Women's Nat'l Basketball Report
George Rodecker, Women's Columnist
First thought on the way in
Most teams have played the first half of their conference season and this is a good time to review some of what we’ve seen. Most experts and logical fans now know that what they thought or were told back in October has been confirmed. Baylor is indeed the number one team in the nation. Notre Dame and UConn along with Stanford are close on BU's heels. Maybe what pundits didn’t expect was the oomph that Duke is providing and they are sitting dangerously close to crashing the top four party. The Dukies are deep, tough and well coached. They have a freshman, Elizabeth Williams, who very likely will be recognized as the ACC Player of the Year as well as National Freshman of the Year. They’re positioned to be a Final Four team, and for those who think that the above mentioned Super Four is a lock, remember that last year, no one, and I really mean no one, would have predicted a Notre Dame – Texas A&M final. Just as easy to overlook this season and post-season is Kentucky sitting at 19-2/8-0 and pretty much looking like the new SEC beast of the southeast.
The one word that fans fear the most when discussing an opponent is “OVERLOOKED”. It’s a deflation of overall perceptions – perhaps the difference of a 4 seed becoming a 7 seed, or a 6 seed dropping into a 10 slot. And that my friends is why every single game played, whether against a top foe or some sort of North Nowhere State is critical and vital to post-season NCAA bracket positioning.
Spotlight
Florida Gulf Coast University has only been in existence since 1997, yet it is making its mark ever since the very first team suited up for play and turned in an unbelievable 30-1 season. In fact, they had seasons of 18-8, 21-9, 29-2, 34-1, 22-9, 26-5, 24-7 and 28-4. So far this season, their first year eligible for NCAA post-season play, they’re sitting at an impressive 19-2/11-0. The Emerald Green and Cobalt Blue Eagles are led by Head Coach Karl Smesko (Kent State 1993). His combined FGCU record sits at 251-48, and his teams seem to be the dominant alpha of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The only two losses they suffered this season was an opening game six point loss to BIG EAST’s Seton Hall and the ACC’s North Carolina State by five. They have signature wins against Michigan State, Richmond, and a 28 point pounding of the ACC’s Virginia Tech. Sophomore guard Sarah Hansen leads a parade of contributors with 13.1 points and 6.1 boards per game. Additionally she averages 2.2 thefts per game and shoots 48.5% from the floor.
Smesko was hired a full year before the Eagles began play. He had that full year to recruit and build from scratch – not a very easy task. But that first ever 2002-2003 team rattled off wins in its first nine games ever played and FGCU has never had to look back.
In reminiscing Smesko recalls: “I had one full year to
recruit before we had to start playing. When we first started
recruiting we didn’t even have an arena to show them.
We just had some pictures of what the arena would look like.
In the beginning our offices were trailers, we didn’t have
real offices. We just had to tell them about the vision we
had for the program. The excitement is being part of the
first team ever, and I think we had players who were motivated to
be pioneers and help start this program. When we started we
had no affiliation and we thought we would go NAIA but then we
opted for NCAA Division II. We then had to go through a
transition period for D-II and then another transition period for
D-I. Most of our existence we haven’t been eligible for
NCAA tournaments."
Smesko seems to smile over the phone when he states, “Now we’ve been through every transition and are fully eligible to be in the post-season tournaments”.
About Hansen and her 20 point, 13 rebound performance against Michigan State, a 59-58 win, the affable head coach said: “She’s a very good basketball player who is very competitive and very bright. She’s team oriented and she picks up things and she’s a 5-9 player who is willing to battle kids who are 6-2 and taller and just outwork them. On offense she can do just about everything. She can take it to the basket, she can handle the ball, and she can shoot it. Sarah’s just a good all-around player and a very tough individual”.
Regarding a very deep roster where minutes are distributed among several key contributors – few with any significant size, Smesko added: “We developed a different style, a wide open style; we really spread out the floor and have good shooters everywhere”.
From his one season as an assistant at Maryland, he recalls: “I saw what basketball is like at the highest level. What they did, what strength and conditioning was like – and all the little things”.
Whatever Karl Smesko has learned, from his time at Walsh University, Indiana-Purdue/Forth Wayne and Maryland, the Ohio native has brought all that experience and learning to this 13,000 student University in Fort Myers Florida. And fans as well as students have profited the most. For more on FGCU and to track their progress this season, head to their website at: http://www.fgcuathletics.com/wbasketball/
Overtime
Antonia Bennett plays for Florida Agriculture and
Mechanical University, more popularly known as FAMU. With a
65-51 victory over MEAC Bethune Cookman (now known as B-CU) the
Lady Rattlers: 15-5/8-0 took over sole possession of first place in
the conference and are beginning to position themselves as a
post-season contender. A big reason for their success has
been the play of Bennett, a 6-1 junior guard who is currently
averaging 18.9 points. 9.8 boards, 2.6 steals and 1.6 blocks
– all top numbers on the team. Her 2.4 dimes are second
on the team. The local product of Lakeland Florida is a
former All-MEAC Rookie selection and has increased her productivity
each season in Tallahassee. Certainly FAMU is a team to keep
an eye on down the backstretch of conference play; Antonia Bennett
will be a major part of any success the Rattlers achieve.
(Credit: Vaughn Wilson/FAMU Athletics)
Skylar Diggins versus Brittany Griner: The Player of
Year battle
Report #9
For games 01-23-2012 through 01-29-2012
Brittany Griner
In an 89-58 walkover at Oklahoma, Griner netted 18 points, six rebounds and blocked seven shots in 37 minutes of action. Against Kansas, a 74-46 drubbing, she contributed 28 points, seven boards and five blocks. Baylor now sits at 20-0.
