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Sunday, November 14 Updated: January 24, 4:51 PM ET Ten tips for tipoff By Melanie Jackson ESPN.com |
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What a weekend. No. 2 Tennessee went down. So did No. 3 Rutgers. And No. 5 Georgia nearly lost, too. Top-ranked Connecticut is probably glad it had a bye. Even though the season really tipped off Sunday, hundreds of teams haven't had their first game yet, so here are 10 things you should know and look for as the 1999-2000 season gets under way:
2. Russian to the top: Any preseason poll out this year has the Connecticut Huskies ranked in the top five, if not as top Dawg. So, just eight months after getting upset by Iowa State in a Mideast Region semifinal, what's got the Huskies on top? Svetlana Abrosimova, UConn's 6-2 junior forward from St. Petersburg, Russia, who last season became the first sophomore in school history to reach 1,000 points. Abrosimova, a member of the Russian National Team the past two years, averaged 16.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.7 steals in 1998-99, and should follow that up with her second straight first-team All-America selection. 3. Deep Frese: The biggest reason Iowa State beat UConn 64-58 last March? Stacy Frese. The 5-8 guard, who averaged 17.2 points, ranked third in the nation in 3-point shooting with a 46.1 percent average (88-191) last season, and her clutch performance from beyond the arc was a huge part of the Cyclones' first Sweet 16 appearance. Against Nebraska last January, Frese tied the NCAA record for best 3-point percentage in a game, hitting all eight of her attempts. Don't expect to see the bombs stop dropping for the Big 12 preseason player of the year anytime soon. 4. Lady Tigers burning bright: So you think the nation's longest home game winning streak ended Sunday when Louisiana Tech snapped Tennessee's 41-game home winning streak? Wrong. The longest winning streak in the nation is still intact, although it doesn't belong to a top 25 team. The Grambling Lady Tigers own the nation's longest homecourt winning streak at 55 games. Of course, coach David "Rusty" Ponton is calling this a "reloading" year after seven players graduated from last season's 25-5 team.
6. The Scarlet Letter: That would be an "A" -- for potential. OK, so Rutgers couldn't handle N.C. State on Sunday as the No. 18 Wolfpack upset Rutgers 68-55. Still, the Scarlet Knights have one of the best backcourts in the country and have been ranked in the top five in nearly every preseason poll -- including a No. 1 spot in Street & Smith -- after finishing 29-6 last year, when they lost to eventual champion Purdue in the Midwest Region final. Pointing them in the right direction again this season will be guard Tasha Pointer, who averaged 6.8 assists per game in '99. 7. Summitt up: It took Tennessee coach Pat Summitt six seasons to win her 100th game as a coach. But in 1999-2000, her 26th season, Summitt will undoubtedly collect her 700th win as the Lady Vols' coach enters the year with a 695-146 career record over her quarter-century tenure. However, since the Lady Vols' 69-64 season-opening loss, it's very unlikely Summitt will pick up the milestone at home. Next up for the Vols: Tennessee-Martin (Summitt's alma mater) at home, then on the road at Stanford and UCLA before returning to Thompson-Boling to face Purdue on Dec. 2. After that, the Lady Vols' next four games are on the road before they host Texas on Dec. 30. Even after losing to La. Tech, it's unlikely Summitt will need nine games to win five. 8. Action Jackson: This is said to be a rebuilding year for Louisiana Tech, but with Tamicha Jackson leading the way, the Lady Techsters should be just fine in shooting for the eighth straight Sun Belt Conference title. Not only did Jackson, a 5-5 senior point guard, average 11.6 ppg and lead the Lady Techsters with 84 steals in '99, she needs just 17 3-pointers to become the school's all-time leader. She scored a game-high 21 points and added six rebounds in 39 minutes in the Lady Techsters' win over Tennessee on Sunday. 9. Double trouble: What's up with these 6-foot-3 players in California? At UC Santa Barbara, junior guard Erin Buescher notched a double-double more often than not in 1999. In 30 games, she posted 16 double-doubles, and enters her third season with the Gauchos with 28 career double-doubles. Down the road a bit at UCLA, senior forward Maylana Martin posted 12 double-doubles. Martin has scored in double figures in 83 of her 87 career games 10. Big 12's best: Eight SEC teams gobbled up berths to the NCAA Tournament last March. The second-best conference? The Big 12, with five participants. And in addition to Frese, the Big 12 has some other big-time studs as well, including Lynn Pride of Kansas and Edwina Brown of Texas, the only two college players named to the U.S. Pan American Games team last summer. Pride led the Jayhawks in points (17.2 average), rebounds (7.2) and steals (2.7). Brown led the Longhorns with 16.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 5.7 apg and 2.2 spg.
The fine line So UAB's Deanna Jackson gets the nod after nearly leading the Blazers to an upset over No. 5 Georgia. The 1999 Conference USA Freshman of the Year was 10-for-20 from the field and made two 3-pointers in the last 17 seconds when UAB was trying to hang on. Overall Jackson finished with 28 points and 18 rebounds, with eight coming on the offensive end. Jackson also had four assists and was 2-of-5 from 3-point range.
Parting shot Melanie Jackson, the College Sports Editor at ESPN.com, will take a weekly look at women's college basketball throughout the season. |
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