Swamigp’s Weblog

Candace Parker, despite an ailing shoulder, wasn’t going out on a losing note, as she led her Tennessee Volunteers to their second straight National title. Candace Parker scored 17 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and had 4 steals to take a well balanced team Volunteers team to the promise land once more, 64-48. For the first time in the tournament, Candace Parker had a supporting cast to back her up. Shannon Bobbitt scored 13 points behind Parker, and Nicky Anosike chipped in 12 points, 8 rebounds and 6 steals. Tennessee’s defense held Stanford in check, disgruntling them on offense by forcing 25 turnovers, 14 by halftime. Tennessee took advantage of a very slow start by the Cardinal, using a 13-4 run midway through the first half to take a 17-9 lead 9 minutes into the game. The Volunteers defense hounded the Cardinal during that run, allowing no points for a 5 minute stretch, gaining the tempo that would last for the entirety of the game.

Candice Wiggins, in her final game as a senior, struggled for her 14 points, going just 6-16 from the floor. She committed 6 turnovers, fueling Tennessee’s lead even more by giving them extra opportunities to widen the margin. Three other players turned the ball over 4 times each, leading to many empty possessions that they couldn’t afford to lose. Jayne Appel led the Cardinal in scoring with 16 points, but made just 4-10 free throws. Stanford as a team shot 7-14 from the line and 38% from the field overall.

The Cardinal just couldn’t keep up with Tennessee. The experienced Volunteers proved too much for the Cardinal, as they kept a double digit lead for most of the game leading for the easy victory.

Wiggins amazing tournament performance, averaging 27 points a game, took her team farther than they had been since their 1992 Championship campaign. Her performance in the title game wasn’t enough as her outstanding career at Stanford came to an end.

This win for the Volunteers was their 8th national title in team history.

Chris Douglas Roberts went to the free throw line with a chance to put the game away. The free throws wouldn’t fall, presumably giving Kansas a chance to win the game. Memphis got a chance of their own to redeem themselves when Robert Dozier grabbed the offensive rebound and passed it to Derrick Rose. He had made 13 straight from the line previously, and went their again to put the game away. He faltered as well, making one of two free throws to keep it a one possession game. Kansas took the ball down court patiently and waited for Mario Chalmers to come of a screen, which he did, draining a three (maybe a two…replays are inconclusive) in front of Derrick Rose to send the national Championship game into overtime. Just like that Memphis’s momentum and national title hopes went down the drain.

The Tigers had nothing left in overtime as Kansas poured it on by scoring the first 6 points of the extra period. Derrick Rose and Douglas Roberts, who were such a vital part of putting the Tigers in a place to win the game (up 9 with 2:12 left in regulation), couldn’t give their team any momentum in overtime.They, as well as the rest of the Tigers team, were exhausted. After going down by 6 early in overtime, the closest Memphis could get was 3 points. As the Jayhawks celebrated the eventual 7 point victory, all Memphis could think about was what might have been.

Despite their misfortunes at the free throw line, Rose and Douglas Roberts each had a tremendous game. After a slow start, Rose caught fire late in the second half, finishing with 18 points to go with 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Douglas Roberts also had a positive impact on the game, scoring 22 points. Robert Dozier posted a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds behind the performances of the two guards. Joey Dorsey, a catalyst for Memphis on the defensive end, had a rough game: fouling out late in the second half, and finishing with just 6 points and 2 rebounds. His lack of a presence in overtime proved costly as Kansas took advantage of Memphis’s lack of size to pull away.

Mario Chalmers, the hero for Kansas, scored 18 points. Darrell Arthur led the Jayhawks in scoring, with 20 points, including a couple of big baskets late in the second half during Kansas’s rally.

Alexis Hornbuckle scored only 2 points the entire game, but they proved crucial, a put back off of one of many Candace Parker missed shots with .7 seconds on the clock to keep the Volunteers title hopes alive, 47-46. It was a brutal game to witness, as it was the lowest combined scoring in final four history, at 93 points, as both teams had a lot of trouble putting the ball in the basket. The stars from each team, Sylvia Fowles for LSU and Candace Parker for Tennessee, struggled from the field but their contributions and precense enough proved great. Parker shot an abysmal 6-27 for the game but did produce 13 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks, a week after separating her shoulder. Fowles ansered Parker’s input by scoring 24 points on 10-24 shooting, grabbing 20 rebounds and blocking five shots. For Fowles’ team it wasn’t enough in the end as free throw shooting doomed the Tigers chances, as they made just 7-19 as a team, including Fowles 4-11 performance.

