Source: https://womenshoopsblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 04:06:41+00:00

Document:
During a week when rival teams dig in and prepare, Mikayla Lyles and Toni Kokenis are reaching out. During a week when programs with a history might be talking a little trash, Lyles and Kokenis want to start a dialogue.
Lyles, a senior guard from Cal, and Kokenis, who played three seasons at Stanford before concussions forced her off the court, carved out time this week — in the run-up to the annual back-to-back games between the Bears and Cardinal — to create a shared space for inclusion and a conversation about acceptance.
I truly love what I do — but it sure as heck can interfere with blogging about the basketball I’ve been keeping up with from afar.
The perk is: I got to speak to two amazing women – Mimi Griffin and Michelle Edwards – at ridiculous length. What a privilege.
Of course, you’re going to have to wait for the results to appear at Fullcourt. Which means I need to transcribe and write… Um. Gotta go!
You can hear coaches game planning: “What we need to do is get them into foul trouble.” True, but not as easy as it sounds. UConn has adjusted nicely to the new rules, especially considering the fierce defense they play. Things could get interesting in the paint!
Gaels are now 9-0 in the MAAC. Their biggest threats the rest of the (conference) season lurks at the end of their schedule: Quinnipiac and Marist.
As mentioned, big win for Cynthia Cooper as USC takes down #19 California. (Somebody stop Ariya Crook, writes Nick Kranz) With some nice recruits coming in next year, things are looking good for the Trojan program.
Staying with the Pac 12, Oregon surprised Washington State and earned their first conference win.
The #14 Sun Devils needed free throws to escape the Utes and, in the battle of great names (Nyingifa v Ogwumike), it was close in the first half but #4 Stanford pulled away in the second for a 17pt win over UCLA.
In the Battle of CAA Unbeatens, JMU returns to the Beast of the CAA role with 74-47 win over Drexel.
Sunday brings us a little SEC “legit” road test: #10 South Carolina v. #16 Vanderbilt (2pm ESPN2) followed by #11 Tennessee v. #17 Texas A&M at 4pm. BTW, Dave’s podcast asks: #WhyNotVandy? Melanie Balcomb & Vanderbilt host South Carolina in a battle of SEC upstarts.
From Todd Carton: Can the Terps stop the Irish Invasion?
I hate to say it, but right now, the women’s Kentucky Wildcats basketball team is just not very good. They are shooting the ball extremely poorly, and the object of the game of basketball, or at least one of the two main ones, is to put the ball into the basket. Kentucky is defending well enough to win, but when they simply cannot score.
Also the school’s all-time rebound leader, Rowe is averaging 22.2 points and 11.7 rebounds this season. She has 16 double-doubles, including 10 in a row, and a school-record 69 in her career.
UNC’s leading scorer can splice two defenders, perform pirouettes on her way to the basket, make passes that some point guards would never dare try to make. When she makes a routine play by her standards, a highlight reel, “did-you-see-that?!” play by layman’s standards, DeShields, 18, simply smiles, a cheek-to-cheek glow that lifts her 6-foot-1-inch body off the hard court.
In WNBA land, Nate has: 2013 Tulsa Shock season review: What kind of talent did Fred Williams inherit?
SPOILER ALERT!!! That’s 900 wins for Bentley’s Barb Stevens. BTW, the Falcons are undefeated this season, and sit atop the DII poll.
Up next, Jim Foster going for #800.
Don’t have Netflix? Check this out! “Off The Rez,” the documentary about Louisville’s Shoni and Jude Schimmel from the Umatilla reservation, will finally be available for download TODAY, Jan 24, on iTunes and VOD platforms.
Great excuse to remind you of more good stuff (though it’s old): Eight Native Basketball Players You Need to Know Better: Cliff Johns the first Native American to play for legendary NCAA coach Lute Olsen at the University of Arizona; Kenny Dobbs, the all-universe dunking star; University of Kansas and WNBA star guard Angel Goodrich; Hall-of-Famer Reyneldi Becenti who was the first Native American to play in the WNBA; Two-time Continental Basketball Association champion with the Yakama Sun Kings Richard Dionne; GinaMarie Scarpa, cofounder of the Native American Basketball Invitational basketball tournament.
