Women's NCAA Tournament
Daily Californian
Oregon senior Natasha O'Brien, who scored 14 points in the Ducks' 80-57 victory over
California on Saturday, shadows Bears’ guard Kenya Corley on the perimeter
Women
Continued from Page 11
three players break double-digits
in scoring and three others
record eight points.
“I thought Shaq did a good job
of not only looking for shots her
self, but also looking to get the
ball to other people,” Runge said.
"Nicole and Lindsey were nice
sparks off the bench.”
California (12-15, 6-12), which
won twice as many games this
season as in either of its previous
two seasons, was led by forward
Courtney Johnson, who scored
13 points, and Jennie Leander,
who finished with 12. Two other
players tallied nine points
apiece.
Strong SEC flavors NCAA pairings
By Chuck Schoffner
The Associated Press
Tennessee, Purdue, Louisiana
Tech and Connecticut received
the top seeds Sunday in the
NCAA women’s basketball tour
nament, which has a decided
Southeastern Conference flavor.
Eight SEC teams made the field
of 64, a record for one conference.
That contingent is headed by Ten
nessee, the regular season and
conference tournament champion
and winner of the last three na
tional championships.
The second-ranked Lady Vols
(28-2) were made the No. 1 seed
in the East Regional. They’ll begin
their quest for a fourth consecu
tive title and eighth overall
against Appalachian State (14
14), the Southern Conference rep
resentative, at home on Saturday.
Top-ranked Purdue (28-1)
heads the bracket in the Midwest,
third-ranked Louisiana Tech (26
2) is the top seed in the West and
sixth-ranked Connecticut (27-4) is
the No. 1 seed in the Mideast.
The tournament begins at eight
sites on Friday. The remaining
first-round games are Saturday,
also at eight sites.
The other SEC teams named to
the field were Alabama, Auburn,
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Louisiana State and Mississippi
State. All are veterans of NCAA
play except Mississippi State,
which will be making its first ap
pearance.
“Eight teams from the SEC is a
reflection of the parity from top to
bottom,” Tennessee coach Pat
Summitt said. “I think most folks
would tell you that one through
those top eight or nine ... you go
into the arena knowing you have
to play strong basketball to win.”
Connecticut claimed a No. 1
seed after bouncing back from a
rash of injuries at midseason,
when the Huskies lost three of six
games. They've won 12 of 13
since then, including an impres
sive three-game run through the
Big East tournament.
Last year, a late-season injury to
All-American Nykesha Sales kept
Connecticut from becoming a No.
1 seed. The Huskies had been a
top seed in each of the four pre
ceding years.
This year, a key injury cost
Notre Dame, which had been ex
pected to be among the top 16
seeds before losing point guard
Niele Ivey to a season-ending
knee injury in the Big East tourna
ment. The eighth-ranked Irish,
with their best record ever at 25
4, are the No. 5 seed in the West.
“I would have to think (the in
jury) did have to be a factor,” said
Bernadette McGlade, who chairs
the selection committee. "It oc
curred in a semifinal game. In the
championship game, Notre Dame
had a little bit of a different look.”
Notre Dame committed 24
turnovers in a 96-75 loss to Con
necticut in the tournament finals.
Connecticut meets St. Francis
in the first round at home on Fri
day, Louisiana Tech plays host to
Central Florida on Friday and
Purdue entertains Oral Roberts on
Saturday.
The brackets are arranged so
that the Midwest Regional cham
pion faces the West and the East
winner meets the Mideast in the
national semifinals in San Jose,
Calif. That creates the possibility
of a Tennessee-Louisiana Tech re
match in the championship game.
Tennessee beat Tech 93-75 in
last year’s title game in Kansas
City, Mo., to complete a 39-0 sea
son.
The SEC hit the NCAA jackpot
after being ranked as the nation’s
No. 1 conference all season.
Four of the SEC teams in the
field finished .500 or below in the
league. Kentucky, Alabama and
Mississippi State all went 7-7,
while Florida was 6-8 — the first
team with a losing conference
record to get an at-large bid. Flori
da is 19-13 overall.
“Nineteen wins in the SEC is a
pretty good season most teams in
the country would take,’’ said
McGlade, assistant commissioner
of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
In previous years, the SEC has
had as many as seven teams.
McGlade said she did not think
the committee was setting a dan
gerous precedent by picking so
many teams from one league.
“The committee felt strongly
that teams that got in from the top
three or four conferences in the
country were all teams that defi
nitely were one of the best 64 in
the country,” she said. “That does
not mean the SEC will forever get
eight.”
The Atlantic Coast Conference
and Big 12 followed the SEC with
five teams each in the NCAA
field. The Big East, Big Ten, Con
ference USA and Pac-10 all had
four.
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