Competing Plotlines for Women’s Hopefuls

Welcome to the NCAA women’s Final Four, where there are more story lines than a “Sopranos” script.

On one side are Connecticut (29-4) and Tennessee (30-3), college basketball royalty. The two teams have won eight of the last 13 NCAA titles. Tennessee is chasing a record seventh championship. Two-time defending champion Connecticut is trying to equal Tennessee’s mark of winning three straight titles.

On the other side are Minnesota (25-8) and Louisiana State (27-7). Both are making their first appearances in the Final Four. The Golden Gophers want to be the lowest seed (seventh) to win the title, or at least reach the championship game. Tiger assistant coach Dana “Pokey” Chatman, who was an All-American guard at LSU in 1991, is running the team for ailing Coach Sue Gunter (who was told by doctors Feb. 19 to skip the rest of the season because of an acute bronchial infection).

On Saturday, neither the LSU or Minnesota players sounded as if they had made plans to leave after today’s semifinals.

When asked whether the two teams should be considered underdogs, Tiger guard Temeka Johnson replied, “Not really. We were capable of making it here. So I don’t think we should feel as an underdog. We should feel as being one of the top four teams here playing in the semifinals, and trying to advance to the national championship game.”

Minnesota Coach Pam Borton also was blunt. “This is great for women’s basketball for us and LSU to be part of the Final Four. It shows there’s a lot more parity in women’s basketball and how far women’s basketball has come. We belong here; we don’t feel we’re crashing anybody’s party. We’re here to win the whole thing.”

There are skeptics who say such parity doesn’t reach the rarified air breathed by Connecticut and Tennessee, and that both will be in Tuesday’s title game as expected.

Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma is not one of them.

“I would think,” Auriemma said, “that if this season has proven anything, it’s that you can throw out all the expectations and previous records and stereotypes, and all that other stuff about who should win and who the favorites are.

“Getting here is the hard part; always has been, always will be. And Minnesota, LSU, Tennessee and Connecticut have all proved that if the season ends and they’re the national champions, they’re all worthy of it.”

LSU and Tennessee kick off the semifinal showdowns at 4 p.m. PDT. Connecticut and Minnesota follow at approximately 6:30 p.m. Both games will be televised on ESPN.

The Tigers can feed off the familiarity of playing a Tennessee team they see regularly in the Southeastern Conference and the emotional boost from a perceived home-crowd advantage.

None of that will matter, Chatman said, if the Lady Vols have the kind of rebounding edge (44-28) and defensive attitude (holding LSU to 36.4% shooting) they had in beating the Tigers, 85-62, on Feb. 29.

“It’s one thing to get outrebounded; it’s another thing to be dominated,” Chatman said. “And that’s the staple of Tennessee. It’s a huge part of the reason there are six [NCAA] banners hanging in their arena. They’re going to pressure you, force you into turnovers; we have to be strong with it and take care of the ball”.

Minnesota figures to have the least amount of pressure, playing the defending champion. But the Huskies will not treat the Gophers, who knocked off the first-, second- and third-seeded teams to win the Mideast Regional, as a tuneup.

“I think everybody’s in the same boat at this time of year,” Auriemma said. “The only edge that you have is if you have better execution, if your players play better. That’s the only edge I can think of. I don’t know if winning the national championship last year is going to be worth anything when we step on the court.”

Perhaps the most intriguing scenario is whether Tennessee, playing in its NCAA record 15th Final Four game, can capture that seventh championship that has eluded it since 1998.

The Lady Vols lately have not had a superstar player such as Chamique Holdsclaw or Tamika Catchings to lift them to the highest peak. And this team, despite having All-American forward Shyra Ely and riding a hot playoff hand in guard Tasha Butts, doesn’t seem to have that kind of star power either.

But maybe this nondescript team by Tennessee’s usual standards is the one left standing Tuesday night.

Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt said it could happen.

“I think they’re tough-minded kids and competitors,” Summitt said. “They believe in each other and what we’re trying to do as a basketball team. A lot of people are surprised we’re here. But I’m not. A lot of people don’t think we have a chance. I think we have a great chance.”