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.