To understand her is to understand the universality of a father’s influence on a daughter. Her struggles with separation from what was familiar are the same as those of freshmen across the country. So, too, her ability to eventually adapt and thrive in that new setting. It is a story of someone who aspires to live up to the words tattooed above an ink basketball on her torso: Strong Hearted Woman.
To understand why that is only part of the story is to understand that “Strong Hearted Woman” is merely a translation of the words inscribed permanently on her skin. The words themselves are written in the Dakota language. The language of those who came before her. Of where she comes from. A language and a history rarely represented on Division I basketball courts.
Back in November, Brent Cahwe’s 10 Native American Basketball Players to watch this College Basketball season included Tesha and also named Lakota Beatty, Oklahoma State; Keli Warrior, Kansas; Abby Scott, New Mexico State; and Shauna Long, Lamar University.
Whooop! (W’Hoop!) History Alert! History Alert!
See the attached photos on Coach Margaret Wade. Many are “never before seen” that were just digitized by Emily Jones in the Charles Capps Archives and Museum at Delta State University.
These photographs were taken by Nanette Laster and donated by her and her brother James Larry Laster. The DSU Archives and Museum is thrilled with this new addition to our University collections.
Margaret Wade: She’s not just a name on a trophyIt’s been about 75 years since most competitive state high school girls basketball was wiped out and 35 years since Title IX was signed. So how about a little history?
The Wade Trophy is awarded to the best women’ s basketball player in Division I. First offered in 1978, it was named after legendary Delta State coach Margaret Wade (1912-1995).
Many forget Wade the player who, in 1929, played forward and became captain of the Delta State Teacher’s College team. The team, though, was disbanded in 1932 because the administration thought “intercollegiate basketball could not be defended on sound grounds.” Basically, it was unlady-like.
But, like many women of the era who were driven to play, Wade found a place on the court with “semi-pro” AAU teams. In Wade’s case it was the Tupelo Red Wings. She served as the team’s captain and led them to the Southern Championship before a knee injury ended her career.
As a Red Wing, Wade played with Mary Nelle Brumley Chalk and her sister Dew Drop Rowlett, both who have been inducted into the Freed-Hardeman College (TN) Hall of Fame. Clark was part of 1931-32 Freed-Hardeman College team that won the Mississippi Valley Conference despite the fact that they were a junior college competing against senior colleges. Rowlett attended FHC from 1930 to ’32 and was named to the Mississippi Valley Conference tournament team in ’30, ’31 and ’32. FHC’s women’s team was eventually disbanded.
All three women made a careers teaching and coaching, most famously Wade who, in 19 years at Cleveland High School (MS) compiled a 453-89 record. Invited back to Delta State to resurect the program in 1973, she guided the Lady Statesmen to three consecutive AIAW championships (’75-’77) with a team that included the fabulous Lucy Harris.
Chalk taught in the Tennessee school system, and coached both boys and girls basketball at Lexington High School for 20 years. Rowlett attended Murray State, and then started coaching tennis, track and field in 1936 at Kentucky’s Murray High School. One of the founders of the Kentucky Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, in 1968 Rowlett was recognized as one of Kentucky’s Outstanding Women in Sports. There’s an interview with her at the Louie B Nunn Center for Oral History.
Rowlett return to FHU as a coach from 1965-1981. In 1979, her sister joined her to help revive the FHU women’s basketball team. The Lady Lions play in the NAIA and have made ten National Tournment appearances since 1997. This year Stacy Myers was the fourth player in FHU history to be named a Kodak All-American.
Boom! Down goes #20 Iowa State. Oklahoma is 12-7 (3-3 B12) and it’s their first win AT Iowa State since 2008.
Boom! Down goes #9 Kentucky. Alabama is 9-10 (2-4 SEC) and it was IN Lexington.
