SPIN DOCTOR: Ace Clement and the Lady Vols hope to keep things spinning in the right direction when they take on Rutgers at 7 p.m. ET Friday.
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Player of the day:
Jenny Moshak. Two years ago, Tennessee's athletic trainer worked a miracle on Kellie Jolly's ankle. This week, Moshak worked her wonder again as Tamika Catchings, who suffered a severe ankle sprain on Monday, practiced without pain Thursday. "We iced it and kept it elevated, and (Moshak) had the tape on it tight enough so it didn't swell," Catchings said. "And I didn't even have to sleep in the locker room."
Food for thought:
No one is going out on a limb. Although they all admitted that "anything can happen" this time of year, ESPN's Jay Bilas, Ann Meyers and Vera Jones each predicted a Connecticut-Tennessee matchup come Sunday. As for the users, 17,501 entrants in the Women's Tournament Challenge forecasted a Huskies-Vols final, and roughly 65 percent of users who voted in a current poll on ESPN.com also picked the top two teams in the country to meet in the NCAA title game.
Huskies' streak mushes on:
For 12 straight years, each of Connecticut's freshman classes have made it to at least one Final Four. Seniors Paige Sauer and Stacy Hansmeyer kept the streak, which dates back to the 1987-88 freshman class, alive this season.
Quote of the day:
Pat Summitt, on Leon Barmore's retirement: "I think I'm a better coach because of him, because when you prepare to play against his teams, you have to do your homework and you have to teach and prepare. ... He has helped Tennessee. Our players are better because of Leon Barmore and what his teams bring to the court."
Motown Philly:
So where has Boyz II Men been these last few years? We don't know, but the Philadelphia natives will be singing the national anthem before Sunday's final.
Catchings on:
When asked whether she and her teammates felt some pressure to uphold the Tennessee standard of basketball in their first season without Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings said, "I think so. Obviously Chamique brought a lot to the team, and was the leading rebounder and leading scorer. Now we've had to pull together and win games by committee." To read ESPN.com's Q&A with Catchings and teammate Semeka Randall, click here.
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This coach no second Stringer
 | | Stringer has survived triumph and tragedy. | |
Go ahead. Put yourself in the shoes of C. Vivian Stringer, whose story gets more amazing, more touching, more heartbreaking and more inspiring no matter how many times you hear it, writes ESPN.com's Mechelle Voepel. And although just a few days ago Stringer became the first coach in men's or women's college basketball to lead three schools to the Final Four, you can't forget about the first two trips, when Stringer was forced to balance heartache and the hardwoods.
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QUESTION OF THE DAY:
How does the talent of the individual players at this year's Final Four compare to past years? |
Jay Bilas: From a talent standpoint, it's as good as ever, maybe better than most Final Fours. But one thing I've noticed about the talent pool is that there aren't many seniors. So that's going to impact the experience level. Obviously it's best to have both talent and experience instead of either one alone, but the peculiar thing is the two favored teams -- Connecticut and Tennessee -- are young in certain spots. So it will be interesting to see whether the younger but perhaps more talented teams will have the advantage, or if it goes to older teams, Penn State and Rutgers.
Michele Tafoya: In past final fours, there has been more star power. We had players like Chamique Holdsclaw and Rebecca Lobo, players who generate so much buzz in an arena. This year, there's less of that. You could make the argument that as many as five players on the UConn roster are stars, and Catchings is incredible, but still has tremendous support from her teammates, and isn't the same kind of megastar that Chamique was. Not yet anyway. However, the overall talent level does stack up.
Vera Jones: There is so much talent in this year's tournament. You can start with Connecticut, and go down Geno's entire roster. With Tennessee, the Lady Vols might have the best talent at every position. Pure talent. Compared to the last few years, the talent level ranks in the top three. It's got to be up there.
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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:
• Just 3.4 percent picked the correct Final Four
• 43.7 percent predicts UConn to win it all
• Tennessee was the winner on 20.6 percent of the brackets
• 3 percent picked Penn State, and 1.4 percent had Rutges to win it all
Click here to check your bracket.
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ESPN BRACKETS
Who's ruling the Bristol Campus? That would be ESPN analyst Vera Jones, who holds a slim 30-point lead over ESPN's Beth Mowins in our own Women's Tournament Challenge group. To see how we're doing, just 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: Edwina Brown
| |  | | Brown could be in a WNBA uniform this summer. |
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 Texas senior Edwina Brown, whose secret to dribbling success can be traced back to the days when she was just 6 years old. Although Texas didn't reach the Final Four, Brown was in Philadelphia on Thursday as she was named to the 10-member Kodak All-America team.
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