Title Race Is Wide Open

The queens of college basketball, Connecticut and Tennessee, have won five of the last seven NCAA championships. They start the 2001-02 season ranked first and second, respectively, and figure to be battling for the NCAA crown again--especially if they avoid the key injuries that wrecked their last seasons.

But neither Connecticut, off to a 2-0 start in the preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament, nor Tennessee, which opens its season Friday, is the automatic choice to be cutting down the nets in San Antonio next April.

There are challengers in nearly every region of the country--including the West if Stanford continues to mature.

Oklahoma, ranked fourth, and Duke, ranked fifth, have legitimate Final Four aspirations. Texas Tech, Louisiana Tech, Purdue, Colorado, Florida and Old Dominion are ranked, and they figure to have a say regarding which is the best team.

Yet, few teams are creating the early interest of Vanderbilt, thought to be this season’s Notre Dame--a team with a modest reputation nationally but good enough to win it all.

There’s plenty about the Commodores--who are ranked third and who also won their first two WNIT games--worth liking. They were 24-10 last season, reached the Elite Eight--where they lost to eventual champion Notre Dame--and have all their starters back.

Two are especially noteworthy. Center Chantelle Anderson, a 6-foot-6 junior, averaged 21.2 points and made 72.3% of her shots. Forward Zuzi Klimesova, a 6-2 senior, averaged 16.3 points and 8.1 rebounds, and led the team in steals.

But the talent doesn’t stop there. Jillian Danker, a senior shooting guard, was a 47.8% shooter from the three-point line. Junior point guard Ashley McElhiney averaged 6.2 assists. Small forward Jenni Benningfield could be depended on for 9.4 points and 7.1 rebounds.

Can you blame Coach Jim Foster for feeling confident, even if he has to face Tennessee twice in the Southeastern Conference’s regular season and possibly again in the conference tournament? And even if they are in the WNIT field that still has North Carolina and Colorado, besides Connecticut?

“We are waiting to see how our depth evolves,” Foster said. “But the [high] expectations are legitimate. Still, expectations are no different than opinions. But a mature group learns to deal with opinions.”

It will probably take most of the regular season to identify all of the title contenders, because there are excellent players wherever you look.

Connecticut, Oklahoma and Duke have candidates for player of the year in Sue Bird, Stacey Dales and Alana Beard. Stanford’s Nicole Powell and Oregon State’s Felicia Ragland--the defending Pacific 10 Conference player of the year--have All-American potential.

Catrina Frierson, back from a season-ending injury, will bolster an already formidable Louisiana Tech team. Also injury-free this season is 6-3 center Kaayla Chones, daughter of former Laker Jim Chones, who will strengthen North Carolina State.

Linda Frolich may not be a household name, but the 6-2 senior forward averaged 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds at Nevada Las Vegas last season.

League play figures to be competitive through the conference tournaments--the Pac-10 will have one for the first time since 1997. Wisconsin wants to wrest Big Ten supremacy from Purdue and Michigan. Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State and Texas are ready to step up if Oklahoma falters in the Big 12. Defending champion Notre Dame, while severely depleted by graduation, joins Boston College and Virginia Tech in challenging Connecticut in the Big East. Washington, Arizona State, Arizona and USC should hotly pursue Stanford in the Pac-10.

Louisiana Tech may have the easiest path to San Antonio after moving from the Sun Belt to the Western Athletic Conference. Tennessee and Vanderbilt may have the hardest routes, trying to survive in a typically loaded SEC. The teams that reach the Final Four will earn their trip.

“To get [to San Antonio] you have to be very good and very lucky,” Foster said.

Like his Commodores, several teams have the “good” part down pat.