2008 Woodie Awards
4:27 p.m.
And that will do it for the Sweet 16 in Greensboro. Rutgers takes the victory, 53-42. The Big East championship game we never got to see will take place in Tuesday’s Greensboro Regional final. It’s likely these will be the only two Big East teams standing after today, and it’s guaranteed that the Big East will have a presence in the Final Four.
It’s sad to see some of the fans of the smaller, Cinderella-ish schools go, but at the same time, we’re 3/4 of the way to NCAArmageddon (trademark!). None but 1’s and 2’s involved so far. I expect Tennessee to complete the top-seed sweep, while Duke and A&M should be excellent.
And hey - Tuesday gives us an Elite Eight matchup between bitter rivals, some of the best players and two of the best coaches in America. What more could you want from March Madness?
Also, if you don’t mind me putting some explicit opinion here: The banks of the old Raritan suck. And I was born about 30 minutes north of that particular river. Oh, and on the way back to the media room, the Scarlet Knight gave me a slap on the shoulder. Does that mean I have seven years’ bad luck now?
Possibly back later tonight for a wrap-up, but otherwise I’ll be checking in sometime tomorrow for Media Day #2 here in Greensboro.
So long.
4:18 p.m.
George Washington is up against it now. Essence Carson hit a huge 15-footer and was fouled. She converted the free throw and Rutgers leads it, 49-42 with two to play. The Colonials just went 0-fer on their last two possessions, and a three possession game with under 2 to go is not where you want to be. Especially againtst Rutgers.
Officiating has been pretty badly one-sided against GW, but to Rutgers’ credit, they are playing exactly how the refs will let them. The Colonials haven’t adjusted.
It’s 50-42 Rutgers with 1:38 remaining.
4:08 p.m.
Rhetorial question: how can a team whose entire defense is based on pushing, pulling and hammering the opposition into submission like Rutgers have four less fouls called on it than a smaller team like GW? Don’t answer that.
But it’s at least part of the reason Rutgers has turned a three-point game into an eight-point lead with under 8:00 to play.
Rutgers has just three (four just as I write this) fouls called on it, and they’ve gotten the benefit of the doubt on a couple of borderline plays that probably should have been called on the Scarlet Knights. Ah well, when you’re the underdog, you have to make your own breaks.
As an aside, I am totally digging George Washington’s anthropomorphic and eponymous mascot.
And there’s a sequence that sums up this game: GW gets four straight points to pull within 42-38 and commits a hand-check to put Rutgers in the bonus. Five and a half left.
4:00 p.m.
Back courtside here, and Rutgers is in command of this game, leading George Washington 40-30 with 11:53 to go.
The Colonials drew within 33-30 on a 12-footer with about 13 left, but a couple of well-run offensive possessions by Rutgers led to a few open looks and seven straight points.
Winner gets UConn, and the Colonials are going to need a few stops, shots and breaks to get back in it.
2:50 p.m.
A couple things before I head off to write my notebook (featuring RU-GW! Injuries! Lorin Dixon! Hilarious Geno quotes!) for Monday’s paper, which you should definitely check out. As well as our other fine content, of course.
—Rutgers has jumped out to a 9-6 lead on George Washington. No surprise there. Winner gets UConn Tuesday night at - ugh - 9:30 p.m. Are you kidding me, NCAA/ESPN? There’s a regional in Oklahoma City featuring potentially a Central time zone team; and there’s a regional in Greensboro featuring two Northeast teams. Yeah, clearly, you want to start the East Coast game at 9:30 so it ends near 11:30. Ridiculous.
—Correction for worried UConn fans. Tina Charles DID injure her left shoulder late in the second half, but the right shoulder is the one with the scars from surgery last spring. Auriemma said both Charles and Renee Montgomery should be ready to go Tuesday, barring any misfortunes. Montgomery twisted her knee and should be OK, though she may wear a protective sleeve Tuesday.
Back courtside in about 45, hopefully.
2:03 p.m.
Final score: UConn 78, Old Dominion 63. The Huskies advance to the Elite Eight for the third straight year. ODU gets a nice, well-deserved round of applause from the fans here in Greensboro. Great effort from the overmatched Monarchs.
I’ll be back after the press conferences to join the Rutgers-George Washington game in progress, as well as bring you updates on the conditions of Charles, Montgomery and the rest of the locker room.
Stay here.
2:00 p.m.
And now it appears as if Renee Montgomery tweaked her left knee. In a scramble for the ball. The point guard was slow to get up, but got a quick check from the UConn trainer and appears to be OK.
UConn leads it 78-61 with 1:00 to play and I’m sure the Huskies will be thrilled to get out of this game with everyone as healthy as possible, no matter what the score.
1:53 p.m.
