Sooners, Duke Also Matter

This might surprise some of the estimated 30,000 people coming to the Alamodome for today’s NCAA women’s Final Four, but there are two games being played.

Most of the fan interest will be on the second game between Connecticut, the Mideast Region champion, and Tennessee, the Midwest Region champion.

But Duke and Oklahoma, champions of the East and West regions, are here, too. They play in the first semifinal game, and do not consider themselves an opening act.

“People may want to make Tennessee and Connecticut the de facto championship,” Oklahoma Coach Sherri Coale said. “But unless I am wrong there is another game scheduled Sunday night. And that’s when they give the trophy. Either us or Duke will be competing for a championship. Once you get there, anything can happen.”

In some ways the Sooners and Blue Devils, both 31-3, may provide the more entertaining game. Both teams like a fast tempo and score lots of points; Duke averages 84.9 points, Oklahoma 78.2. Both use the motion offense, where players have a bit more freedom to create shots instead of grinding out a set play.

And both depend on excellent guard play. Oklahoma has a height and experience edge in seniors LaNeishea Caufield (17.6) and Stacey Dales (16.9). Duke’s backcourt of sophomore Alana Beard (20.2) and freshman Monique Currie (14.5) may be quicker and a shade more athletic.

“I’m not sure how you stop Alana Beard,” Coale said. “You try to take away the things she loves to do and make her do things maybe she likes to do. The thing that perplexes me the most about Alana is she’s such a great kid. It’s hard to find a chink in her armor.”

Duke Coach Gail Goestenkors gushed about Caufield and Dales. “I think Oklahoma’s backcourt is, if not the best, one of the very best in the country. LaNeishea and Stacey complement each other so well. You can tell they’ve played together four years because they seem to know exactly where the other one is at any point in time.”

Connecticut (37-0) and Tennessee (29-4) also have top guard combinations. Husky senior Sue Bird (14.4) is the Naismith national player of the year and sophomore Diana Taurasi (14.4) has averaged 22.6 points in three games against the Lady Vols. Tennessee’s Kara Lawson (15.2) and April McDivitt (5.1), both juniors, are respected for their defense.

Connecticut and Tennessee are also strong up front.

The Huskies’ three senior forwards--Swin Cash, Asjha Jones and Tamika Williams--combine for 39 points and 22 rebounds a game. The Lady Vols’ frontcourt of junior Gwen Jackson and freshmen Brittany Jackson and Shyra Ely doesn’t have quite the same production (27 points, 14 rebounds), but Connecticut doesn’t have anyone like Tennessee’s 6-5 senior Michelle Snow (12.5 points) coming off the bench.

The teams met in Knoxville in January, and Connecticut rolled over Tennessee as it has rolled over everyone else this season. Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt said the Huskies are even better now.

“I couldn’t even watch their game tape against Old Dominion,” Summitt said, referring to Connecticut’s Mideast Region final win. “They were so impressive. That was their best game offensively, as far as I was concerned. Their defense and rebounding have been solid all year. They may be the best passing team I’ve ever seen. I don’t see any phase of the game they’re not committed to.”

Should Tennessee pull off an upset, it would give Summitt 789 career victories to pass Texas’ Jody Conradt as the winningest coach in women’s basketball.

Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma, whose Huskies are playing in their third consecutive Final Four, said if they are to be validated as a great team, they must go through Tennessee.

“They always seem to rise to the challenge and so do we,” Auriemma said. “If we can win [today] and Sunday it will be meaningful, because unless you beat them it doesn’t feel like you’ve won the whole thing.”

Under Summitt, Tennessee has appeared in the Final Four 13 times in 28 years. They expect to play for a national title.

Whatever problems Connecticut presents, fear is not among them.

“You look at the history of the matchups, and we feel we’ve held our own,” said Summitt, who is 6-8 lifetime against the Huskies. “We know we’re playing the best team in the game. Are we in awe of Connecticut? No way. Are we impressed and do we respect them? Absolutely.”