Skylar Diggins
Against perennial national power and No. 7 Tennessee, Diggins exploded for 27 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. In a 71-56 road win against Saint John’s, she led the way with 24 points, six helpers and three blocks. Notre Dame sits at 21-1 and is positioned right on Baylor’s heels.
Advantage: – Diggins – Griner and Diggins are tied after nine weeks: 3-3-3
Around the Conferences
The Ohio Valley Conference announced its Player of the Week – Jasmin Shuler of Tennessee State. Shuler went off for 38 points, five boards and four helpers in an 86-80 overtime win over Morehead State and followed that performance up with a 22 point effort in an 88-73 loss against the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected St. Bonaventure guard Jessica Jenkins as its Women's National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Jan. 22. Also, and obviously, Jenkins collected the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week award as well. The Bonnies are 20-2/7-0 and quite possibly will be making a overdue visit to the AP Top 25 poll. For the complete USBWA release follow this link - http://www.sportswriters.net/usbwa/news/2012/women120124.html
Wyoming’s freshman Kayla Woodward captured her first Player of the Week (note, not freshman, but player) in the Mountain West Conference for her efforts last week. In a 98-36 drubbing of Air Force she tallied 28 points (career high) with 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists. Then in a 62-58 loss at Colorado State, Woodward contributed 23 points and six boards.
In the Missouri Valley Conference, Southern Illinois’ Teri Oliver averaged 25.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.5 assists per game in Southern Illlinois’ best week of the Salukis’ MVC season thus far. The junior guard had a milestone night in SIU’s win over Missouri State Thursday that helped the Salukis end a 24-game MVC losing streak. Oliver scored 28 points to surpass 1,000 for her career and hit an SIU record-tying seven 3-pointers on just eight attempts against the Lady Bears. Oliver followed that performance with a team-high 23 points with five rebounds, two assists and two steals in a loss to league-leader Wichita State Saturday. The 51-point week helped lift Oliver’s season scoring average to 18.0 points per game, which is tied for second in the league.
The Big South’s Player of the Week is Cheyenne Parker, a sophomore center at High Point who filled the stat sheet in a two win week. First Parker dropped in 14 points and an amazing 22 rebounds and eight blocked shots in a victory over Coastal Carolina, and then added 22 points, 17 boards, four blocks and four steals in a win over Charleston Southern.
UTEP continues its dominance of Conference USA with their recent 67-38 clubbing of UCF. The Miners continued their exploits on the defensive side forcing 20 turnovers and blocking 9 shots. They cashed that into a 22-4 scoring advantage off turnovers. They are now 19-2/8-0. Freshman Jenzel Nash came off the UTEP bench and contributed 12 points. The Miner reserves outscored UCF 36-2... something that they have done every game this season - and their depth could make them a heckuva dangerous team come March.
Over in the Big Ten freshman Emily Cady of Nebraska captured Freshman of the Week Award on the heels of a 24 point, seven rebound performance against No. 10 Ohio State.
As BIG EAST/National power Notre Dame continues to load their resume Head Coach Muffet McGraw had this to say this week about her Fighting Irish team: “I think we’ve played well and we’re continuing to get better. I don’t know if we’re played our best game yet. They’re hungry”.
In a key ACC game with national implications, #5 Duke took the measure of #8 Maryland 80-72 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Chelsea Grey scored 17 points and a whopping 11 assists, while freshman sensation Elizabeth Williams added 16 points, eight boards, two assists and two blocks. Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie said afterwards: “That was a great women’s basketball game. It was just great to have that in Cameron. The crowd was incredible. The quality of the game was one of the highest quality games I can remember since I’ve had the good fortune of coaching in Cameron, relative to shooting percentages, relative to attack and all those kinds of things. I’m exceptionally proud of our team in terms of how we fought. Maryland’s a great team”.
Last thought on the way out
It’s that time of the year again in which award contenders
are recognized. We thought you might enjoy a peek at the two
most recently announced lists.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club sponsors the John R. Wooden
Award. Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board,
the list is made up of 20 student-athletes who, based on their
performances in November, December, and January, are the
front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious honor.
Their list include Alex Bentley (Penn State),
Elena Delle Donne (Delaware), Skylar
Diggins (Notre Dame), Shante Evans
(Hofstra), Brittney Griner (Baylor), Bria
Hartley (UConn), Glory Johnson
(Tennessee), Shenise Johnson (Miami),
A'dia Mathies (Kentucky), Kaleena
Mosqueda-Lewis (UConn), Natalie Novosel
(Notre Dame), Chiney Ogwumike (Stanford),
Nneka Ogwumike (Stanford), Samantha
Prahalis (Ohio State), Sugar Rogers
(Georgetown), Odyssey Sims (Baylor),
Shekinna Stricklen (Tennessee), Alyssa
Thomas (Maryland), Elizabeth Williams
(Duke) and Riquna Williams
(Miami).
The Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award finalists are: Denise
Beliveau (New Hampshire), Brittany Carter
(Memphis), Lauren Edwards (Princeton),
Amanda Johnson (Oregon), Emile
Johnson (UC Santa Barbara), Michelle
Kurowski (UMBC), Natalie Novosel (Notre
Dame), Nnemkadi Ogwumike (Stanford,
Justine Raterman (Dayton), Brittany
Rayburn (Purdue).
See you all next week –
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Smesko photo courtesy of Duncan Williams