Tennessee shot only 30% from the field yet came out on top as Parker made the best of her horrid shooting by contributing other intangibles. With the gutsy win over LSU, the Volunteers now have a chance to grasp their 8th national title.

LSU ran into the Final Four curse once again, as they failed to reach the championship game for the fifth straight time. They had a chance to break it tonight when Hornbuckle inexplicably fouled LSU’s Erica White 45 feet away from the basket, to put her on the line for a chance to take the lead. She made both free throws to go ahead 46-45.

After a timeout Parker took the ball down court for the final shot, her shot fell short but Hornbuckle snatched the ball out of nowhere and in one smooth motion made the put back to send the Volunteers into celebration.

Candice Wiggins kept her stellar NCAA tournament performance going, scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to lead her team past #1 seed UConn, 82-73, putting them into the title game. Stanford took advantage of poor shooting by the Huskies throughout the first half, to gain a 7 point lead at halftime. UConn, picked by many “experts” to win the title, started the game very slowly, allowing the Cardinal to play their style of game. Wiggins, after taking the load in the previous games, was plentifully helped in the scoring department by her teammates. Kayla Pedersen scored 17 points and pulled down 7 rebounds behind Wiggins output. Jayne Appel added 15 points and 10 rebounds of her own, leading a balanced Cardinal attack. The key to the victory for Stanford was the differential of shooting between the two teams. Stanford shot 45% from the field for the game, while UConn kept up their woes in the second half to shoot just 37% overall.

Huskies Guard Renee Montgomery, like Wiggins, has had a great NCAA Tournament, but struggled in this particular game, shooting only 4-18 from the floor, including 1-9 from three point range, for 15 points. Maya Moore, UConn’s leading scorer and star, struggled to get her 20 points, going 8-19. Despite their shooting performance, the Huskies were still in the game, down 5, 66-61, with over 4 minutes remaining.

Stanford went on a quick 5-0 run on a layup by Appel and a three by J.J. Hones to quell UConn’s comeback, to put them up by 10. The Huskies clawed back, getting the game back within 5 again on a three pointer by Maya Moore with 2:50 left. They didn’t have anything in the tank after that as Stanford forward Kayla Pedersen made a three, then Wiggins scored 4 straight points of her own to increase the Cardinal lead to 11, putting the game away and to give Stanford a chance at a title.

Stanford got their revenge against Connecticut after losing to them by 12 earlier in the season by relying more on the role players, such as Pedersen and Appel, instead of Wiggins shouldering the load. After Wiggins had 2 40-point games earlier in the tourney, other contributers in this particular game made her life a bit easier, using their individual talents to play a pivotal role in their run for a chance at a championship.

Darrell Arthur slammed Tyler Hansbrough’s shot back where it came from, sending him to the ground, where he spent most of the night. This slice of domination in the early minutes of the game would ring true over the first 14 minutes for Kansas. Kansas was clicking on all cylinders, shooters making jump shots and bigs manhandling the paint. What was thought to be a misprinted score of 40-12 in Kansas’s favor, was really the Tarheels nightmare.

Brandon Rush and his teammates were enjoying themselves and their enormous lead, maybe a bit too much. Kansas looked mentally and physically drained, they had lost momentum, the Tarheels were on a run for the ages. Kansas started taking ill advised shots and making sloppy turnovers. North Carolina was back. A game that was once a margin of 28 points was down to 4, Carolina’s eyes were on a the best comeback in Final Four History. Kansas looked like they were going to lose the huge lead they once held, but they didn’t fold entirely. The run by Carolina to get back in the game made them plain exhausted, not leaving enough fuel in the tank to grasp lead.

New life sprang into the Jayhawks step as they decided, just in time, to go back inside and punish the Tarheels. Darnell Jackson and Cole Aldrich did what they had done over the first 14 minutes of the game, pound North Carolina on the offensive end and make them earn their points on the defensive end. Kansas’s jolt of energy over the final 8 minutes deflated the Tarheels hopes, using the size of their centers to take advantage of an undersized Tarheel core. The game plan that wasn’t in effect earlier in the second half, was in full force as Kansas continually went inside, resulting in an abundance of lay-ups to stretch their small lead back to double digits to put them back in control. Even with the amazing run by North Carolina to get back in the game, Kansas still outscored the Tarheels in the second half, 40-39. They ended the game on a 30-16 run, to send them to the title game.

