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IREfiON DAILY EMERALD
SEC gets two No. 1
seeds in women's
NCAA Tournament
BY CHUCK SCHOFFNER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Southeastern Conference powers
LSU and Tennessee received No. 1
seeds in the NCAA women's basket
ball tournament on Sunday, joined
by ACC tournament champ North
Carolina and a team that reached that
level for the first time in program
history: Michigan State.
The Big Ten tournament champi
ons edged Stanford, which just last
week climbed atop The Associated
Press poll for the first time this year,
to take the No. 1 spot in a bracket
that's sure to be tough.
The Kansas City Regional includes
the top-ranked Cardinal as the No. 2
seed; Connecticut, winner of the last
three national championships, gets
the No. 3 spot; and Kansas State,
runner-up in the Big 12 tournament,
was No. 4.
"We're just kind of ready to
play a game, to be honest," said Michi
gan State coach Joanne P. McCallie,
wearing a wide grin with her jubilant
team behind her. "We’ve had a week
off and these girls are getting grumpy."
Stanford coach Tara Vanderveer
looked defiant when she learned her
top-ranked Cardinal would be a
No. 2 — the first No. 1 ranked team
not to earn a top tournament seed in
since Texas in 1984.
"I have no reaction to that," Van
derveer said. "We're really excited to
be in the tournament. I love coaching
this team."
LSU (29-2) landed in the Chat
tanooga Regional, the closest site to
its campus. Tennessee was No. 1 in
Philadelphia and North Carolina
topped the Tempe bracket.
The women's tournament scrapped
the East, Mideast, Midwest and West
designations for regionals this year
and replaced them with the name of
the city hosting the regional semifinals
and finals.
The other No. 2 seeds were ACC
co-champion Duke (Chattanooga),
Big 12 champion Baylor (Tempe) and
Big Ten co-champion Ohio State
(Philadelphia).
LSU, which was ranked No. 1
much of the season, won the SEC
regular-season championship, then
dropped a two-point game to Ten
nessee in the finals of the confer
ence tournament. Tennessee (26-4)
was the regular-season runner-up,
losing only to LSU in league play.
It's the 17th time in the 24 years of
the NCAA women's tournament that
WOMEN, page 11B
SEC: Florida blows it open
with late second-half streak
Continued from page 3B
Lee, drove right by Kentucky treshman
Rajon Rondo for a layup. The Wildcats
turned it over, and Walsh hit another
three to make it 51-44.
Ravi Moss broke the run of
11 straight points with a a 10-foot
jumper, but that was merely a
brief respite in Florida’s dominance.
Roberson swished a three; Walsh hit a
leaner in the lane; Corey Brewer scored
on a fastbreak layup; Walsh made one
free throw, and Brewer scored on
another drive to make it 61-46.
At that point, the Florida bench
was hopping up and down, knowing
the Gators had finally broken
Kentucky’s stranglehold on the
tournament. The Wildcat faithful
began heading quietly for the exits.
With 20 seconds to go, Florida coach
Billy Donovan called a timeout to give
his starters, especially the Big Three, a
chance to get one more standing ova
tion as they came off the court. When
the horn sounded, Brewer hurled the
ball roofward and leaped in the air at
midcourt, pumping his right fist.
Kentucky shot only 37.5 percent
from the field, including a dismal
2-of-19 outside the three-point arc,
depriving the Wildcats of one of
their favorite weapons. Florida also
dominated the boards, seizing con
trol in the first half and finishing
with a 48-31 edge.
Lee had a staggering 17 rebounds,
and A1 Horford chipped in with nine.
Kelenna Azubuike led Kentucky
with 17 points, but none of his team
mates cracked double figures. Sparks
missed all six of his three-pointers
and managed just four points.
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