December 2, 2008

The Comets dominated the fledgling league when it began operations, winning the first four WNBA titles from 1997-2000, led by its talented trio of players: Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper and Tina Thompson.  Kind of ironic that the most successful Houston sports franchise is no more.

With the Comets officially gone (well technically the franchise is “suspended”) what does that mean for the league?  In her ESPN column, Mechelle Voepel discusses the demise of the team and the struggles the league will face in this uncertain economy.

As the old adage goes, the Comets were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it’s important not to forget that a decade ago, they were in the right place at the right time. And the WNBA benefited because of it…

…Bad news? Of course. But the NBA is still vested enough in the WNBA, and that — along with the energy and hard work of the independent owners — will keep the league going.

The folding of the Comets franchise leaves the San Antonio Silver Stars as the only remaining WNBA team in Texas. For now, bye, bye Comets. You’ll be missed but not forgotten. And hopefully, you’ll be back one day soon!

Hoops:
Cardinal lose JJ Hones to ACL injury  - Stanford junior point guard JJ Hones suffered a knee injury Sunday during the Cardinal win against Rutgers and will miss the rest of the season. It’s her second ligament tear in two years. Does this preclude Stanford from reaching the Final Four?

Tennis:
Maria Sharapova expects to be back on the tennis tour at the start of 2009 - According to her agent, Masha is planning to defend her Australian Open title after being sidelined since July with an injured right shoulder.

Mauresmo not ready to retire - Former world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo has committed herself to at least another year on the WTA circuit in a bid to end her career on a positive note.  The 29-year-old Frenchwoman struggled for form throughout this year and saw her world ranking plummet outside the top 20 as she failed to win a single tournament.

Olympics:  
Modern Pentathlon cut from five events to four - Modern pentathlon has been cut from five events to four in a bid to boost the sport’s popularity and keep it on the Olympic program. The International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) voted to combine pistol shooting and running into one discipline to create a shorter and more dynamic event.  Women have competed in the pentathlon since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Volleyball:
U.S. women’s volleyball coach Ping steps down - Jenny Lang Ping, 47, the former star of China’s Olympic champion volleyball team who guided the U.S. women’s volleyball team to the silver medal in the Beijing Olympics, will step down as coach of the US women’s national squad. Known as the “Iron Hammer” in her playing days, Ping was the only woman coach among those guiding the world’s 20 top-ranked national teams. Ping, who has a 16-year-old daughter, cited family reasons for her decision.

November 25, 2008

As UConn embarks on their first road trip of the season, coach Geno Auriemma reminisces about the way the team used to travel. Before they flew on chartered flights and ate in fine restaurants, the team traveled by bus and pooled their money for dinner. A road trip in the old days most certainly meant you missed a class or two; now private planes that depart immediately after a game assure players they’re back in time for morning classes.

To get a sense of just how much the Huskies now travel, the New Haven Register reports that when UConn plays tonight at Brigham Young in Utah, it will be the 34th state in which the team has played since coach Geno Auriemma’s arrival in 1985.

Next month, UConn will play three games in Cancun, Mexico, and in the last three seasons,  the Huskies have also enjoyed a trip to Italy and took part in a tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

It’s a long way from Auriemma’s first season, when 25 of the 27 games where either in New England or the tri-state area. In the last four seasons, UConn either has played, or will play, games in 22 states.

Yes, it’s good to be a Husky - as long as you like to travel.

November 24, 2008

Now through the end of the year, you can vote for your favorite shots from the most talented basketball photographers in the world. You’ll see game-action photos, celebration shots, behind-the-scenes images, portraits and events from the community.

Photos are separated by home team and divided into four brackets by region. Fans’ vote and the top choices will then go on to meet in a bracket-style “Photo of the Year” tournament in December.

Visit The Best WNBA Images of 2008 to cast your vote.