Almost-boom! #3 Duke escapes in OT. (Of course, it would be OT!) #24 Florida State is 14-5 (2-4 ACC).
Almost-boom, deja vu! #25 Gonzaga escapes in OT. (Of course, it would be OT!). Loyola Marymount is 5-14 (2-6 WCC).
Whoops! Nevada surprised Fresno State, 63-60.
Whoops! Michigan State got surprised by Illinois, 61-51.
Seton Hall HAS improved, taking down Xavier to move to 12-5.
Penn HAS improved, taking down Temple, 74-70.
A lot of the conference races are a paragon of parity, but Southern is having none of that, moving to 6-0 in the SWAC with their win over Mississippi Valley State.
Ditto with Navy, which is 7-0. Army, Bucknell and American are lurking… but it’s still a tough first year in the Patriot League for Boston University.
Western Michigan exploded in OT (of course) to defeat Miami (OH).
And more OT: Georgia State over LA-Lafayette by 5.
OT: Ole Miss over Mississippi State by 2.
OT: The Fightin’ Campbell Camels over Winthrop by 3.
OT: Niagara over Manhattan by 4.
OT: Northern Colorado over Northern Arizona by 4.
My fault. VCU is now 4-3 in the A-10. It’s now Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham and St. Joe’s.
Idaho’s victory over Grand Canyon lets me type the following: Vandals rule the WAC.
Kansas couldn’t keep their upset mojo going against #8 Oklahoma State (though they tried).
Meanwhile, Baylor took their revenge on the Jayhawks in-state rival, stomping Kansas State in the first half and, depending on your point of view, cruising or giving coach Mulkey more cause to play her bench — or worry — in the second half.
The #2 Irish had no issues with Miami, even with Lloyd’s knee issues.
#7 North Carolina pulled away from Wake Forest in the second half.
#15 LSU eked away from Auburn in the second half.
#17 Texas A&M needed a comeback in the second half to defeat Missouri.
#1 UConn rolled, this time behind Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who seems to be finding her groove. Hard not to look ahead to Feb. 8th when Louisville travels to Connecticut.
Un-fans of East Coast WNBA All-Star Games better show up in Arizona.
He’s baaaaak: Fred to coach Tulsa.
Sheeeee’s baaaaaak: Angela Taylor, a former executive with the Washington Mystics, Minnesota Lynx and WNBA, has been named the Atlanta Dream’s executive vice president and general manager.
Not the timing she’d like, but it’s better to have a healthy kidney.
More congrats: E.J. (Lee) Ok’s Jersey Retirement Set for Saturday. Ok is one of two players in program history to score more than 2,000 points in a career as she finished with 2,208 points (second all-time).
“There are no upsets in women’s basketball” are simply out-of-touch neanderthals.
And honestly, looking at some of the records of those unranked teams only makes the upsets even more stunning.
Mulkey knew her young players were perhaps too buoyed by their performance against UConn and not ready for potential adversity on the road in the Big 12. She said she saw the “deer in the headlights” look from several of them Sunday.
Baylor senior guard Odyssey Sims had 31 points, but it took her a school-record 37 shot attempts to get that. She made 13 shots from the field and 3 of 5 free throws. Combined with her 4-of-25 night against UConn, Sims has shot 27.4 percent (17-of-62) in her last two games.
#24 Vandy stayed red-hot with its 9-point win over #14 LSU.
Miami’s Saunders went toe-to-toe with #20 NC State’s Gatling, and the Hurricanes earned the upset by 9.
Saunders joked that the rim has never looked that big for her in her career.
Flip-the-coin-and-see-which-team-you-get #22 Purdue eked out the upset over #18 Nebraska by 2. This has sure become a fun B10 rivalry.
#10 Kentucky escaped Auburn (11-7, 2-3), 73-71… and the Tigers had a chance in the final seconds.
#3 Duke showed it IS missing Gray, but leaned on Liston to escape Virginia Tech, 74-70.
#5 Louisville (welcome back Antonita) handled SMU.
#6 Maryland over Georgia Tech by 11.
#8 South Carolina rebounded and rolled Alabama.
