Mel Greenberg - @womhoopsguru

Top draft picks ready to become faces of the WNBA

BRISTOL, Conn. – With ESPN being the bridge in many ways through its other properties beyond telecasts that connects the NCAA and the WNBA when it comes to women’s basketball, network headquarters was the appropriate place to originate the highly anticipated draft that was beamed Monday night in a first-ever prime time window.

Draft day PHOTO GALLERY

Stewart guides Huskies to 8th National Championship

NEW ORLEANS – Connecticut is back on top fearsome as ever after the Huskies rode freshman Breanna Stewart’s brilliance to a lopsided 93-60 victory over Big East rival Louisville Tuesday night in the New Orleans Arena for their eighth NCAA Division I women’s basketball national title.

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Huskies dispatch Wildcats, rematch with Irish looms

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – When the smoke cleared from the Sweet 16 battles across the four regions, mighty Baylor, the overall NCAA women’s basketball tournament favorite, had fallen 24 hours after top-seeded Stanford was short-circuited.

Suddenly, it seemed the 2013 edition of the Big Dance had morphed into speculation that things were now wide open and any of the eight remaining teams had the potential to succeed Brittney Griner and company in holding the championship trophy in the New Orleans Arena in The Big Easy next Tuesday night.

Delle Donne back in Husky territory for Sweet 16

NEWARK, Del. – The word “irony” is being tossed around a lot this week considering the impending close of the collegiate career of Delaware sensation Elena Delle Donne.

Soon after the sixth-seeded Blue Hens rallied from an early 10-point deficit in the second half Tuesday night to finish their 78-69 upset of third-seeded North Carolina (29-7), Delle Donne was asked if it was ironic that Delaware (32-3), in moving on to its first-ever Sweet 16 in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament this weekend, would be heading to the state of Connecticut.

Notre Dame had Skylar Diggins; UConn did not

HARTFORD, Conn. – Notre Dame had Skylar Diggins and Connecticut did not.

That’s a phrase that used to go the other way from the Hall of Fame UConn coach Geno Auriemma when Diana Taurasi was piling up trophies for him early in the last decade.

But these days it is Diggins, the Irish hometown star from South Bend, Ind., who has become a game-breaker giving grief to Notre Dame’s opponents.

Faris solidifies star status as No. 3 Huskies rout No. 4 Blue Devils

STORRS, Conn. – The virtual room where the great ones who have played the game of women’s basketball here at the University of Connecticut reside got a little more crowded Monday night on the heels of a royal proclamation by Huskies Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma.

"The stare" may have been Summitt's trademark, but it did not define her true personality

PAT SUMMIT PHOTO GALLERY - For those not close to the Tennessee program, the question over the years has come in repetitive fashion from those TV viewers, be they coaches, fans, reporters not involved with women’s coverage: “What’s she really like in person?

“She looks like she is really mean with that stare. She must be really tough to deal with.”

Draft day impressions: Let's see who makes the rosters

BRISTOL, Conn. -- The Guru has a few quick impressions after a draft whose overall worth won't be known until it is determined who actually makes the 11-player rosters of the 12 teams who already are loaded with veterans.

Nneka Ogumwmike will be a value in the tradition of overall No. 1 picks, maybe not necessarily on the scale of a Lauren Jackson, but will bring positive returns to the Los Angeles Sparks and to the WNBA both on and off the court.

Los Angeles Sparks pick Nnemkadi Ogwumike

No surprise. Los Angeles quickly takes Stanford all-American Nneka Oguwmike of Stanford as the No. 1 pick. Incidentlally, it turns out that Tennessee's Glory Johnson has also has a Nigerian background.

Women's Final Four: Baylor and Griner down Notre Dame to tower over NCAA tournament history

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