November 23, 2008

 California pulls off huge upset of No. 3 Rutgers - Alexis Gray-Lawson hustled all over the court on the way to 25 points, nine rebounds and four assists and No. 7 California pulled off the biggest home victory of fourth-year coach Joanne Boyle’s tenure with a 66-52 upset of third-ranked Rutgers on Friday night.

Paris notches 100th double-double as No. 4 Oklahoma drops Ariz. State -Courtney Paris had 20 rebounds and 19 points for the 100th double-double of her career and set Oklahoma’s scoring record in the No. 4 Sooners’ 70-57 win over No. 17 Arizona State in the semifinals of the Women’s Preseason NIT.

Hartford stuns fifth-ranked Duke 53-51 - Hartford took advantage of 26 turnovers and handed No. 6 Duke a surprising 53-51 loss in the first game of the DePaul Invitational on Friday night.

Terps: Toliver, big run lead Terps past James Madison - The Terrapin women’s basketball team and James Madison went back and forth for the majority of Thursday night’s game but the No. 11 Terps used a 14-0 run over 3:54 just past the midway point of the second half to outlast the Dukes for a 90-76 win.

Toliver, with career 1,500 points, helps Maryland cruise past UCLA -  Kristi Toliver scored 26 points and passed another career milestone to lead No. 11 Maryland to an easy 88-65 win over UCLA on Sunday.

No. 1 UConn routs San Diego St, 99-55 - Maya Moore led UConn with 21 points, 17 in the first half. The sophomore also had nine rebounds and six assists while playing just 25 minutes. Tina Charles added 17 points for the Huskies, who now have won 26 consecutive home games and 89 straight games over unranked opponents.

No. 1 UConn extends home win streak with rout of Rhode Island - As if Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery and Maya Moore weren’t enough, for the third consecutive game, at least five players scored in double figures to help the Huskies rout Rhode Island 91-43 on Saturday.

Bard’s Latiqua Williams records rare Quadruple Double - Bard College Sophomore, Latiqua Williams recorded a rare Quadruple-Double in a 75-28 win over The College of New Rochelle on Sunday, November 16th. Williams scored 21 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, had 11 steals and 10 assists in the victory.

Tennessee nearly upset by Chatanooga - Lady Vol’s Vicki Baugh made a tiebreaking free throw with 53.7 seconds remaining and Tennessee beat Chattanooga 66-63 on Friday night to avoid a major upset.

For great daily coverage, there are a number of bloggers who live and breath women’s hoops so be sure to catch their updates:

Girls Basketball Recuit - Girls basketball news and recruiting information covers D1 - D3 as well as community college and high school ball.
Women’s Hoops Blog - Great commentary on all aspects of the women’s game.

And of course you can always get your women’s basketball news from more traditional media outlets like:

ESPN Women’s Basketball
NCAA Women’s Basketball
USA Today Women’s College Basketball News
Yahoo! Sports - NCAA Women’s Hoops News

November 20, 2008

Starring in the new spot is Sparks forward Candace Parker — of NCAA title, Olympic gold medal, WNBA rookie of the year and MVP all-in-one-year fame.

Thirty seconds, and with that, Parker joins what is mostly an athletic boys club whose members include ESPN “SportsCenter” anchors, well-known athletes and a furry, fruity collection of college mascots tapped to do the wickedly hilarious, always memorable “SportsCenter” promo spots.

There have been 325 spots since 1995 in what has been a wildly successful advertising series. Of that, only a handful have featured women athletes: Olympics gymnastics medalists Mary Lou Retton and Kerri Strug; college and pro basketball stars Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi; tennis pro Maria Sharapova; and Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt among them.

The premise of Parker’s spot is that she is in the “SportsCenter” offices, an unassuming female who can dunk a basketball amid a bunch of male sports anchors like Stuart Scott, Brian Kenny, Jay Harris, Scott Van Pelt and Neil Everett who are wannabe slammers.

