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.