10:29 p.m.
Hey, if you think I’m whining about the officiating, just come and listen to the Stanford fans behind me, who are literally yelling “THREE SECONDS!” as soon as any Tennessee player steps in the paint. Chill out, guys.
They won’t have much more time to yell. Tennessee’s defense has been absolutely incredible, and the Lady Vols lead it 58-44 with 3:00 or so to play, in what has been an unentertaining slugfest, just like the Lady Vols’ last two games (and last year’s title game against Rutgers, among others that come to mind).
I can’t give UT enough credit. They are impenetrable for the Cardinal. Stanford’s missed a few gimmes, but apart from getting it within 37-33 in the first few minutes of the second half, they (and Candice Wiggins) have been absolutely shut down.
The Vols are certainly deserving champions, though I’ll always wonder about what might have been with a match-up with UConn.
Back probably after the game.
9:30 p.m.
Let me add another ref call to the file:
Nicky Anosike steals the ball, throws a legitimate elbow at the Stanford defender. Whistle. Stanford foul. This is tiring.
Tennessee is cruising, 37-29 at halftime. The way it’s going, it appears as if the second half should be nothing more than a coronation, yet again, for the Lady Vols. How the fates conspired to help Tennessee once again (Texas A&M shooting -35% in the second half in the Elite Eight, LSU not boxing out with one second left, UConn knocked out in the semis), I’ll never know.
Back for less-often updates in the second half, as deadline warrants.
9:22 p.m.
This is getting patently ridiculous. On two straight Stanford possessions, a Tennessee player reached and grabbed a Stanford ballhandler’s arm. The first resulted in a tie-up, the second in a Stanford turnover. Then, the referees called a dubious charge on Stanford’s next possession. Oh, and Candace Parker’s getting the star treatment.
As if the Vols needed any help. It’s 30-21 Tennessee with 3:06 remaining in the first half.
Remember everything Stanford did right against UConn to get here? I’m starting to think that it may have been a fluke. The Cards aren’t getting the breaks they caught against the Huskies, they’re missing open shots and their opponent is (for a change) actually hitting their open shots.
Plus, it feels like Thompson-Boling Arena in here. I feel sick saying that.
9:10 p.m.
Tennessee leads it, 21-15, with 7:46 to go.
Stanford is killing themselves with some sloppy passes, turnovers and bad defensive rebounding. Nicky Anosike in particular did an excellent job on the boards, scoring after running circles around a Stanford post player and grabbing a rebound.
Candice Wiggins, Stanford’s star, really needs to take over the game on offense, and most importantly, she needs to not miss fast break layups. On the plus side, she’s created some havoc on defense with a couple of steals.
Let’s see what the Cardinal can do with Candace Parker out of the game.
9:01 p.m.
The quest to have Tennessee get every call in this game is on, apparently, as the Lady Vols have been reaching in on nearly every Stanford possession and the refs have been letting it go.
Tennessee leads, 17-9, with 11:16 to go. Shannon Bobbitt is the story of the game, as she now has 8 points, and Stanford simply cannot win the game if someone besides Parker (who has 5 herself) has a huge, huge game.
8:50 p.m.
Tennessee leads, 12-7 at the first TV timeout. Bad news for Stanford all around - Shannon Bobbitt looks like she’s on fire (she hit a couple 3s already) and the Vols look absolutely supercharged on defense.
Where was this Tennessee offense all tournament? More importantly, where was this Stanford defense last night? The Lady Vols are scoring at will against Stanford right now. UT is not a deep team, so Stanford has to keep it close and wear them down, and pray that Wiggins is efficient with her shots. But the Lady Vols look like a juggernaut right now.
Rocky Top is going to get ultra-annoying, real soon.
Back with more.
8:25 p.m.
Yes, it’s not a 60’s song, but the Tennessee band just broke that one out, because they are from the South.
To their credit, the Stanford band replied by clapping along, and thus far are well ahead in the Battle of the Bands competition. And not just because their conductor looks like a female Willy Wonka, with ‘S’ cane, top hat and cardinal vest. Also not because they play the Star Wars imperial march when their team comes out on the court. Beats the hell out of hearing ‘Rocky Top’ for the 19th time in an hour, certainly.
Anyway, with that out of the way, we are ready for some basketball here at the St. Pete Times Forum. I don’t know that the liveblog will be as thorough as usual, due to some other things that also need to get done, but I’ll do what I can.
Notes and observations, before we get to the starting lineups:
It appears as if the UConn fans have fled Tampa en masse, and they’ve all sold their seats to Tennesseeans. There’s orange pretty much wherever you look, a smidge of cardinal, and just a smattering of purple and blue/white/whatever the hell color UConn fans feel like wearing.
Love the Stanford fans’ enthusiasm. They seem like a nice, classy fanbase, except for the one or two fan-referees who called 87 offensive fouls on UConn last night. That got annoying quick.
Your Candace Parker Update of the Night: She looks good. No additional troubles with the shoulder, and you figure that in her final collegiate game, anything goes. The LA Sparks (who have the #1 pick in tomorrow’s WNBA draft) will be crossing their fingers all night that nothing goes wrong.
Sign of the night, so far: “Geaux Stanford,” held by a purple-clad LSU fan. He speaks for us all, really.
Worst sign of the night: “Where’s Geno,” held by an orange-clad Vols fan. Seriously? That’s almost as classy as yelling ’Yankees suck’ at a New England Patriots victory parade, not that Boston fans would ever be so petty and obnoxious. Dumb, too. What was I saying?
The NCAA elected to go with Jet’s “Cold Hard Bitch” for its 2008 tournament ‘how we got here’ video. I don’t think my superiors will let me make any further comment on that.
Without further adieu, YOUR championship game starting lineups:
#2 Stanford (35-3, Spokane Regional champions, coached by Tara VanDerveer): PG Rosalyn Gold-Onwude (#21, a 5-foot-10 sophomore); SG J.J. Hones (#10, a 5-foot-10 sophomore); SF Candice Wiggins (#11, a 5-foot-11 senior); PF Kayla Pedersen (#14, a 6-foot-4 freshman); C Jayne Appel (#2, a 6-foot-4 sophomore)
#1 Tennessee (35-2, Oklahoma City Regional champions, coached by Pat Summitt): PG Shannon Bobbitt (#00, a 5-foot-2 senior), SG Alexis Hornbuckle (#14, a 5-foot-11 senior); SF Alberta Auguste (#33, a 5-foot-11 senior); PF Candace Parker (#3, a 6-foot-4 junior); C Nicky Anosike (#55, a 6-foot-4 senior)
One more stream-of-consciousness thought, I don’t know what’s more memorizing - the funky, gyrating dancing of the Stanford cheerleaders/dance team, or the flailing, hypnotic movements of the Stanford tree. The tree is ragged as hell and looks like it was designed as a fourth-grade project when you get up close, but the Tennessee fans to my right seem to love the Tree. Good for them.
Back during the game.
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You know three more ’60s songs than I do. Unless, of course, you count “Mo Money, Mo Problems” by The Monkees.
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