Just Ask Andy Which Team Is the Best

Top-ranked Notre Dame beat Connecticut and is undefeated. No. 2 Connecticut has defeated everyone else it has played, including Tennessee. No. 3 Tennessee has beaten everyone except UConn.

So which team is the best in the country right now?

Let’s ask Andy.

That would be coach Andy Landers of fifth-ranked Georgia, the only school that has played each of the top three teams. His verdict?

“I think UConn has got the best basketball team in the country,” Landers said. “I think Tennessee has the most talented players in the country. Then Georgia and Notre Dame are right there with them.”

Landers also offers up another team to keep an eye on: Florida. The 10th-ranked Lady Gators are 16-2 and have quick, athletic players led by 5-foot-3 Brandi McCain. Their losses were at Georgia and at Colorado just before Christmas. Landers said he can forgive that second one.

“I know where their heads were that day,” he said. “I’ve been there, done that. Florida is legit.”

And so is Duke, he added, though the fourth-ranked Blue Devils are playing at the moment without freshman sensation Alana Beard, who has a dislocated thumb. Tennessee has kept winning after losing Tamika Catchings to a torn ACL.

What it all means, Landers said, is that as dominant as Connecticut has been at times this season, he doesn’t see anyone just waltzing their way to the national championship.

“Not this year,” he said.

Notre Dame would like to think there’s a least a big three now -- and maybe more.

“It was motivating for us to realize that people thought there was Tennessee, UConn and then everyone else,” guard Niele Ivey said. “So I wouldn’t want them to say it was Notre Dame and everyone else. I think everyone has a shot at being a great team. I think we proved that.”

Georgia (17-3, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) lost to Notre Dame 75-73 in late November. The Lady Bulldogs lost at Connecticut by 29 in their opener and lost at Tennessee 85-69 after leading by six in the second half.

Their biggest problem has been keeping everyone on the court at the same time.

Center Tawana McDonald missed four weeks of preseason practice and had only four half-practices before the Connecticut game. During the fall semester, five players were leaving practice early or arriving late because of classes.

When things began looking up in mid-December, freshman center Christi Thomas was lost for two weeks with mononucleosis. When she got back, reserve guard Camille Murphy went down with a torn ACL and starting forward Deana Nolan broke a bone in her right hand.

“I had said all along we wouldn’t be a good basketball team until mid-December,” Landers said. “Now I’m saying we won’t play our best until the NCAA tournament. When we get healthy, we’ll be there.”

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DOMINATING DUO: Notre Dame’s rise to No. 1 in The Associated Press poll pointed out just how long Connecticut and Tennessee have hogged that spot.

There have been 121 polls since the start of the 1994-95 season. Connecticut or Tennessee has been No. 1 in 93 of those polls -- UConn in 59 and Tennessee in 34.

Louisiana Tech is a distant third with 14 appearances at No. 1 in that span. Stanford has been No. 1 six times, Purdue four, Georgia three and now Notre Dame with its first appearance at the top.

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HANG TIME: Tennessee’s Michelle Snow got away with hanging on the rim after her first dunk this season, maybe because the officials were so stunned it happened they forgot to blow their whistles.

She wasn’t as lucky the second time.

Snow was called for a technical foul after throwing down a two-handed slam at the end of Tennessee’s victory at Vanderbilt on Wednesday night. Though she had four fouls at the time, Snow did not foul out because hanging on the rim is now defined as an “indirect” technical foul and does not count as a personal foul.

Only one free throw is awarded for an indirect technical, which also could include calling a timeout when a team has none left or entering a wrong jersey number in the scorebook.

A “direct” technical, which is assessed for unsportsmanlike behavior, counts toward a player’s personal foul total.

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GOOD QUOTE: Snow’s dunk, which happened with 7.3 seconds left in the game, also produced one of the more memorable quotes of the week.

It came from Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, who bristled a little when asked about the dunk and was told that Vanderbilt coach Jim Foster refused to comment.

“If it’s in the men’s game, do I even get asked the question?” Summitt said. “That’s expected right? They ask me if I want to coach men’s basketball. Maybe, if I keep getting those questions.”

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ODU STREAK: The loss of center Lucienne Berthieu to a preseason knee injury dashed Old Dominion’s hopes of continuing to be a major player on the national stage. It also hurt that three players who would have been seniors this season transferred to other schools.

But one thing hasn’t changed. The Lady Monarchs are still the dominant team in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Old Dominion’s 80-52 romp past Virginia Commonwealth on Wednesday night was its 108th straight victory in conference play. The Lady Monarchs are 6-0 in the league this season but just 10-5 overall, including losses of 27 points to Penn State and 29 to Connecticut.

As for those players who left, Amanda Levens is now the leading scorer at Arizona State with a 14.3 average, Jessica Williams is the No. 2 scorer at UNC Greensboro at 11.4 and Bettina Love is averaging 8.5 points and 3.1 rebounds at Pittsburgh.

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LAMAR STAR: A change of scenery has done wonders for Lamar’s Shawnta Vanzant.

Vanzant averaged 8.6 points and 4.1 rebounds two years ago at Penn State but wasn’t comfortable in the classroom so she transferred to Lamar.

“I think she felt she would respond better in a smaller environment,” Lamar coach DeAnn Craft said. “Shawnta has definitely done a complete turnaround academically.”

She’s also shining on the court. Vanzant leads the Southland Conference in scoring with a 19.1 average, has helped the Lady Cardinals to an 8-2 league record and has been named the league’s player of the week three times.