the SEC quarterfinals on Friday.

After beating Providence and DePaul last week, Marquette moved up to No. 20 this week. The Golden Eagles dropped to 22-7 with a 65-62 loss to Cincinnati on Monday. They will play Pittsburgh in a second-round game of the Big East Tournament on Saturday.

Welcome aboard, Hawkeyes and Cougars: Iowa and Houston enter this week's polls at No. 24 and 25 respectively.

Iowa earned a top 25 spot after beating Illinois and Indiana last week. The Hawkeyes took a 22-7 record into Friday's Big Ten quarterfinal game against Ohio State.

Houston is in the top 25 for the first time after beating Marshall and Rice last week and has clinched the Conference USA regular season title. The Cougars (24-4) will play Tulane in their regular season finale on Saturday.

moore, breland bring home women's basketball oscars

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to give out the women's basketball Oscar awards.

Yes, I know there are more games to be played. But since the real Oscars were given out on Sunday night, I thought it would be a great idea to give out the Oscar awards as the women's basketball season moves into conference championship week.

There is a total of 10 awards given out here in the women's basketball Oscars. If you win, that's wonderful. If you don't win, oh, well, there's always next year.

Best Freshman -- And the Oscar goes to ... Ebony Rowe, Middle Tennessee State

After 29 games, the Lexington, Ky., native has played a big role for Middle Tennesee State. She's the team's top scorer at 17.3 points per game and top rebounder at 10 boards per game. Rowe recorded her 15th double-double of the season in the Blue Raiders' 64-56 win over Western Kentucky on Sunday. Rowe is also one of the nation's top shooters at 59 percent (196-330). Now, Rowe is looking to end her freshman season with a trip to the NCAA tournament. Her team is 23-6 overall and finished first in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference at 14-2.

Best Sophomore -- And the Oscar goes to ... Brittney Griner, Baylor

There's no surprise that the 6-foot-8 Griner is the best sophomore in the country. She's among the nation's top scorers (22.4 points per game) and top shot-blockers (4.6 blocks per game). Griner also had several dunks, including one against Texas Tech. Griner was Baylor's top scorer in every game but six of them. She poured in 35 against Liberty on Nov. 26. Griner is looking to go back to the Final Four. After a come-from-behind win over Oklahoma on Sunday, the Bears are 26-2 with two regular season games remaining. They were ranked No. 1 for all of January and most of February.

Best Junior -- And the Oscar goes to ... Courtney Hurt, VCU

Hurt reached a milestone on Sunday against William & Mary. After scoring a team-high 21 points, the Georgia native set the Rams' single-season scoring record of 622 points. Hurt, who will turn 21 on Saturday, is also the nation's top rebounder at 12.7 boards per game and is the country's fifth-leading scorer at 23 points per game. She's the only junior in the nation to be in the top five in scoring and rebounding.

"When you look at great rebounders, whether it's in the women's game or the men's side, they sort of have a knack for just knowing how to go get the ball," VCU coach Beth Cunningham said in the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch on Jan. 23. "She has that."

Best Senior -- And the Oscar goes to ... Jessica Breland, North Carolina

Last year, Breland was in a hospital bed getting treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma. This winter, Breland is turning in a remarkable senior season, averaging 11.9 points and seven rebounds per game. Breland's return to the basketball court is one of the biggest stories in women's college basketball this year.

"What she's gone through with the cancer and all, she's just so mature -- talking all of the time," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said in the Daily Tar Heel on Nov. 5. "Of course, I respect her so much, her leadership and all. She wants to have a great senior hyear. She wants to win."

So far, Breland is helping the Tar Heels win a lot of games. Despite ending its regular season with four straight losses, North Carolina will take a 22-7 record in the ACC tournament this week.

Best Actress (best player) -- And the Oscar goes to ... Maya Moore, Connecticut

Like Natalie Portman's performance in Black Swan, Moore's effort this season deserves a big round of applause. The senior has been Ms. Everything for the Huskies, leading the team in scoring (23.4 points per game), rebounds (7.8 boards per game), 3-pointers (50), assists (129), blocks (35) and steals (68). The three-time all-American is also leading UConn to a 28-1 record and a No. 1 ranking in the polls. Moore, who helped the Huskies win two national championships, was scheduled to play her final home game of her four-year college basketball career on Monday against Syracuse.

