Diggins denied, but still a winner
SKYLAR DIGGINS, NOTRE DAME:
Senior | 5-9 | Guard
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NEW ORLEANS -- So many terrific players could relate to how Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins felt Sunday night with her college career at an end and her last chance at a national championship denied.
Players in the past decade such as LSU's Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles. Or Stanford's Nneka Ogwumike, Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen. Or Tennessee's Kara Lawson. Or go back further to the 1990s, and Stanford's Kate Starbird or Virginia's Dawn Staley. Or Auburn's Linda Godby, who played in three consecutive NCAA finals in 1988-90.
They all know what it's like to go to at least three Final Fours, as Diggins did with Notre Dame, and not win a title. In the cases of Fowles and the recent Stanford trio, they all went to the Final Four four times with no championship.
There wasn't a lot of consolation for Diggins in the immediate aftermath of UConn's 83-65 victory over fellow No. 1 seed Notre Dame in the national semifinals at New Orleans Arena. But she knows her sport's history, and understands that some of women's basketball's best have not gotten an NCAA title, but still did some great things just the same.
"Obviously, you want to win a championship every year," Diggins said in a quiet Notre Dame locker room. "But you learn so much in going through it. So many lessons. I am just blessed to have the opportunities these past four years. You look back on it, and [not winning a title] is not going to define my career or be my legacy. Notre Dame is so much bigger than myself. It's about building the program back up to elite status, and this program is going to be good for years to come."
Still, this seems like a too-cruel fate for such a hard-working, upstanding, vibrant personality as Diggins: To have pretty much accomplished everything team-wise -- including two Final Four victories over the rival Huskies -- and still not get an NCAA title. Click here for full story
Mechelle Voepel
espnW.comGriner's most memorable moments
BRITTNEY GRINER, BAYLOR:
Senior | 6-8 | Center
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Women's basketball is better off when the nation's No. 1 team and defending champion can suffer a surprise in the Sweet 16, an improbable upset that has so often eluded the women's tournament. But the women's game is also so much better for the four seasons it had Baylor's Brittney Griner, who changed how we thought about the limits of athleticism, and grew from someone dropped in the spotlight to a person who seemed comfortable there.
Sunday's shocking Sweet 16 exit in which she hit just four shots and scored 14 points will take a place of prominence among the moments we most vividly remember about Griner's college career, but so will these five memories.
• 1. Confetti angels in Denver (April 3, 2012)
We didn't know at the time that it would be her only chance to celebrate after the final game of the season, but the now-familiar image of Griner making confetti angels on the court after Baylor's win against Notre Dame in the national championship game spoke volumes about her. Griner's celebration came at the end of one of the most dominant individual seasons in the game's history, one in which she led Baylor to a 40-0 record by averaging 23.2 points (on 60 percent shooting), 9.5 rebounds and 5.2 blocks. Only Griner could do that. And few but Griner would drop to the court to make confetti angels. She could scowl and glower after blocks and big plays, but few players devoted more time to searching out the goofy joy in life than the kayaking, go-cart driving, roll-down-a-ramp, confetti-diving one.
• 2. A sweet win against Tennessee (March 27, 2010)
Most of the basketball world got its first look at Griner on the court when Baylor opened her freshman season in a nationally televised game at Tennessee. We saw flashes in that moment, including four blocked shots, but it was the Lady Vols who got the win behind 25 points and 14 rebounds from Shekinna Stricklen. The teams would meet again in the Volunteer State in the Sweet 16 in Memphis, with Pat Summitt's Lady Vols the top seed in possession of a 32-2 record. Griner left much more of an impression on that night. Behind 27 points, 10 blocks and seven rebounds from its freshman star, the fourth-seeded Lady Bears pulled away for a 77-62 victory on their way to the Final Four. Click here for full story
Graham Hays | email
espnW.comKentucky ends Delle Donne's college career
ELENA DELLE DONNE, DELAWARE:
Senior | 6-5 | Forward/Guard
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BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- At one point in the first half, Delaware star Elena Delle Donne looked at teammate Trumae Lucas and shook her head.
Delle Donne, the team's 6-foot-5 senior point forward, had just brought the ball upcourt against Kentucky's full-court press three consecutive times, and her chest was heaving, the expression on her face pained. She wanted -- no, she needed -- Lucas to break Kentucky's pressure this next time. Lucas did, slowly working the ball down the floor against a pestering defender.
Still, this interaction spoke volumes about the strain the Blue Hens were under Saturday afternoon against Kentucky.
"It was exhausting," Delle Donne told espnW in the locker room afterward. "At halftime, I went up to the coaches and even told them I wasn't going to be able to break the press and also have the offense run through me. I was just like, 'I can't.' Generally, I had been bringing it up. But we had to do something else, because I just couldn't keep up that pace."
The pace was, in fact, brutal. Delaware was expending so much energy just getting the ball up the floor and getting a shot off without a turnover that little was left for other crucial things like closing out on outside shooters and boxing out on defense. Because of this, each time the Blue Hens pulled within striking distance -- like late in the second half when they cut Kentucky's lead to two -- the Wildcats would fly down court and force a foul or whip the ball around and get an open look. Then they would set up their full-court press and make things difficult for Delaware, often forcing a turnover. (The Blue Hens turned over the ball 19 times.)
And in the end, No. 2 seed Kentucky was just too much for the sixth-seeded Blue Hens. The Wildcats won 69-62, advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season. Click here for the full story
Kate Fagan
Columnist, espnW.com- Joined espnW in Jan. 2012
- Spent three seasons covering the 76ers for the Philadelphia Inquirer
- Played women's basketball at University of Colorado from 1999-2004
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Brittney Griner, Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins are out of the tournament, but check the TV listings on ESPN's family of networks to see where they players land in the WNBA draft on April 15. Schedule » College »
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