Brandon Rush scored 25 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the 84-66 win. Freshman Cole Aldrich added a stellar performance, scoring 8 points, snatching 7 rebounds, 4 offensive, to go with 4 blocks. Darrell Arthur scored 6 points to go with 9 rebounds and 4 blocks of his own to help give the Jayhawks the blowout win they were expecting after gaining a 28 point lead in the first half. Guards Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins chipped in 11 points apiece and combined for 7 of the teams 17 assists.

Overall, Kansas was just too much for the Tarheels on the defensive end, stopping the would be historic rally in it’s tracks. They forced Carolina into 18 turnovers, 10 of which were steals, leading to many a fast break opportunity, giving them extra opportunities that the Tarheels couldn’t afford to allow.

North Carolina’s poor shooting and defense doomed them throughout the contest. They were in anxiety mode the entire game, if they missed a shot, that was more time taken off the clock to make a run. Even with the run they made to get within four, the early margin proved too great. Their tactic worked for most of the second half by exhausting the Jayhawks. The problem was, with having to come back from such a huge deficit, they tired themselves out, ultimately putting them in the losing circle.

Player of the year Tyler Hansbrough scored 17 points to go with 9 rebounds, but was repeatedly double and even triple teamed, making his life as difficult as possible. Wayne Ellington led the Tarheels in points with 18, but shot just 8-21 from the field including 1-9 from three point range. His poor shooting fueled a horrid shooting night for the entire team, as they shot just 35% from the field, including 5-24 on threes.

Announcer Billy Packer said that the game was over once Kansas went ahead 40-12. This premature proclamation almost cursed the Jayhawks into coughing up the game. Almost.

Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas Roberts combined for 53 points to help the Memphis Tigers defeat UCLA, 78-63, and reach the championship game. Douglas Roberts destroyed the Bruins defense to score 28 points and Derrick Rose used his explosiveness to score 25 points. Memphis controlled the tempo and the game throughout the second half to blowout the Bruins with great defense and an up tempo offense. Their defense controlled UCLA star Kevin Love, forcing the ball out of his hands to make other players try to take the load offensively. Joey Dorsey, matched up with Love, worked him tired when Memphis had the ball, making him sluggish in the offensive end. Every player for Memphis played a solid role in the win, whether it was Antonio Anderson’s three’s and dunks, or Shawn Taggart’s play on the offensive and defensive end. Rose and Roberts didn’t seem to need much help though as they blew away a otherwise stellar Bruins defense, making the most of fast break opportunities and overall quickness to take the game to a new level.

The game started in Memphis’s favor form the opening tip, imposing their style of play on the over matched, athletically, Bruins defense. UCLA had held their opponents throughout the year to 58 points per game but this game was a little different in many aspects. UCLA hadn’t face a tougher and more explosive guard than Derrick Rose, and from the start of the game, didn’t have an answer for his skill level. Instead of UCLA playing bigger guards such as Josh Shipp or Russell Westbrook on Rose, they stuck with smaller point guard Darren Collison to take on the difficult task. Difficult doesn’t begin to describe his match up with Rose, making him a non factor in the game, especially on the defensive end. An otherwise great defender, Collison was repeatedly made look mediocre, with Rose stuck in a gear that he didn’t have available. Collison scored only 2 points on 1-9 shooting and fouled out with just over 2 minutes remaining.

Especially during the second half, UCLA, for a reason that I can’t think of, didn’t go to leading scorer Kevin Love. With Memphis’s bigs, Taggart and Dorsey, both straddled with 3 fouls, UCLA didn’t attack the weakness with Love’s previous post play. He went scoreless for more than 8 minutes during the second half, which led to missed shots and turnovers by UCLA, allowing Memphis to stretch their lead. Because of the lack of an impact on the offensive end, Love finished with just 12 points on 4-12 shooting. Love, as well as other Bruin big men, couldn’t control Dorsey and his rebounding ability as well as Taggart’s ability to score on the inside and outside.

After struggling all year from the free throw line, shooting just 59% during the regular season, Memphis stepped it up, going 20-23 from the stripe. Get this, all of those free throw attempts were by either Rose or Douglas Roberts. Rose shot 11-12 and Douglas Roberts added a 9-11 performance. To go with their offensive output, their defense shut down UCLA’s perimeter scorers, holding Collison to 2 points, as previously mentioned, and Josh Shipp to 9 points.