"I came in with Maya, and you know, she's just an amazing person," UConn senior teammate Lorin Dixon said in the UConn Daily Campus on Feb. 15. "To watch and just to see her get all of this, I mean, she works harder than anyone on the team. She's a great leader and she sets the tone for us."

Best Supporting Actress (best bench player) -- And the Oscar goes to ... Maggie Lucas, Penn State

The freshman from Narberth, Pa., doesn't cuss or trash talk like Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Melissa Leo. She's just been a sparkplug off the bench for most of the season for the Nittany Lions. Lucas is the team's leading scorer at 16.3 points per game and leads the team in 3-pointers with 102. She played off the bench in 29 of Penn State's 30 games this season. On Sunday, Lucas got her first start of the season and it was a memorable one as she became just the third player in Big Ten history to hit 100 treys or more in a season.

"It's great, we're proud of her," Penn State senior Julia Trogele said in the Penn State Daily Collegian on Monday.

Lucas' play has been one of the big reasons of Penn State's successful season. The Nittany Lions finished their regular season at 22-8 and placed second in the Big Ten standings at 11-5.

Best Conference -- And the Oscar goes to ... the ACC

The race for the ACC regular season title was pretty competitive this year. Six teams were fighting for first place for most of the season. The conference title wasn't decided until Oscar Sunday, when Duke beat North Carolina and Miami knocked off Georgia Tech, meaning that Duke and Miami share the ACC regular season title at 12-2

Florida State, which was tied for first with Duke and Miami last week, finished third at 11-3. The loss to Miami cost the Seminoles a chance for the title. Maryland and Georgia Tech finished tied for fourth at 9-5 and North Carolina was sixth at 8-6.

Also, all of six teams are ranked in the top 25 RPI and five of those teams (Duke, Florida State, Miami, Maryland and North Carolina) are ranked in the top 25 AP poll.

The ACC tournament begins this week in Greensboro with an automatic NCAA berth at stake.

"The regular season's over -- it's a new season," Hatchell said in the Daily Tar Heel on Monday. "We're ready to go to the tournament. If we play as hard as we did tonight (against Duke), then I think we have a great shot at it."

Best Director (best coach) -- And the Oscar goes to ... Katie Meier, Miami
A year ago, Miami lost to California in the WNIT championship game.

Maybe that loss motivated the Hurricanes this season. After beating Georgia Tech on Sunday, Miami is turning in one of its best seasons in program history. The Hurricanes will go into this week's ACC tournament with a 26-3 record.

Miami's only losses were to Nebraska, Duke and Florida State. The Hurricanes shared the ACC regular season championship with Duke.

So far, Meier is enjoying her best season of her six-year tenure as Miami coach. She's two wins shy from her 100th win as Miami coach. Meier is 98-87 at Miami.

Offense has been the key factor in the seniorless Hurricanes' strong season. Miami is the fourth-ranked offensive team in the nation at 80.5 points per game. The Hurricanes also have three players averaging in double figures.

Not bad for a team that was predicted to finish eighth in the ACC when the season started in November.

"We don't care what other people think," Meier said on Sunday after the win over Georgia Tech. "We know what greatness is. We know if we're far away from winners, we're close to it and we define ourselves from that."

Best Team -- And the Oscar goes to ... Connecticut

So far, the Huskies are the best team until someone knocks them out. Even though it suffered a loss to Stanford on Dec. 30 that snapped their 90-game winning streak, Connecticut is still the champ. With Maya Moore leading the way, the Huskies still have a shot of winning their third consecutive national crown.

UConn (28-1) also has a strong supporting cast in junior Tiffany Hayes, freshmen Bria Hartley and Stefanie Dolson and sophomore Heather Buck and Kelly Faris. The Huskies ranked in the top 10 nationally on both ends of the court.

Best Picture (best game) -- And the Oscar goes to ....drum roll, please.....Virginia vs. North Carolina State, Feb. 10, Raleigh, North Carolina.

It was a terrific game with a Hollywood ending. After four overtimes, Virginia came from behind to beat North Carolina State 94-92. It was the only four-overtime game in women's college basketball this season.

