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In the end, it was #1 vs #2, the reigning champ vs. the team waiting (ever so impatiently) to snag the Big 12 crown. Texas Tech had successfully thwarted all comers to hold onto its regular season title, and came into the week focused on a second consecutive tourney championship. Every other Big 12 team had upset on the brain, starting in the first round on Tuesday. Baylor (#7) and Oklahoma (#6) were sent packing early by Missouri (#10) and Oklahoma State (#11) to give the tourney its first two upsets. On Wednesday, the four seed Texas was knocked off by the five seed Nebraska. This was not a huge shocker, but the lower seed won, nonetheless. Texas Tech, Iowa State and Kansas all won, holding true to their 1-3 seedings.
This set the stage for the semifinals on Thursday, Tech vs NU and ISU vs KU.
Texas Tech has been led all season by seniors Angie Braziel and Rene Hanebutt. Anybody who watches Tech, however, knows there is more to worry about than defending these two fine players. Julie Lake stepped up to center stage against Nebraska and gave the Cornhuskers a lesson in shooting. The senior went six for 10 from the field and four of five from the free throw line to total 17 points, nine over her average. While 17 points may not be an eye-popping number, the fact that Lake was the one scoring them probably caught the Huskers off guard. They basically handled Hanebutt very well after she hit a couple of early baskets, and of course paid plenty of attention to All-American Braziel. They limited her to nine shots, and because of that close attention, Lake got some open looks at the basket. In theory, guarding Braziel and Hanebutt close and making other people beat you is a great idea. In practice, however, it turned out to be the wrong answer for Nebraska. Lake took advantage of sagging defense and knocked down some huge shots to help Tech cruise to victory over NU.
Lake experienced her first major injury in college earlier in the season. While the Lady Raiders didn't miss a beat, winning all the games Lake missed, the injury took a toll on Lake's confidence. She had started every game in her college career except one up to that point, and after missing a few games with the injury, she had to work her way back into the starting lineup. Even though this happened quickly, Lake has struggled with her consistency and confidence. She is a great shooter, probably the best one-on-one player Tech has. She has the size to get in the lane and create shots, as well as the outside touch to knock down the trifecta. She seems to be back on track after this tournament, and if that is the case, Tech could be a very dangerous team for the rest of the month. With Lake in the fold on offense, Tech truly has a three-pronged attack, something coaches covet come tourney time.
The real key to the game may have been Tech's defense. The Lady Raiders held Nebraska to 35% shooting from the field, including six of 22 from Nicole Kubik and one of six from Brooke Schwartz, the two top scorers for NU. On the other hand, Tech shot almost 50% from the field, 73% from the free throw line, and 43% from beyond the arc. Katrisa O'Neal often gets credit for being the defensive catalyst for Tech, but it is again Melinda Schmucker who is the unsung hero. O'Neal is a pest, a knat, a waterbug, a real pain in the ... well you get the idea. Schmucker, however, is the one you can't get around. She always stands between you and the bucket, rarely diving for the steal as O'Neal does, yet keeping you from going where you want to go. She controls the opposing point guard defensively, and this is as important if not more important than racking up steals.
The second semifinal saw Iowa State and Kansas face off.
Although the final score was 79-64, it was all Iowa State, especially from behind the arc. The Cyclones shot a sizzling 53% from way downtown, 9-17 on the evening. They were also 14 of 15 from the charity stripe for 93%. Stacy Frese had a tremendous game for ISU, hitting three of six from three point range and eight of 15 overall. She also dished out four assists on the evening.
Megan Taylor and Desiree Francis also got in on the act, combining for 12 of 22 shooting for 27 points. Taylor also grabbed nine rebounds. I think Megan Taylor is the Big 12's next big star. She is athletic, aggressive, and talented. She can shoot from any angle and is a tough defensive player. She has all the makings of a superstar, and has two years left to wreak havoc on the Big 12.
For KU, Lynn Pride pulled a disappearing act. This first team all Big 12 player went three for nine for just seven points. First of all, she should have shot the ball more than nine times. Pride is capable of taking a game over, when she decides to do so. The problem for Kansas is, she rarely does that.
Pride has the physical skills and basketball ability to control the game on both ends, yet in this game she never showed any signs of life. If Pride ever lives up to the ability she has, she could be in the class with Tamika Catchings, Semeka Randall and even Chamique Holdsclaw. The difference between Pride and those players is simply they play to win, and too often Pride doesn't. They have the desire, the will, the want-to. Maybe it comes from playing at Tennessee, where those things are expected. Perhaps Pride would have thrived somewhere besides Kansas, a place where "underachieve" is often used as the main adjective when discussing the program.
There is never any question regarding KU's talent, but it seems for whatever reason the Jayhawks usually fall short of expectations. This was the story during the regular season Big 12 race, as well as the tournament. After a day of rest on Friday, ISU and Tech were set for war.