#25 Texas A&M obliterated Mississippi State.
#16 Penn State had to rally to take down Michigan State. Ah, the Big 10.
#1 UConn wiped out Rutgers, impressing the heck out of CViv (who has Scaife and Copper to look forward to).
Get mojo back? Check! San Diego handled BYU, 60-45.
Keep improving? Check! St. Francis (NY) wins.
Continue to challenge for the Horizon? Check! Penguins ruuuuule!
Let go of the Horizon? Not so fast! Green Bay took down Cleveland State, 90-72.
Run away with the Big Sky? Not so fast (Pt. 2)! North Dakota stumbles against Montana State, 76-65.
Clear leader in the A-10? Not so fast! Dayton over Fordham, 73-64 and St. Joe’s over La Salle.
An itty bit of revenge? Yup! Drexel over Delaware. Dragons and JMU are 3-0 in the CAA.
Oregon continues to score a lot and lose a lot. And USC is now the first team ever to score 100 points at the Galen Center AND 6-1 in the Pac-12.
Howard over MD-E Shore by 2.
Buffalo over E. Michigan by 1.
Rice over Marshall by 6.
Tulane over Southern Miss by 2.
Cal Poly over Long Beach State (in a game Debbie would have loved), 107-102. Yes, LBS lost, but there IS going to be a wedding!
UC Davis over CS Fullerton by 2.
Big win for UNC-Asheville over Liberty, 83-80. It’s the first victory for Asheville over Liberty since Feb. 24, 2007.
And, on this MLK day, I invite you to read Kate Fagan’s piece.
Nobody wakes up one morning and understands the experiences of everyone who is “other.”The goal is to keep our minds open and be willing to listen — to realize that even when we think we get it, sometimes something happens that makes it clear we have so much more to learn.
After an awkward start, WSU seems to have hit a groove with some odd hiccups. They’ve beaten (then) #24 ASU, #10 Nebraska. They’ve lost to Dayton (?), BYU (sure), and WVU (understandable, considering what the Mountaineers are showing – SPOILER ALERT! Down goes Oklahoma!).
What does this tell us? I’m thinking that, save UCONN, there is a TON of parity, talent-wise, in women’s basketball. Coaching is key.
Any-hoot-n-annie: The 12 also added to our OT count: Washington over Utah by 1.
Yes, Oregon scores a lot. But they also lose a lot. And UCLA is putting together a season stitched with pride.
Can San Diego get their mojo back? They face BYU.
The Black Bears v. the Great Danes. No, I don’t expect a Maine win, but it’s fun to see a team move from being a total doormat to a team that you need to think about.
Sacred Heart v. St. Francis (NY). The Stags aren’t having their usually stellar (NEC) season, but they have history on their side. SF(NY) is trying to change theirs.
Speaking of changed histories: Cleveland State (3-0, Horizon) goes up against the Horizon team generalists know, Green Bay, who are a stunning 1-2 in league play.
The Penguins, 3-0 in the Horizon, will go up against Phoenix Slayer Milwaukee.
North Dakota will pit its 6-0 Big Sky record against Montana State’s 4-1.
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, keep those Mocs a rollin’! Under Jim Foster, Chattanooga is 6-0 in the Southern.
Speaking of the MAC, not the MAAC – they were kind enough to add to the OT list: Important win for Central Michigan over Bowling Green, 82-79.
#14 LSU v. #24 Vandy might — or might not — tell us something.
#2 Notre Dame v. #12 Tennessee (Monday, ESPN2) sure as heck will.
Drexel’s (and Redick, who got the Dragon’s first triple-double) turn? They face the Blue Hens.
Rutgers and UConn meet for the second-to-last-time as conference-mates… stoopid football, game that I love. Hoping there will be a General Admission ticket for me somewhere.
Ah, the Big 10: Michigan State (4-0) v. #16 Penn State (3-1). Ought to be fun.
Check out the Dishin’ and swishing’ Roundtable with Steph White, Mechelle Voepel and Cindy Brunson as they talk the first half of the season.

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