Check the Resume

The Connecticut Huskies have ruled women’s college basketball with four national championships in five years, including the last three in succession. But the spotlight has shifted to a new favorite this season.

Louisiana State (29-2), given the NCAA’s top overall seeding, has earned that role. The nation’s best team during the regular season, the Tigers spent 11 weeks ranked No. 1. Each of their losses was by two points -- to Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game on March 6, and in overtime at Rutgers in January.

LSU averaged 72.1 points a game, and its defense gave up an average of 53. Only once did an opponent score 70 on the Tigers, and that was Baylor back in November.

“We’re fast at certain positions,” LSU Coach Pokey Chatman said. “But so often overall athleticism shadows the fact they are a cerebral basketball team.

“We run the motion offense, and you cannot lack a basketball brain and run it. You have to read the defense and know when to cut or flare. If you can’t think the game, all the athleticism in the world won’t come to the forefront.”

Last season, the Tigers advanced to the Final Four and came within one play of meeting Connecticut in the title game. And they appear much stronger now.

“I’d say they were the most efficient team against us in the half court,” said Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt, before the Volunteers avenged their regular-season SEC defeat to LSU in the conference tournament.

Summitt said her team had faced more full-court pressure from other teams, but that LSU doesn’t need to stretch its defense to cause havoc.

“They have proven game in and game out they are the best team in the country at this time,” she added.

Arizona State Coach Charli Turner Thorne, whose team is seeded fifth in the Tempe Regional, came away similarly impressed after the Tigers downed her Sun Devils, 65-54, in November.

“I told their reporters then [that] if they get stronger defensively, I would not be surprised if they won it all this year,” she said.

What has made the Tigers so formidable and feared?

Start with one advantage Connecticut enjoyed the last three seasons -- having the game’s best player. Junior Seimone Augustus, a 6-foot-1 guard, blends speed, scoring ability and a team-first attitude into an imposing package.

Augustus is averaging 20.1 points and shooting 55.4% from the field and 86.9% from the free-throw line. Although she is the focus of LSU’s attack, she doesn’t rest on defense; her 43 steals are third on the team.

Next is the experience level. The Tigers’ starting lineup, from top-flight point guard Temeka Johnson to center Tillie Willis, returned intact from last season and has performed with a steadiness that can be unnerving for opponents.

“The mind-set and perspective of this team is at a level that outside interests cannot penetrate,” said Chatman, who can’t keep the satisfaction out of her voice. “They are so even-keeled, so businesslike in their approach.”

Adds Johnson, the unquestioned floor leader, “It’s the postseason, so there’s no room for error or any type of looseness. Everybody will be gunning for us. There’s not one night one person can slack off; it has to be a collective effort.”

Then there’s the X-factor. Among five freshmen on the team, 6-5 center Sylvia Fowles has made the biggest difference.

In 31 games as a reserve, Fowles has averaged 12 points and nine rebounds. On defense, she has blocked 88 shots and influenced plenty of opponents not to bother going to the basket.

“You get past their front line and you face a brick wall,” said Summitt in describing Fowles’ defensive presence.

Fowles, who didn’t start playing organized basketball until the ninth grade and “didn’t really have to play anyone” in high school,” isn’t taking any bows. “I’m still learning,” she said. “Now I’m seeing top players every game.”

And, if the Tigers needed anything else, there is the memory of last season.

They were tied with Tennessee with six seconds left in their Final Four game -- and had the ball. Johnson, however, fumbled it away to the Volunteers, who converted the winning shot and moved on to the championship game.

“We have kept the feeling,” Chatman said of the loss. “But we’ve not held on to that last-second action. That’s where they are good at perspective.”

Redemption begins Sunday. LSU begins NCAA tournament play against Stetson (17-13) at Knoxville, Tenn. Four games to reach the Final Four in Indianapolis. Six games for a place in history.

“We have great pride in ourselves,” Johnson said. “We can’t be content with just making it to the Final Four one time. We have the drive to go further.”