Russell Westbrook was the only Bruin who showed any scoring ability throughout the game, scoring 22 points.

Candice Wiggins dominated yet another game, scoring 41 points to defeat #1 seed Maryland, 98-87, to reach the Final Four. All around Stanford was tremendous, shooting 51% as a team including 14-28 from three point range. Wiggins made 5 threes of her own as well as making 16 of Stanford’s 20 free throws. J.J. Hones scored a career-high 23 points, including 4 threes to help lead Stanford behind Wiggins performance. The game was close between the top two teams in the Spokane region during most of the first half, but Stanford took over late in the half to gain a 10 point lead at intermission, 51-41. Wiggins scored 17 of her teams points during that half to put her on her way for another big scoring performance. Stanford kept up the tempo in the second half, with Wiggins and Hones leading the way. Wiggins scored 24 points in the second half for a Stanford team that led by as much as 17 points, 75-58, on a lay-up by Wiggins with 10:22 left. Over the last 11 minutes Wiggins scored 18 of the teams last 26 points, leading her team to an easy victory. J.J. Hones also hit a couple of threes to help put the game out of reach during the final period. Kayla Pedersen chipped in 15 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists for the high scoring Cardinal.

Maryland tried to claw back in the final minutes, but couldn’t withstand the powerful play of Wiggins and Stanford. Kristi Toliver nearly matched Wiggins production, scoring 35 points of her own to go with 5 assists. Maryland shot 54% from the field, but couldn’t match Stanford three point shooting, by being outscored by 24 in that category.

With the win Stanford reached the Final Four for the first time in the past 11 years, the 7th time in school history. Throughout the past tow games, Stanford has taken its cue from Wiggins, with her leadership and the scoring ability, she has utterly dominated the past two wins for Stanford, allowing her team to be one of the four teams remaining.

The unlikely Davidson Wildcats Cinderella run was impressive to say the least, with Stephen Curry leading the way. The run and the dream ended for Davidson as they lost a heart breaker to top seed Kansas, 59-57. Stephen Curry scored 25 points, but the Wildcats needed 28 from him to pull off the upset. After Stephen Curry had gotten his points rolling off screens, he got the ball off an inbounds for a chance to take his team once step further but he was blanketed by the Jayhawks defense, forcing him to pass to Jason Richards for a difficult, off balanced three pointer. Davidson, like Kansas, played very good defense throughout the game, holding down the high powered Kansas offense and giving them a very good chance to win.

Dwindling the clock, Curry couldn’t get up a shot, instead passing the ball to point guard Jason Richards at the top of the key. His shot was off to the left, sending him to the floor and Kansas to the Final Four. Despite Curry’s scoring performance, he shot just 9-25, it wasn’t enough to send his team to San Antonio. Davidson stuck with Kansas throughout the first half, down only 30-28 at intermission. They kept it up in the second half, taking a 4 point lead, 51-47, with 8:48 left. They could only muster 6 points over the rest of the game as Kansas went on their final run.

After the Jayhawks went ahead 59-53 with 1:10 left, Davidson had a little left in them. After Thomas Sander hit a free throw, Kansas turned the ball over, leading to a three pointer by Curry to close the gap to 59-57. Sharron Collins missed a contested three with 19 seconds left, but Davidson’s hopes died with the disappointing finish.

Mario Chalmers and Sasha Kaun led Kansas with 13 points, with Chalmers hitting three huge threes, and Kaun proving to be a force inside. Though they didn’t play particularly well, they finished with more points than there opponent, therefore winning the game. They, behind Memphis’s win, became the 4th #1 seed to reach the final four. North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA and Memphis are a part of NCAA history, becoming the first foursome of #1 seed to make the Final Four.

Despite the pressure for big time college players to leave after minimal playing time in the NCAA, Stephen Curry, in spite of his overall talent and play in the tournament, has decided to come back and try and relive the dream with Davidson in his junior season. Although I give credit to Kansas, I am happy to see the run that Davidson made, and how the talent of Stephen Curry surfaced on the map. He finished with an average of 32 points a game during the tournament while shooting 43% from three, making 22 of them in the 4 games.

If Stephen Curry keeps torching the NCAA’s next year like he did throughout this season, his game will be taken to the NBA very soon

With all of upsets the past couple of games, there was hope that their would be a close, edge-of-your-seat contest in the evenly matched (or so we thought) Memphis-Texas match up, but no.

