espnW Women's Basketball

AP Photo/John BealePenn State has won six consecutive games, and 11 of its last 12 contests overall.

It might be trite to say Penn State needed this, but it's still true. The school, buried under so much harsh publicity in the last three months, needed it. The program, which hadn't won a Big Ten championship since 2004, needed it. The players, who this season lost two of their first three league games (both at home), needed it. And coach Coquese Washington, who took over at Penn State in 2007 hoping to give the program a completely fresh outlook and atmosphere, needed it.

You also can say that Washington and the players didn't just need it, they deserved it and earned it.

"It" is the Big Ten regular-season title, which No. 17 Penn State has at least a share of now after an 84-66 victory over No. 11 Ohio State on Monday.

This game felt like it had an even greater margin than 18 points. In fact, the Buckeyes looked so lethargic during stretches that you were reminded of Joaquin Phoenix's infamous appearance on David Letterman's show back in 2009. Phoenix's fake catatonic-like behavior prompted Letterman to quip, "Joaquin, I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight."

Ohio State coach Jim Foster probably felt that way about his team's defense against Penn State, which had five players score in double figures Monday. Nikki Greene led the way with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Fellow junior post player Mia Nickson had 18 points and 15 boards.

It's not a regular occurrence for three players from the same team to pull down double-digit rebounds. But it happens when you clobber your opponent 60-32 on the boards, as Penn State did. Guard Maggie Lucas joined Greene and Nickson in Monday's double-double effort, with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Penn State (22-5 overall, 12-3 in the Big Ten) has just one regular-season game left: Sunday at home against Minnesota, a team in the lower half of the league. Technically, Penn State still might have to share the regular-season championship -- if the Lions slip up against the Gophers and Ohio State wins Thursday versus Minnesota and Sunday versus Nebraska. To win those games, though, the Buckeyes will have to play with a lot more purpose and energy than they did against Penn State.

But the Lady Lions should get some credit for that, too: They came out Monday clearly determined to put their hands on the Big Ten trophy. And even if that title is shared, Penn State -- with this win over Ohio State -- has the tiebreaker and No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big Ten tournament, March 1-4 in Indianapolis.

Ohio State, which won or shared six regular-season Big Ten titles from 2005 to '10, has won in the league tournament the past three years in a row. Last season, the Buckeyes prevailed 84-70 in the final over Penn State.

In fact, it has been quite a long time since the Lady Lions won that particular title. Penn State triumphed in the first two Big Ten tournaments, in 1995 and '96, but hasn't won that championship since.

But right now, Penn State certainly looks like the favorite for next month in Indy.

AP Photo/Tony GutierrezBrittney Griner, who simply doesn't have bad games, averages 23.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg and 5.4 bpg.

Remember Nike's "Little Rascals" commercials featuring WNBA stars? You don't? Well, then go to YouTube. If you do, recall the one in which the bossy little girl grills Cynthia Cooper for an explanation of why she pulled up for a 3-pointer on the break rather than passing to Tina Thompson on the block.

"Because I was open," an exasperated Cooper finally says. But that doesn't satisfy the kiddo.

In fact, Cooper could have said, "I could make a strong case for me taking the 3-pointer because I'm a great shooter, and I could also do the same for passing to my post player because she's terrific, too. Neither would have been a wrong decision, so I really shouldn't have to defend it."

Of course, that wouldn't have made such a funny commercial. But it's a pretty good answer much of the time when you're dealing with a variety of topics, including player or coach of the year in various sports. There is usually more than one qualified candidate, and good arguments can be made for each one.

Which one of these players is your national player of the year?

•  
  45%
  Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
•  
  10%
  Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame
•  
  36%
  Brittney Griner, Baylor
•  
  9%
  Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Stanford

(Total votes: 7,464)

However, in the end, if you're a voter for such an award, you have to make a decision. And in regard to national player of the year, if the vote was right now, I would pick Baylor center Brittney Griner.

What about Stanford senior post player Nneka Ogwumike? Notre Dame junior guard Skylar Diggins? Delaware junior guard/forward Elena Delle Donne? Each of them will get votes, and those absolutely can be justified.

I was leaning toward Ogwumike in the preseason, and she hasn't done anything at all to lose the award. But Griner still has moved to the top of the list. In the end, I keep coming back to this: Has any player performed more consistently at a higher level and led her team to more success this season than Griner? It's still a close call, isn't it?

But Baylor, ranked No. 1, is 26-0 overall and 13-0 in the Big 12. Since the Lady Bears' toughest matchup of the season -- the 66-61 victory over UConn on Dec. 18 in Waco, Texas -- Baylor has had just one game decided by fewer than double digits. That was a 72-64 win at Texas Tech on Jan. 18.

Baylor is outscoring its foes by an average of 80.4 to 50.8 this season. Baylor is on its way to being the third Big 12 team to go undefeated in league play -- following Oklahoma in 2006 and Nebraska in 2010 -- and also projects to be stronger in the NCAA tournament than those squads, both of whom lost in the Sweet 16.

Throughout this run of perfection, Griner -- named Monday as one of the 21 finalists for the U.S. Olympic women's hoops team -- has been like clockwork. Through the most recently updated NCAA statistical rankings on Sunday, Griner is seventh in scoring and first in blocked shots. She's in the top 35 on the boards, in part because that's a chore she shares with two other very good rebounders for Baylor: Destiny Williams and Brooklyn Pope. Griner has not fouled out this season.

She simply doesn't have bad games, with averages of 23.1 points, 9.6 rebounds and 5.4 blocks. Although it's true you could say that about the other top candidates for player of the year, too, as all of them have their teams atop their respective conferences.