One of the hippest, funniest and most imitated ad campaigns of the last decade, the long-running “This is SportsCenter” ad campaign portrays the ESPN offices as a playground full of athletes, mascots and other characters rather than a dull newsroom. The mockumentary-style spots perfectly blend sports and pop culture while featuring the good-humored and always deadpan anchors of the show. 

We’re laughing just thinking about the new batch of ads and can’t wait to see Parker in action. Until then, here’s another of our favorite spots -this one features figure skater Michelle Kwan.

November 14, 2008

New Orleans will become the first city to play host to three Women’s Final Fours.  It previously hosted the event in 1991 and 2004. The 2013 event will be played at the New Orleans Arena.

Hopefully by then New Orleans - one of the best places on earth - will once again be the shining City of the South. 

The NCAA has also picked Denver, Nashville, Tampa and Indianapolis to host women’s basketball Final Fours.

Denver (2012) and Nashville (2014) will be hosting the event for the first time.

Tampa will host in 2015 and Indianapolis, the home of the NCAA headquarters, in 2016.  So women’s basketball fans - start saving those frequent flyer miles and get started on your future travel plans!

For those more interested in the now, today is opening day of the NCAA Division 1 women’s basketball season!  Who will make it to St. Louis for the 2009 Women’s Final Four?  UConn gets the nod in preseason rankings but who will join them?

Know the rules before YOU sign.

Some early signings include:
Missoula Big Sky center Joslyn Tinkle has committed to play basketball at Stanford as has Beavercreek’s Mikaela Ruef.

Faith Dupree, Taber Spani and Kamiko Williams are heading to Tennessee to play hoops for Pat Summitt.

The Baylor Lady Bears have added #1 ranked high school basketball player Brittney Griner along with Mariah Chandler, Jordan Madden, Shanay Washington and Kimetria Hayden.

Guard Erica Wheeler and post player Christine Huber also signed letters of intent today. They will be at Rutgers for the 2009-10 school year.

OSU women sign six -  Cowgirls coach Kurt Budke says Keuna Flax, Heather Howard, Desiree Jeffries, Lindsey Keller, LaSharra Riley and Toni Young signed with the program.

For more on women’s basketball signings, the Girls Basketball Recuit blog has compiled all the latest info.

November 11, 2008 - It may not be the cover of Rolling Stone but it’s close.

University of Oklahoma basketball players Courtney Paris and Blake Griffin are on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine’s basketball preview with the headline “Double Team” (see above).

Both players are preseason All-Americans.  Paris is a senior on the women’s team and Griffin is a sophomore on the men’s team.  Both teams were voted by league coaches as the preseason choice to win the Big 12 Conference title.

Griffin and Paris are 1 of 6 male and female pairs being featured on regional covers of the magazine’s college basketball preview issue that goes on sale Wednesday.

The five other player duos featured on the SI covers are Briann January and James Harden of Arizona State, Rashanda McCants and Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, Ashley Barlow and Kyle McAlarney of Notre Dame, Shavonte Zellous and DeJuan Blair of Pittsburgh and Maya Moore and Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut.

Nice to see the girls getting some props.

November 4, 2008

Now, the Sooner senior has joined an elite group as only the sixth unanimous choice in the 15-year history of the squad.

Joining Paris on the team announced Tuesday were Connecticut’s Maya Moore, Louisville’s Angel McCoughtry, Maryland’s Kristi Toliver, and Oklahoma State’s Andrea Riley.

For the first time, Paris was on every ballot of the 45-member national media panel. Previous unanimous selections were Chamique Holdsclaw, Diana Taurasi, Alana Beard, Seimone Augustus and Candace Parker. Nice club.

Preseason Women’s All America List

TV Exposure: For fans of women’s college hoops, it looks like the upcoming season will be a good one as far as television exposure is concerned.

According to ESPN.com, Tennessee will host Stanford on Dec. 21 in a rematch of last season’s national championship, one of 148 women’s college basketball games that will air on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360.com this season. That’s 148 reasons to tune in and support women’s ball.