Instead, Memphis throttled the Longhorns by 18, 85-67, proving that they are worthy of their #1 seed. Derrick Rose matriculated through the lackluster Texas defense for rim-rattling dunks and silky smooth jump shots to score 21 points, dishing 9 assists and grabbing 6 rebounds, leading Memphis to the Final Four in commanding fashion. Though Chris Douglas Roberts was the Tigers leading scorer with 25, 14 coming from the free throw line, it was Rose who set the tempo. The tandem of Roberts and Rose controlled the game from the outset, scoring 16 of Memphis’s first 18 points to jump out to a early 18-8 lead.

Texas couldn’t do anything about the Tigers quickness and length, playing without the ability to contain Rose and Douglas Roberts, let alone one of the two. A.J. Abrams scored 17 points and D.J. Augustin scored 16, but combined to shoot just 10-24 from the field. Their dreadful shooting performance, with Augustin shooting just 4-18, affected the teams’ chemistry drastically, by not being able to control the tempo. Texas, as a whole, shot just 36% from the field, predominately because of furious Memphis defense.

The “experts” threw Memphis to the wolves before the tournament because they couldn’t shoot free throws, therefore they weren’t worthy of their #1 seed and wouldn’t go far in the tournament. They answered the call by shooting 86% from the line, 30-33, well above their 59% mark for the year, and reached the Final Four.

Jayne Appel carried the way, scoring 22 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to help the Stanford Cardinal put away the Pittsburgh Panthers and move on to the Elite Eight. With star Candice Wiggins struggling throughout the game, Appel made some key shots to make what was a close game at halftime into a blowout victory for the #2 seed in the Spokane region. Wiggins had trouble getting going, as she was draped by at least one defender throughout the first half, which led to the socre being close at halftime. The score was 29-28 Stanford at the half, and stayed close, with the score 47-46 Stanford with 8:39 remaining. Stanford turned on the afterburners after that with their plethora of scoring options.They took over the game behind Appel and guard Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, who scored 15 points, including two big baskets during a 15-3 run, to put Stanford up by 13, 62-49 with just under four minutes to go.

Though Pitt had a chance to make a run late to get themselves back in the game, they couldn’t muster anything of importance. Shavonte Zellous scored 22 points to lead #6 seeded Pittsburgh. Despite their loss, this was the first time in their history that they reached the regional semifinals.

Despite her poor shooting Candice Wiggins still posted 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists for a Cardinal team that now faces top seeded Maryland for the right to go to the Final Four.

Kevin Love added to his already impressive freshman season by leading his UCLA Bruins to a rout over the Xavier Musketeers. Love scored 19 points a snatched 10 rebounds to send the Bruins to their 3rd Final Four in 4 years with a 76-57 victory. Darren Collision bounced back form a mediocre performance in the game against Western Kentucky to score 19 p0oints to go with 5 assists for the well balanced Bruins. UCLA had the powerful mixture of good guard play and great post play to coast past the guard oriented Musketeers. Explosive guard Russell Westbrook chipped in 17 points, and Luc Richard Mbah A Moute scored 13 points as the starting five scored all but three of their points, as their experience and superb play took over #3 seeded Xavier.

Despite playing poorly in the first half Xavier was only down 9 points, 33-24, at intermission. UCLA turned on the jets in the second half though, gaining a insurmountable lead. After Xavier cut the lead to 6 early in the second half, 34-28, UCLA went on a 14-0 run to gain a 48-28 lead just 6 minutes into the second half.

Xavier’s problem throughout the game was that they couldn’t get their star player in the previous tourney games, Josh Duncan, on track, by not getting enough touches, leading to many empty possessions on poor shooting from their ensemble of guards. Duncan, averaging 20 points a game in the tournament, was shut down by Kevin Love and other Bruin big men, held to just 11 points on 4-11 shooting. Xavier shot only 36% as a team, allowing the Bruins to control the tempo to their liking. After shooting so well from three point range in their last game against West Virginia, they mustered just 4-19 from beyond the stripe in this game, contributing to their wretched all-around shooting. Derrick Brown led three Musketeers in double figures, posting 13 points to go with 6 rebounds.

With the way that UCLA has played in their previous two games, squandering big leads, it seemed that they would allow Xavier to get back in the game. It looked like it might happen that way when the Musketeers dwindled a 21 point lead to 12, 55-43 with 10 minutes left on a layup by C.J. Anderson. Alas, there was no hope for the #3 seed, as the Bruins stretched their lead to back over 20 with a quick 12-4 run to put the game out of reach.