With all the upsets that occurred over the past six days, there hasn't been another week this season -- or perhaps in recent years -- that might have a greater impact on teams around the country when Selection Sunday rolls around next month.
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ON THE RISE
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Team: TCU
TCU has struggled to produce winning records since the NCAA sanctioned women's college basketball in 1982. But after guiding TCU to a school-record tying 16 wins last season, second-year coach Jeff Mittie is again leading the Horned Frogs to new territory. This season, TCU is 11-1 in the Western Athletic Conference and 19-5 overall, and was riding a school-record 11-game winning streak -- they didn't lose a game in 2001 until Feb. 16 -- before a loss at Nevada last Friday. But this is a team on the rise. In an 83-61 loss to Tennessee on Nov. 27, TCU played incredible half-court defense, and is now holding foes to 59.0 points per game. Mittie's coaching tactics -- he has given his players a lot of confidence and has told them to have fun on both sides of the floor -- are paying off, and as a result, TCU is playing some impressive basketball. The Frogs might be one of the biggest surprises in college basketball this year.
Player: Baylor's Crockrom
Coming into the season, everybody knew Sheila Lambert was a tremendous point guard. But great teams have to have an inside-outside combination to be successful, and junior forward Danielle Crockrom has given that to Baylor. Crockrom is a phenomenal rebounder who is so fun to watch as she attacks the glass. She's had several games with at least 15 rebounds. At 6 feet 2, she's not huge, but she is extremely tenacious on the ball and reminds me of Dennis Rodman in that sense. If there's a loose ball, she thinks it belongs to her. She goes out and gets it, and probably gets two or three boards a game just because of her hustle.
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Notre Dame's perfect season came to an end. Iowa State suffered two Big 12 losses. And ACC leader Duke shot just 31.7 percent at N.C. State.
Let's start with the big one.
We expected Rutgers to be a great test for Notre Dame. There's probably not a coach in the country who wants to face Rutgers and coach C. Vivian Stringer with the No. 1 ranking at stake, and as usual, Rutgers did what it does best -- take its opponent out of its game. Stringer might not win all the time, but she makes you play her style: grind it out in the half-court and execute without making a lot of turnovers.
Notre Dame, a team that scored 92 points to beat then-No. 1 Connecticut last month, mustered a season-low 53 points against Rutgers as leading scorer Ruth Riley was held to a Big East-low 12 points (she was averaging 19 points) before fouling out in the second half. Notre Dame's previous scoring low was 64 points (twice, vs. Villanova and Providence). The Irish are averaging 77.5 points a game and won their first 23 games by an average of 22 points.
But defense is what Rutgers does best. And after the Irish scored the first nine points of the second half, they scored just four points over the next 7:21 as Rutgers built a six-point lead. Although Notre Dame later regained the lead, Rutgers kept it close and as a result, was able to pull out the 54-53 Big East victory and its first win in five games over ranked teams this season. The victory also marked Rutgers' first win over a top-ranked team since the 1993-94 season.
This win will definitely be on the mind of the selection committee when March 11 rolls around. Quality wins like this -- especially this late in the season and in conference play -- will help Rutgers tremendously in terms of seeding. Now, if they play well in the Big East tournament, the Scarlet Knights can probably expect a No. 2 or No. 3 seed.
While Duke's loss to N.C. State and Florida's loss to unranked Mississippi State are damaging, they're not fatal. After all, N.C. State was at least ranked (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today; No. 21 Associated Press) and continues to be respected largely because of coach Kay Yow's reputation. And despite Mississippi State's 3-10 SEC record and 13-12 overall mark, the Bulldogs still have one of the best talents around with LaToya Thomas on the court.
However, Iowa State's two losses as well as Southwest Missouri State's loss to Northern Iowa are the types of performances that might really hurt on Selection Sunday. The Cyclones, who had their sights on a No. 2 or No. 3 seed, might be hurt worst of all. Before the 73-66 loss to No. 21 Colorado on Feb. 14, Iowa State had won its previous five games by a 25-point average. And in Saturday's 69-61 loss to 10-14 Kansas, the Cyclones were outrebounded 36 to 28.
Losses like this -- especially this late in the season -- do not bode well for teams. And whether it's a psychological breakdown -- teams perhaps think they can take a breath against unranked opponents -- or just a poor performance, you can't ever play down to your opponents' level.
And what it really means is that it's time for some of these teams to get refocused as conference tournaments approach.
ESPN analyst Nancy Lieberman-Cline, a Hall of Famer, will break down the women's college basketball world throughout the 2000-2001 season. Send this story to a friend
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ALSO SEE
Rutgers rebounds from blowout, stuns No. 1 Irish
Kansas upsets sixth-ranked Iowa St. 69-61
Boulder bash: Colorado avenges 34-point loss with upset of Iowa State
Wolfpack rally in second half to upset No. 4 Duke
Mississippi State builds early lead, holds on to upset Gators
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