Purdue and Maryland have not met for over 11 years in women’s basketball, but throughout that course of time, both programs have remained strong and in the national spotlights. With the 2008 ACC/Big 10 challenge match ups released today, they will get a chance to see who’s program has come along the most as they square off in one of the marquee matchups of the annual head-to-head competition. Both teams figure to finish in the top three of their conference and preseason wise should be pretty high up there in the national rankings as well, so if you get a chance, don’t miss this game. Read the rest of this entry »

Ohhhhhh the drama. While I had previously posted that I thought that Illinois would be outlasted by Purdue in the second half and end up in Purdue victory, I still underestimated the fight in the Fighting Illini. It took a last second putback by Lakisha Freeman to beat the feisty Illini and secure a spot for Purdue in the NCAA tournament and took the slipper from Cinderella Illinois and their hopes of an NCAA berth. Read the rest of this entry »

Man, I love tourney time. And I love underdogs. So when a team like Illinois women’s basketball team, ranked #9 in the league, makes it to the finals of the conference tournament, I am almost giddy. Yes, I know, I need a life, but that’s beside the point. The Fighting Illini played the Michigan State Spartans, the #5 seed of the tournament, very tightly most of the first half, but then exploded late to take the game by a 14 point margin. They now face longtime Big 10 bully Purdue in the final. Read the rest of this entry »

The women’s Big 10 basketball season was pretty up and down. With two teams tied for first with 5 losses, it showed that the conference was either A) pretty lousy overall or B) Deeper than what most think.

Now that the conference tournament is into the semifinals, I believe it’s more B than A. Read the rest of this entry »

The Big Ten tournament is not only a testament to the overall best team in the Big 10 playing in a bracketed format, but it also shows the intestinal fortitude of playing several games in a short amount of time. It definitely rewards those teams that have depth as one of their key ingredients.

The teams that play on Thursday of the tourney all know that they have a long road ahead of them, because if they want to win, they will have to play 4 games in as many days, each game getting tougher as it goes along (naturally). Most of the time, this means that coaches will try to really spare the majority of minutes in the first round as they can.

For Michigan and Indiana, their wins followed that exact formula–rest starters, get players on the court that aren’t as vital to save their legs for the long run. Even though Michigan didn’t have a huge game margin, they had a big enough lead most of the second half to allow them to cycle players in and out enough; Indiana, on the other hand, had Northwestern on the ropes early and then sat their starters most of the second half. Michigan will have their hands full against a hungry Iowa team, and the rest that Indiana got may just prove to be a very beneficial team as they now play rival Purdue in a second round matchup.

However, Illinois didn’t follow that plan, despite a 15 point margin of victory against Wisconsin. Is this partially to blame on first-year coach Jolette Law? Possibly. She obviously hasn’t dealt with this ever–but she’ll see what ramifications come to play when they face top-seeded Ohio State tomorrow night. The Illini looked good, but weary legs could play a huge part and also give Ohio State the chance to rest some players as a result.

While there were not tight games overall (each game was in double digit in terms of margin), the spirit of the Big 10 was purely evident. Tomorrow’s games will really set the tone for the rest of the tournament.

For the 13th time, Indianapolis will host the Big 10 Women’s Basketball tournament. And for the 13th time, this should be a great tournament overall. Heading the pack is Ohio State as the number one seed, and it is the sixth straight year that the Buckeyes have had a first round bye–and the fourth straight year it has been #1, a first in the Big 10 tournament.

Read the rest of this entry »

Even though the crowd was boisterous at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, even though the Orange(wo)men had the UCONN Huskies number and were within 2 points in the final minute, the result was still the same for Connecticut.

Going to 16-0 on the season, the Lady Huskies, who have only trailed the ENTIRE season a whole whopping nine minutes, had all they could handle in with Syracuse, falling behind twice to a fired-up team. However, Coach Geno Auriemma kept his team calm, played their game, and a final minute layup and clutch free throw shooting sealed the win at 65-59.

That Syracuse played them so tough was not a surprise. Even with the loss, the Orange fell to 14-3 which is nothing to sneeze at (I love that saying, it makes no sense whatsoever but gets the point across). And it may have given more appreciation to the Huskies for what they have in the number 1 ranking and given the Big East test they’ve needed to really see what kind of team they are.

I’ve always said that the parity in women’s basketball is basically non-apparent. Kind of like in professional poker, it almost always seems that the final table has the same circle of players in some shape or form, and the same holds true for women’s basketball. However, games like this, even though Syracuse didn’t come out with the win, shows me that maybe there is more parity than I think. I don’t wish any ill will on any team, but I hope that for women’s basketball’s sake that some teams can pull some major upsets and level the playing field (literally) a bit more.

The ACC hasn’t always been a hotbed for women’s basketball. For the most part, women’s basketball has been ruled by the SEC or Big East for what seems like eons. However, the first one in the race to 20 wins is indeed from the ACC, and that honor belongs to Maryland, whose win over #10 Duke made them 20-1 on the year.

The Terps are ranked #4 and have beaten 5 ranked teams this year. They are lead by Kristi Toliver, who is averaging almost 18 points a game and is shotting 44% from long distance. But perhaps the team’s most valuable player is Marissa Coleman, who is averaging more than 16 points a game and 8 boards, along with being able to shoot the three at a 42% clip. Maryland is deep and is averaging a gaudy 82 points a game compared to giving up 58 points a game.

While they haven’t eclipsed the #1 ranking, don’t rule them out. Still, they have already dispatched Duke handingly, but even so, the big bad #3 North Carolina women stand in their way for a conference championship. I think by looking at these two teams that the Terps have the better overall squad and deep into the year that could be huge come crunch time.

I think in order to make things more streamlined and formative, I am going to start doing some frequent posting that encapsulates different items on certain days in order for fluidity to the site. That being said, here is what my schedule will be going forward per conference:

Monday-Big Ten

Tuesday-Pac 10

Wednesday-ACC

Thursday-Big East

Friday-Big 12

Saturday-SEC

Sunday-All others

In these daily capsules, I will have different posts discussing the previous week’s events, news, and future discussions about the teams and conferences themselves (not limiting to specific sports). I will also post on news events as they transpire with my two, or three cents, maybe even a dollar’s worth. For those of you out there that would like to have a discussion on a certain topic, shoot an email my way and I’ll be happy to give it a shot.

Thanks for your support of the site and I look forward to getting started on this!

Tim AKA “The Athletic Supporter”