COLLEGE BASKETBALL: 1993-94 SEASON PREVIEW : NATIONAL WOMEN’S PREVIEW : Raiders Reluctant to Abdicate

Has it really been eight months since Texas Tech swept through the women’s basketball playoffs?

In the season after Sheryl Swoopes’ memorable NCAA tournament, the Raiders don’t seem to have lost a step. Marsha Sharp’s team lost Swoopes and her All-American running mate, Krista Kirkland, to graduation.

Thanks for the memories, right?

The preseason Division I women’s coaches poll ranked Texas Tech 15th. And that seemed generous for a team losing three starters who averaged a combined 51.7 points per game last season.

Guess who’s the surprise team so far in NCAA women’s basketball?

Right. Texas Tech.

Last Saturday, the Raiders beat No. 2-ranked Vanderbilt, 74-67, indicating that the torch in women’s basketball won’t be extracted from Lubbock without a fight.

At Jackson, Tenn., Texas Tech was down, 66-60, with 4:19 to play. Sharp called a time out, read the riot act and her team outscored Vandy the rest of the way, 14-1.

The Raiders return only two starters from the 31-3 team that won it all last year, guards Stephanie Scott (5-8) and Noel Johnson (5-7). But what newcomers:

--Connie Robinson was the national junior college player of the year last year, averaging 26.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per game at Central Florida College, where she shot 63% in 17 games.

Robinson, 6 feet 1, is a power forward who scores most often inside and has no three-point shot, whereas Swoopes was a pure shooter with long range, who employed finesse and quickness to get open.

--Tabitha Truesdale (5-10) was a JC All-American three seasons ago at McLennan College in Waco, Tex., who had a baby and sat out the last two years. In a 1991 junior college game, her team beat Swoopes’ on a night Truesdale scored 47, Swoopes 38.

--LeKeshia Wiley (5-4), from Howard County College in Big Spring, Tex., had 191 assists in 26 games a year ago, and started with Robinson and Wiley when Texas Tech beat Vanderbilt.

Janice Farris, the sixth player last season, scored 15 as a reserve. Noel Johnson had four three-pointers and Robinson scored 18 points. Longtime Raider fans were quick to recall that in Swoopes’ first game two seasons ago, she had a 5-for-15 night with 14 points and six turnovers.

Assuming Texas Tech survives its Southwest Conference race against Texas (ranked 17th in the preseason), the road to a second consecutive national championship would probably take the Raiders first to the Midwest regionals at Austin, March 24-26, and then to the Final Four at Richmond, Va., April 2-3.

A look at some of the best:

TENNESSEE

The Volunteers were a favorite to win it all last season but, after reaching a 28-3 record, they lost to Iowa, 72-56, in the Midwest regional. This time, they’re tabbed no worse than second in four preseason polls.

For the first time in a decade, Tennessee returns only one player with Final Four experience, 5-10 senior guard Nikki Caldwell. The Lady Vols also have back the only player who started every game last year, 5-6 Tiffany Woosley, who averaged 11.5 points and 2.9 assists.

VANDERBILT

The Commodores were No. 1 for most of last season, falling in the NCAA semifinals to Texas Tech, 60-46, and finishing 30-3. They return the nation’s tallest player, Heidi Gillingham, 6-10 in her basketball shoes, plus guards Julie Powell and Rhonda Blades, both three-point shooters.

Gillingham, who runs the court well, blocked 105 shots last season and shot 62.5%.

IOWA

The Hawkeyes were everyone’s sentimental pick last year, after Coach Vivian Stringer’s husband, Bill, died suddenly on Thanksgiving. They came close, losing, 73-72, to Ohio State in the semifinals.

If Stringer can find a point guard, her team can go a long way with forward Necole Tunsil and guard Tia Jackson.

OHIO STATE

The Buckeyes have one of the nation’s best players, sophomore guard/forward Katie Smith. Only Swoopes was cheered more at the Atlanta Final Four. Smith, who is 5-11, carried her team into the championship game, where the Buckeyes lost to Texas Tech, 84-82.

Smith averaged 18.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists last season.

STANFORD

The Cardinal won it all in 1990 and ’92 and lost to Colorado, 80-67, in the West regional last year. Hopes are high again in Palo Alto, but there’s a hitch--the hitch in 6-5 center Anita Kaplan’s back.

Kaplan was to be a mainstay this season but suffered a summer back injury and returned to practice only this week. Two returning starters are 5-9 Christy Hedgpeth and 6-3 Rachel Hemmer. The Cardinal returns five of its top eight rebounders and scorers to make up for the departure of the Pac-10’s all-time points and rebounds leader, Val Whiting.

PENN STATE

Coach Rene Portland returns one of the nation’s best guard tandems, Katina Mack and Tina Nicholson, from a team that went 22-6. Senior forward Jackie Donovan also returns. Moreover, Penn State had one of the best recruiting hauls in the country.