Virginia trailed 92-88 with 1:55 left in the fourth overtime after N.C. State's Marissa Kastanek hit a 3-pointer. But Virginia' China Crosby scored a layup with 1:01 left, then hit two free throws with 26 seconds left to tie the game at 92-92. Kastanek had a turnover with five seconds remaining, setting up a game-winning basket by Ariana Moorer as time expired.

It was the first four-overtime game for Virginia and North Carolina State. The Wolfpack rallied from a 10-point deficit to send the game to overtime. Bonae Holston hit a jumper with 1:01 left to tie the game at 56-56 and send the game to an extra period.

N.C. State led 74-69 with 2:43 left in the second overtime, but Virginia came back to tie it at 77-77 after Crosby scored a layup with five seconds left.

"We work on late-game situations every single day," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said in the Cavalier Daily on Feb. 11. "Five points is nothing to us. We never think about anything but winning."

Hadn't the Cavaliers won that game, they would not have been guaranteed their seventh straight winning season. Virginia finished its regular season at 16-14 and plays Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC tournament this week.

The loss to Virginia was a tough pill to swallow for N.C. State.

"Words can't describe what we went through," N.C. State coach Kellie Harper said in the N.C. State Technician on Feb. 11. "These kids have been through so much, and every single time there has been adversity they have picked themselves up and they do it all over again. I don't know if there is another team in the country that can handle what they've had thrown at them."

Pretty in pink: Texas Tech upsets top-ranked Baylor

A year ago, the Texas Tech Red Raiders won 18 games.

After knocking off Baylor on Saturday, Texas Tech not only surpassed last year's win total, but also turned in so far the biggest upset in women's college basketball this year.

Baylor came into the contest as the No. 1 ranked team in the country, but with the 56-45 loss to the Red Raiders, the Bears dropped to No. 3.

After the win, Texas Tech fans, most of them who were wearing pink, stormed to the court to celebrate the Red Raiders' biggest win of the season.

"Well, I wish I could hug every one of them," Texas Tech coach Kristy Curry said on Saturday in the Texas Tech Daily Toreador. "The crowd was incredible. Between the crowd and these kids and for it to be our think pink game, everything that was represented today was a tradition-rich women's basketball program."

The win over the Bears extended Texas Tech's win to three games. The Red Raiders couldn't extend it to four as they lost to Texas A&M 84-60 on the road.

Still, with a 19-8 record, Texas Tech still has hopes of reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time in six years. The Red Raiders have three regular season games remaining, including a home game on Saturday against Oklahoma State.

Texas Tech's women's basketball program has a rich tradition. The Red Raiders reached the NCAA tournament 18 times and won a national championship in 1993.

Curry replaced Marsha Sharp as Texas Tech coach in 2006. Before she headed to Lubbock, Curry had an outstanding coaching career at Purdue, heading the Boilermakers to seven NCAA tournament appearances -- including a runner-up finish in 2001 -- in her seven years as head coach.

But Texas Tech has yet to make an NCAA tournament appearance in Curry's tenure. After going 15-16 in Curry's first season, Texas Tech is guaranteed to finish with its fourth consecutive winning season. Last year, the Red Raiders finished 18-15 and were eliminated in the WNIT second round. Curry is 85-70 in her five seasons as Texas Tech coach.

In order to guarantee an NCAA appearance, the Red Raiders have to make sure they finish strong in the final weeks of the regular season. As of Monday, Texas Tech's RPI is No. 27.

A win on Saturday will give Texas Tech its first 20-win season in six years. The Red Raiders lost to Oklahoma State 62-52 in the last meeting on Feb. 9 on the road.

Texas Tech started its season by winning its first eight games. After beginning their Big 12 season at 3-0, the Red Raiders hit a slump, losing six games in a row. But Texas Tech bounced back with a three-game winning streak, including the win over Baylor. Curry celebrated her first win over Baylor as head coach.

Even though they beat a pair of ranked teams last week (Texas Tech also beat Iowa State on Feb. 16), the Red Raiders came up 20 points short of getting into the top 25.

If Texas Tech make it to the NCAAs, it would be a nice ending for the team's only senior, Teena Wickett. Wickett is playing basketball again this year after a two-year hiatus. She played two years at Pepperdine.

