AIR STRIKE: Thought only MJ got this kind of air? Think again. UConn's KJ (Kennitra Johnson), left, and Tamika Williams go airborne against Louisiana State's Katrina Hibbert.
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Player of the day:
Catchings. Darling. Stewart. Abrosimova. But to be honest, our vote really goes to the Big East, which is sending two teams -- Connecticut and Rutgers -- to Philly.
Did you know?
With Tennessee's 57-44 victory over Texas Tech on Monday, coach Pat Summitt matched former UCLA men's coach John Wooden with her 12th Final Four trip.
Did you know, part II:
Coach C. Vivian Stringer on Monday became the first college coach in men's or women's basketball to take three schools to the Final Four. Stringer led Cheyney State to the 1982 Final Four, Iowa in 1993 and now Rutgers in 2000.
Sorry to see you go:
Talk about your no-brainer. Hey, Leon, we hope to see you -- as well as Tamicha Jackson and Betty Lennox -- tearing up the hardwoods in the WNBA.
What you might have missed:
When Tamika Catchings went down with a severe ankle sprain Monday, she suffered the injury on the same court and almost the same spot where Cincinnati star Kenyon Martin broke his right leg 2½ weeks ago during the C-USA men's tournament.
What you might have missed, part II
Maybe her grip on the ball slipped at the last second, but you can't come closer to dunking than Michelle Snow did in the second half against Texas Tech.
User Message of the Day:
From ruv22: "Great game Rutgers. We're going to Philly. Maybe now RU will get a little respect in this tournament. Hey, ESPN.com -- offense sells tickets, but defense wins games." After ranking Rutgers No. 18 in our Power Rankings, we probably deserved that.
Leave your own message
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New names, new faces
set sights on Philadelphia
 | | Darling and PSU: Final Four-bound for the first time. | |
Well, you knew UConn and Tennessee were in this year -- you just knew it. And no matter how tired everybody besides their fans might get of hearing about them, there's no denying that they can play some high-quality basketball.
But let's not automatically pencil them into the title game, writes ESPN.com's Mechelle Voepel. Rutgers and Penn State knocking off the top seeds in their regions -- Georgia in the West and
Louisiana Tech in the Midwest -- means two new teams to the Final Four rather than two familiar
names. And both of the No. 2 seeds head into the Final Four with a lot of confidence.
And as for those two "upsets" on Monday, well, neither was really that surprising. Rutgers' 59-51 victory over Georgia was the type of game one might have theorized it could be. Penn State and Louisiana Tech, meanwhile, could easily have been flipped as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the Midwest. And the way the teams played on Monday, with Penn State pretty much dominating
throughout most of the 86-65 victory, it looked as if that was probably the way it should have been.
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TOURNAMENT CHALLENGE
Nearly 50,000 folks joined the women's Tournament Challenge. And as we roll out an updated version of the Tournament Dish each game day, we'll continue to provide an inside look at how the users filled out their brackets:
• 12,788 picked all four No. 1 seeds to reach Philly
• About 58 percent tabbed La. Tech and Georgia as Final Four teams
• 21.5 percent picked Penn State to be Philly-bound
• 20 percent predicted Rutgers would roll to Philly
Click here to check your bracket.
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ESPN BRACKETS
Although none of ESPN's experts correctly picked the Final Four field, ESPN's Beth Mowins came closest, correctly picking three of the four teams. To see how we're doing in our own Women's Tournament Challenge group, log on to the Challenge main page, then check out the Featured Group ESPN Experts to see our predictions for the NCAA Tournament. |
Bio Rhythms: Helen Darling
| |  | | Darling averages 7.8 assists per game. |
To give fans an inside look at the personalities behind March Madness, ESPN.com asked more than 20 players to share information about themselves. Look for the Tournament Dish's "Bio Rhythms" -- a fun and humorous look at the athlete by the athlete -- throughout the women's NCAA Tournament.
The series continues with a look at Penn State's Helen Darling.
When we sat down with the senior guard before the NCAA Tournament began and asked what her best moment or memory on the court was, she left the question unanswered.
Of course, after Penn State earned its first Final Four appearance Monday, we're betting Darling, who has a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio, might be able to fill in the blank now.
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