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.
No comments:
Post a Comment