After 27 games, Wickett is Texas Tech's second-leading scorer at 10 points per game. She earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors in late December. Junior Kierra Mallard, who was selected as the Big 12's Player of the Week this week, leads the Red Raiders at 12.7 points per game.

Big jump: DePaul and Marist tied for the biggest jump among the top 25 schools this week. Each team moved up three places from last week's polls.

DePaul is ranked No. 7 after beating Rutgers and Georgetown last week. The Blue Demons improved to 25-3 after beating Georgetown 82-57.

"Everybody plays a different style and (Georgetown's) system is a really good, it's a solid system," DePaul coach Doug Bruno said in the DePaulia on Monday. "And I thought we were ready for it, but then we were tentative in the first half. We had seven turnovers the first half and we really, at that 6-6 point, we really could've probably broken it open a little bit sooner than that, but we were giving them the ball back. And I just thought our players had to feel their way through it and feel their way through the pressure."

Marist is now ranked No. 21 after beating Canisius and Manhattan last week. The Red Foxes improved to 25-2 with a 79-38 win over St. Peter's on Monday. They'll play Siena on Friday and Fairfield on Sunday.

Welcome back, Dawgs: Georgia is back in the top 25 after beating Kentucky last week. The Bulldogs are No. 22.

Georgia is now 20-7 after losing to Tennessee 77-44 on Monday. The Bulldogs play Auburn on Thursday and Florida on Sunday.

Wahoo! Virginia celebrates wins over N.C. State, Maryland

Going into last week's game at North Carolina State, the Virginia Cavaliers had a seven-game road losing streak.

Ariana Moorer made sure her team would not leave Raleigh with another road loss.

With time expired in the fourth overtime, the Virginia junior hit a jumper to help the Cavaliers pull off a 94-92 victory over the Wolfpack. It's the first four-overtime game for both programs.

Three days later, Moorer helped Virginia pick up their second straight road victory. She scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Cavaliers to a 60-57 upset over Maryland.

Virginia will not finish with a road winning season. The Cavaliers are 3-7 with one game remaining.

Still, the big wins over North Carolina State and Maryland increased Virginia's chances to not only clinch its seventh consecutive winning season, but to earn an NCAA tournament berth. The Cavaliers, who are hosting the first and second-round NCAA games on March 20 and 22, are 15-12 with three regular season games remaining.

After a week break, Virginia returns to the court on Sunday with a home game against Boston College. The Cavaliers also have Duke (Feb. 24) and Virginia Tech (Feb. 27) left on their regular season schedule.

A win against either of those teams will clinch the Cavaliers a winning season.

The Cavaliers started their season on Nov. 12 with a 82-66 road victory over Hofstra. Then, Virginia lost road games to Tennessee, Ohio State, James Madison, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Clemson.

Against North Carolina State, the Cavaliers came back from a four-point deficit with 1:55 left in the fourth overtime period to pick up the win. After N.C. State's Marissa Kastanek hit a 3-pointer to give the Wolfpack a 92-88 lead, Virginia came back with a layup and two free throws by China Crosby and the game-winning basket by Moorer.

"What do you say?" Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said on Virginiasports.com. "I was just really proud of the fight that we had tonight. We were up, we were down. We were in, we were out. We played with a lot of heart and so did N.C. State. They played a great game as well with a short number of people on their bench. I can't say enough about the players and the way they were resilient and sustained an effort over a long period of time tonight. We've played in a lot of close games this year and it was good to finally win one."

Against Maryland, Virginia came back from a three-point deficit with three minutes left in the game to pick up its second win over a ranked team this season.

"I thought they really took it to us on the defensive end," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said in the University of Maryland Diamondback on Monday. "They were physical. We stopped cutting hard, we would stop being aggressive. I thought they were the tougher team."

Big jump: With wins over Maryland and North Carolina last week, the Miami Hurricanes jumped seven spots to No. 13 in the polls, the biggest jump among the top 25 teams this week.

Miami's No. 13 ranking is the program's highest since 1992. The wins over Maryland and North Carolina marked the first time in program history the Hurricanes beat ranked teams in back-to-back games.

Miami takes a 22-3 record into Thursday's road game with Boston College.