The arena was pretty full (8,127) with a good showing of Tech fans but a huge turnout for ISU. The Cyclone supporters were loud from beginning to end -- I really think Bill Fennelly has started something big in Ames, Iowa. ISU should be a solid top 10 team next year and should be the odds-on favorite to win the conference. Alas, it isn't next year quite yet, and Texas Tech wasn't ready to hand over the crown on Saturday.
Melinda Schmucker started Tech off with a couple of long distance bombs, something I am sure ISU wasn't expecting, especially to begin the game. ISU was all over Rene Hanebutt, a strategy that kept her from scoring from the field in the first half. I am not sure what exactly ISU was doing to Angie Braziel (or what Braziel was doing to herself) but she had a terrible first half. ISU's defense was good, and Tech could not get in any flow during the first period.
The second half was a different story for Tech. Braziel came out and decided to play a little basketball, and that was the beginning of the end for ISU. She was hitting all the shots she missed in the first half. The real hero for Tech was once again Julie Lake. She had 20 points, going four for seven from deep downtown KC, and also had seven assists. ISU was still shadowing Hanebutt, and Braziel was seeing her usual quadruple team, so Lake took advantage.
ISU decided to go to a 1-2-2 zone with about six minutes left in the game. Not a bad idea, as Hanebutt hadn't seen the light of day for the better part of 30 minutes, and Braziel was killing them in the paint.
Did I say not a bad idea? Oops. I should have said BIG MISTAKE, HUGE, HUGE MISTAKE. Hanebutt magically found herself wide open (actually there was someone within about three feet of her most of the time, but in Hanebutt's world, that IS wide open) and went to TOWN on ISU. She nailed four trifectas in the final minutes, effectively nailing ISU's coffin shut. She has simply been EN FUEGO for the better part of a month. For the tourney she was 14 for 25from behind the arc, going over the century mark for three-point shots (103 of 244) for the season.
For ISU, Stacy Frese, Megan Taylor and Angie Welle all had great efforts. Frese only got eight shots off against Tech's tough defense, but made four of them. She had 14 points on the night. Taylor and Welle each had 13, on 6-12 and 6-11 shooting respectively. They both had double-doubles, with 10 rebounds each. Frese was stalked by the Tech defense and could never seem to shake them long enough to get her shot off. As quick as she can fire it up there, Tech was always close enough to make her think twice about launching her shot. Taylor is just a really nice player. She slashed through the defense on several occasions for sweet moves to the hoop, and did a good job on defense as well.
Frese was named to the first team all Big 12, and Tech's Melinda Schmucker didn't even rate an honorable mention. On Saturday, these two point guards went head-to-head, and it was pretty much a draw. Frese had three more points, 14 to Schmucker's 11. She also had two more turnovers, three to Schmucker's one. Schmucker had seven assists to Frese's five, added four rebounds, with Frese getting one, and had two steals to Frese's one. I will stand by my pre-tourney comment that Schmucker is the best pure point guard in the conference. Scoring, my friends, is not everything.
It was a truly exciting week of basketball. The atmosphere was really wonderful, and the fan support was great as well. The Big 12 is growing, and it seems the best is yet to come for this young conference.
Random thought: *The ISU fans were the best at the tourney. They were also the worst.
Let me explain. They had some great chants, especially during free throws. Things like "an airball will get you on Sportscenter" and (to KU) "You're shooting for a trip to Lawrence" and "Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY".
They were the worst in this way. One thing I hope (ever how naively) that women's basketball can hold on to is respect. Respect for the opponent, respect for the fans, and respect for the players. In a small way, ISU fans stepped over the line. Dueling chants are great before and during the game. I have no problem with trying to drown out the opposing team's chant while the game is going on. After the game, however, when school songs and such are being played, I think it shows a slight lack of class to chant for your team as the winning team is saluting their fans. Iowa State fans were yelling "I-S-U" as the Tech players and fans listened to their band play the school song. Maybe I am just being old-fashioned, but to me this is something I would rather not see in the women's game. Tech played a great game, as did ISU. Instead of showing appreciation for both teams, many ISU fans (and the band) chose to infringe on Tech's celebration. I just have a problem with that. I hope ISU fans will be able to get used to being in the championship game, as Tech fans are. Maybe class is something you learn as you become accustomed to being a winner.
*On the officiating ...
I am sorry to be blunt, but the officiating for the most part stunk. In all the Big 12 games I have watched this season (over 20) I have seen two games I considered to be well officiated. I know the refs have a tough job. It is a fast game, with a lot of action. But you know what? It IS their job to keep up with the action. The players and coaches have tough jobs as well. The level of officiating must improve, plain and simple.
*On KC and the Big 12 ...
Great job by all invloved with the tournament. KC is starting to "get" women's basketball. This was the third Big 12 tournament, and the best Big 12 tournament to date. With five teams making the NCAA Tournament field, maybe the Big 12 is getting the respect it deserves for being a tough conference from top to bottom.
3/9/99
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