Women's Hoops Blog

Inane commentary on a game that deserves far better


Friday, February 23, 2007

You want upsets? We got upsets, upsets here...

In the CAA, Delaware upset ranked James Madison by preserving an early lead: senior Tyresa Smith scored 32-- yes, thirty-two-- and Blue Hen teammate Chrissy Fisher 22.

Delaware coach Tina Martin: "Our kids really came to play and our crowd was incredible... Everything we wanted to do gameplan-wise we did. We executed and we shared the ball. Tyresa is the best guard to ever put on a Delaware uniform."

Delaware's neat record got attention in December: they beat Kentucky, but lost to Boston College (who have since looked bad in the tough ACC) and to now-ranked Bowling Green.

In the SEC, Vandy upset LSU. Vandy gained the home win with a late run; Vandy's Carla Thomas scored 23. Dee Davis, who loves assists, had eight of those.

It was the perpetually good, yet perpetually overshadowed, Commodores' first top-ten triumph in a while. Thomas: "I think we're capable of a lot more."

They need to be: how tough is the SEC? Beating LSU-- the number seven team in the country-- puts Vanderbilt in third behind Georgia and Tennessee. Coach Pokey's team have now lost three of four; that's what happens when you play Connecticut and Tennessee in one eight-day stretch.

Underdogs' Senior Nights are good for upsets, for understandable emotional reasons. What would have been the biggest upset of all didn't quite take place on Senior Night in Fayetteville. Arkansas took Tennessee to overtime, but couldn't hang on.

The Razorbacks' Domnique Washington sank seven threes, one of which forced the extra period. "I thought if I had the chance it was going in," she said.

How tough is the SEC? Arkansas won all their nonconference games except a matchup with North Carolina, but are now 3-11 in SEC play and probably won't make the Big Dance. And yet Tennessee needed OT to beat them.