Welcome aboard, Zags: Gonzaga is in the top 25 for the first time this season. The Bulldogs enter this week at No. 25.

Gonzaga beat Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine last week and will take a 22-4 record into Thursday's game with Santa Clara. The Bulldogs also play San Francisco on Saturday.

wildcats shine on super bowl sunday

Super Bowl Sunday was one to remember for the Northwestern Wildcats.

The Wildcats pulled off a 74-68 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes, making it the first time in 14 years Northwestern beat Ohio State in Columbus. The win also guaranteed the Wildcats their second consecutive winning season after going 7-23 in the 2008-2009 season. Northwestern is 16-8 with five regular season games remaining.

"It was a great game, a great road win for our team and our program," Northwestern coach Joe McKeown said in the Daily Northwestern on Monday. "Ohio State has won six straight Big Ten championships. They've been the dominant team in our league for a long time. It's just a really great feel for our players who really hung together when things got tough."

Senior Amy Jaeschke scored a game-high 29 points for Northwestern, which came back from an eight-point deficit in the second half to complete the season sweep over the Buckeyes. The Wildcats beat Ohio State 64-53 on Jan. 13 at Evanston.

Northwestern also wrapped up a Super Sunday for women's college basketball. A total of 41 games were played and 22 road teams, including Northwestern, picked up a victory.

The Northwestern-Ohio State game overlapped the beginning of Super Bowl 45 between the Packers and Steelers. The game, which started at 5 p.m. EST, ended 30 minutes after kickoff.

All of the Big Ten teams except Minnesota played on Sunday. Penn State took a one-half game lead in the league standings at 9-2 with an 82-75 win over Iowa. Michigan State, Michigan and Wisconsin also celebrated victories.

Vanderbilt scored the most points on Super Bowl Sunday. The Commodores improved to 16-7 with a 103-97, double-overtime victory over Florida, their first overtime game since 2005.

"I'm really proud of our mental toughness," Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said in the Tennessean on Monday. "We just kept talking about the Kentucky game and what we have done to fix our issues, which were mental and physical toughness and communication and check-out, and I believe that is what we did down the stretch to win this game."

The closest game came in Arkansas, where South Carolina edged the Razorbacks 64-62 in overtime. South Carolina's LaKeisha Sutton hit two free throws with five seconds left in the extra period and finished with 21 points.

Maryland was the first team to win on Super Bowl Sunday. The seniorless Terrapins improved to 20-3 with an 88-59 win over North Carolina State after trailing by 12 in the first half.

"You've got to play 40 minutes," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said in the Diamondback on Monday. "In ACC play, everytime you step on the court, you're going to face great competition."

Also, UCLA beat USC 74-67 in the crosstown showdown between Los Angeles schools. It was the only game played on the West Coast on Sunday.

"It was a heck of a basketball game," USC coach Michael Cooper said in the Daily Trojan on Monday. "UCLA proved why they're the No. 10 team in the country. I have to commend our team. These young ladies were playing their hearts out. If nothing else, we made (UCLA) shake a little bit."

Houston improved to 9-0 in Conference USA play with an 85-70 win over Tulane. The Cougars join Connecticut (Big East), Boston University (America East), Xavier and Temple (Atlantic-10), Baylor (Big 12), Chicago State (Great West), Green Bay (Horizon), Harvard (Ivy), Marist (MAAC), Stanford (Pac-10), Tennessee (SEC), Oral Roberts (Summit League), Gonzaga (West Coast), Arkansas-Little Rock (Sun Belt), Louisiana Tech (WAC) as the only undefeated teams in their conference.

Niagara scored the fewest points on Sunday. The Purple Eagles, who have just one win this season, lost 57-35 to Siena on the road.

Siena was one of four New York schools which celebrated wins on Sunday. The others were Marist, Manhattan and Binghamton.

Big jump: The city of Green Bay has another reason to celebrate besides the Packers' Super Bowl win on Sunday -- Wisconsin-Green Bay made the biggest jump among the top 25 teams this week, moving three spots to No. 18 this week.

The Phoenix improved to 22-1 with wins over Cleveland State and Youngstown State last week. Green Bay plays at Illinois-Chicago on Thursday and Loyola (Ill.) on Saturday.