UConn leads 76-59 with 2:30 to play, but the bigger story is that Tina Charles is off the court with a shoulder injury.
She went up for a layup at the 3:45 mark and was either fouled or blocked. Either way, she grimaced in pain and held her surgically-repaired left shoulder before being helped off. She’s done for the day, obviously, and she’s still tenderly holding her shoulder/arm close to her body when she walks.
This would be an enormous loss with a potential Elite Eight game against Rutgers two days away.
1:38 p.m.
With battery problems mostly solved (at least for the last 8 minutes or so of the game), we’re back. UConn has been dominant in the second half - they lead 73-47 with 7:31 to play.
Old Dominion’s T.J. Jordan cut UConn’s lead to 43-36 with a 3 on the Monarchs’ opening possession. Maya Moore then answered with a 3 a few seconds later, which kicked off a 20-1 run over the next 5:40.
The HUskies have been playing back and forth for the rest of the game, and now the only questions are whether the backups will get in and if Moore (who has 23) can set the all-time Big East freshman scoring record with another bucket.
It looks like our stay in Greensboro will continue, as will UConn’s. I can see flashes of the November 43-point UConn win. At times, ODU has been unable to keep up with the Huskies’ pace and athleticism. And whereas they were able to get a few offensive rebounds and convert, there’s been very few second-chance opportunities that I can remember.
UConn leads it by 24 with 6:04 left.
12:33 p.m.
Huskies lead it, 33-26 with 7:15 to go in the first half.
In the file of “Maya Moore, freshman,” chalk this one up: she got stuffed taking a 3-point shot, then she forced a pass to Brittany Hunter which led to a jump ball.
Old Dominion hanging close thanks to Tiffany Green, who’s scored 6 of ODU’s last 8, and a couple nice defensive stops. The Monarchs are missing an incredible amount of layups or they might be leading right now.
And the Old Dominion section breaks out the old “We Are” chant. It works for Marshall, Penn State and maybe St. John’s. But just no. No, ever. The ODU fans are loud, and are just destroying UConn in the “best fans” category right now.
But the scoreboard shows the Huskies up by 7.
12:21 p.m.
Apparently power outlets in Greensboro don’t have to be attached to anything. So my battery may be running low as we get near halftime, just as a heads-up.
UConn leads, 23-14, with 11:44 to play in the first half behind a little seven-point spurt by Maya Moore, an acrobatic layup from Ketia Swanier on a pass from Moore, and a pair of Tina Charles free throws(!). The Huskies are their normal crazy-efficient selves on offense, and Old Dominion hasn’t had the firepower to keep up yet. They’ll have to really start making some tough shots if they want to keep within striking distance.
The Huskies are shooting 10-for-17, ODU is at 6-for-17 as of the timeout.
12:12 p.m.
Clearly, these are two different teams from November, when UConn defeated ODU in the Virgin Islands, 86-43. The Lady Monarchs are a worthy No. 5 seed and then some. So don’t be too surprised to read that UConn leads, 8-7, with 15:44 to go in the first half.
The Huskies are moving into the paint early and often, and it’s resulted in a couple early lay-ups. Old Dominion, outmatched in the paint, is keeping with UConn thanks to some nice transition offense (though they have missed a few chippies, something can’t afford to do) and a nice 3 by Jazzmin Walters, who is possibly the smallest D-I basketball player I’ve ever seen.
Tina Charles is in at the 16:00 mark, for those of you wondering.
Back with more as the situation calls for.
12 p.m.
Welcome to the unfortunately half-filled Greensboro Coliseum on this fairly chilly Sunday morning in North Carolina. It’s just about noon, which means we are just moments away from tip-off for this regional semifinal between #1 UConn and #5 Old Dominion.
Two notes before we get to the starting lineups:
-Tina Charles will not start for the third consecutive tournament game. Auriemma will go with McLaren-Hunter in the frontcourt.
-There are a HELL of a lot of Old Dominion fans here. Yes, some of them are wearing red and waiting for the 2:30 game, but the ODU fans are loud and boisterous. That’s really all you can ask for from a small school. Plenty of UConn fans here, as well, but it’s at least 55-45 ODU. Or at least it sounds that way.
Everything’s just about set to go. I’ve got some of the butterflies, as I imagine the players do.. This is what it’s all about - tournament time, one-and-done, do-or-die.
STARTING LINEUPS
#1 UConn (34-1): PG Ketia Swanier, SG Renee Montgomery, SF Maya Moore, PF Kaili McLaren, C Brittany Hunter
#5 Old Dominion (31-4): PG Jazzmin Walters, SG T.J. Jordan, SF Shahida Williams, PF Meghan Pym, C Tiffany Green
Back during the game.
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