Welcome aboard, Lions and Foxes: Penn State and Marist are the new teams in this week's poll.

After getting wins over Michigan and Iowa last week, the Nittany Lions earned a No. 23 ranking. Penn State is 20-5 and is in first place in the Big Ten standings at 9-2. The Nittany Lions play Michigan State on Thursday and Indiana on Sunday.

"Penn State is a good team," Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said in the Iowa City Press-Citizen on Monday. "They showed why they're No. 1 in our conference. They can just score at will. They're very, very hard to defend because of their quickness and athleticism."

Marist, which is 21-2 and will play Iona on Friday, is at No. 25 after beating Siena, Niagara and Fairfield last week. The Red Foxes are ranked in the top 25 for the first time this year.

"It's a nice accomplishment and a nice honor," Marist coach Brian Giorgis said in the Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal on Tuesday. "But you don't get anything for that. It doesn't get us to the NCAA tournament. It doesn't win us any gold ball like you win in the MAAC tournament. It doesn't win the glass diamond you get for the MAAC regular-season championship."

oklahoma senior ready for super bowl sunday

Oklahoma senior Carlee Roethlisberger has a pair of reasons to celebrate on Sunday.

First, her team has the day off. And she also will get a chance to see her big brother, Ben, in Super Bowl XLV as the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Green Bay Packers in Arlington, Texas, which is three hours from the Oklahoma campus.

When Carlee was a sophomore, she got to watch her brother play in Super Bowl XLIII against the Arizona Cardinals on her day off. The next day, Roethlisberger helped Oklahoma beat Tennessee 80-70 at Oklahoma City.

So far this season, Roethlisberger is helping the Sooners turn in another strong season. Oklahoma will take a 16-4 record into Wednesday's matchup with top-ranked Baylor at Waco. The Sooners also have a home game on Saturday against Iowa State, which is a game big brother Ben is trying to attend.

"Bigger than the Super Bowl," the Steelers quarterback said in the Daily Oklahoman on Wednesday. "Saturday, my sister's got a home game in Norman, Oklahoma. I'm trying to go to it. I don't think it's going to happen."

But if Ben doesn't go to Saturday's game, he'll still be rooting for his little sister helping the Sooners getting a win over the Cyclones before her day off on Sunday.

"That's a big game," Ben said. "I'm rooting for her. Hope she does good."

Carlee has been a valuable member for the Oklahoma program since her arrival in 2007, helping the Sooners reach the Final Four twice. This winter, she's averaging 6.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

While Carlee gets Sunday off, a total of 82 teams will not be so lucky. A total of 41 games will be played on Sunday, including the one between top-ranked Baylor at Oklahoma State.

Also, UCLA and USC will square off in its crosstown showdown. It's the only Pac-10 game scheduled for Sunday.

All of the Big Ten teams except Minnesota will play on Sunday. Northwestern and Ohio State will square off at 5 p.m. EST, meaning the game will end about an half-hour past kickoff time (6:29 EST). What's up with that?

All of the SEC teams except Tennessee and Kentucky will play on Sunday. Ironically, Tennessee and Kentucky are the only ranked SEC teams in the polls.

Northern Iowa and Missouri State will square on Sunday in a battle for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference. Northern Iowa is in first place at 8-1 and Missouri State is tied for second at 7-2 with Creighton.

Houston will look to bump its Conference USA record to 9-0 on Sunday, when it travels to Tulane.

Big jump: After beating Cincinnati and West Virginia last week, the DePaul Blue Demons made the biggest jump among the top 25 teams in this week's polls. DePaul is ranked ninth with a 21-2 record.

The Blue Demons will take an eight-game winning streak into their contest with UConn on Saturday in a battle of undefeated Big East teams. UConn is 9-0 and DePaul is 8-0.

Welcome aboard, Marquette: For the first time in four years, the Marquette Golden Eagles are back in the top 25.

Marquette earned a spot in the top 25 after beating Louisville and Pittsburgh last week. The Golden Eagles are ranked No. 23, making it the first time since 2007 Marquette made an appearance in the polls.

The Golden Eagles boosted their record to 18-4 with a 62-57 win over Tuesday. They'll play a home game against St. John's on Saturday.