Delle Donne, who is such a complete, versatile player, is going to have some support for sure in challenging Griner for the award. The 6-foot-5 Delle Donne seems to keep getting stronger as the season wears on.

She is averaging a Division I-leading 28.8 points for the Blue Hens, who are in front of the Colonial Athletic Association at 14-0. She's also getting 10.4 rebounds per game.

Thursday, she had a monster of a game: 42 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots against Hofstra, a worthy league opponent, in an 89-79 victory. Delle Donne now has scored 40 points or more four times this season.

Her numbers are majorly eye-popping, especially considering her CAA opponents have tried all possible defenses to stop her, save putting her in handcuffs. (If Hofstra had tried that, she probably would have scored only 24 points.)

Diggins' Irish suffered an unexpected loss to West Virginia, but they are still 12-1 in the Big East with another matchup coming Feb. 27 against UConn, which is 11-1 in the league.

Diggins is averaging 17.2 points, 5.8 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 steals. In Notre Dame's two losses, to Baylor and West Virginia, Diggins still scored 27 and 32 points, respectively.

At this point, the Stanford fans are probably jumping up and down screaming, "What about Nneka?" Your frustration is understandable. You aren't too happy that folks accidentally still keep calling the conference the "Pac-10" (it's kind of a hard habit to break, though, at least for the first season) and that doubters continue to question the difficulty of Pac-12 competition. Why should Stanford be penalized for crushing the league again?

Nneka Ogwumike is averaging 22.3 points and 10.7 rebounds. Not far behind is her sophomore sister, Chiney (16.0 ppg, 10.3 rpg), who seems certain to be a candidate for national player of the year next season.

The Cardinal are 13-0 in the Pac-12, far and away in the lead. Their only loss of the season was in November to Connecticut at the XL Center in Hartford.

Would you be wrong to go with any of these four -- Griner, Nneka Ogwumike, Diggins or Delle Donne -- as your player of the year? Not at all. And let's also reiterate that this decision doesn't have to be made today, we're still just in mid-February.

But the leader of the pack is Griner. With several great choices, she's still the favorite.

Midseason award candidates

Wade Trophy watch (33): LaSondra Barrett, LSU; Alex Bentley, Penn State; Cierra Bravard, Florida State; Carolyn Davis, Kansas; Elena Delle Donne, Delaware; Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame; Jasmine Dixon, UCLA; Stefanie Dolson, Connecticut; Brittney Griner, Baylor; Keisha Hampton, DePaul; Bria Hartley, Connecticut; Tiffany Hayes, Connecticut; Tayler Hill, Ohio State; Jordan Hooper, Nebraska; Glory Johnson, Tennessee; Shenise Johnson, Miami; Anna Martin, DePaul; A'dia Mathies, Kentucky; Natalie Novosel, Notre Dame; Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford; Nneka Ogwumike, Stanford; Devereaux Peters, Notre Dame; Samantha Prahalis, Ohio State; Jaime Printy, Iowa; Monique Reid, Louisville; Sugar Rodgers, Georgetown; Khadijah Rushdan, Rutgers; Odyssey Sims, Baylor; Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee; Alyssa Thomas, Maryland; Tyra White, Texas A&M; Riquna Williams, Miami; Julie Wojta, Green Bay.

Wooden Award watch list (20): Alex Bentley, Penn State; Elena Delle Donne, Delaware; Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame; Shante Evans, Hofstra; Brittney Griner, Baylor; Bria Hartley, Connecticut; Glory Johnson, Tennessee; Shenise Johnson, Miami; A'dia Mathies, Kentucky; Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Connecticut; Natalie Novosel, Notre Dame; Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford; Nneka Ogwumike, Stanford; Samantha Prahalis, Ohio State; Sugar Rodgers, Georgetown; Odyssey Sims, Baylor; Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee; Alyssa Thomas, Maryland; Elizabeth Williams, Duke; Riquna Williams, Miami.

Naismith early season watch list (51; from November): LaSondra Barrett, LSU; Alex Bentley, Penn State; Cierra Bravard, Florida State; Brittany Carter, Memphis; Sydney Carter, Texas A&M; Carolyn Davis, Kansas; Elena Delle Donne, Delaware; Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame; Stefanie Dolson, Connecticut; Aaryn Ellenberg, Oklahoma; Shante Evans, Hofstra; Casey Garrison, Missouri State; Jacki Gemelos, Southern California; Briana Gilbreath, Southern California; Chelsea Gray, Duke; Brittney Griner, Baylor; Keisha Hampton, DePaul; Whitney Hand, Oklahoma; Bria Hartley, Connecticut; Tiffany Hayes, Connecticut; Courtney Hurt, Virginia Commonwealth; Jasmine James, Georgia; Shenise Johnson, Miami; Lykendra Johnson, Michigan State; Glory Johnson, Tennessee; Lynetta Kizer, Maryland; Maggie Lucas, Penn State; Kevi Luper, Oral Roberts; A'dia Mathies, Kentucky; Natalie Novosel, Notre Dame; Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford; Nneka Ogwumike, Stanford; Shey Peddy, Temple; Devereaux Peters, Notre Dame; Samantha Prahalis, Ohio State; Jaime Printy, Iowa; Justine Raterman, Dayton; Monique Reid, Louisville; Sugar Rodgers, Georgetown; Khadijah Rushdan, Rutgers; Shoni Schimmel, Louisville; Naama Shafir, Toledo; Meighan Simmons, Tennessee; Odyssey Sims, Baylor; Kayla Standish, Gonzaga; Da'Shena Stevens, St. John's; Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee; April Sykes, Rutgers; Alyssa Thomas, Maryland; Tyra White, Texas A&M; Riquna Williams, Miami.

UConn's Tiffany Hayes, who tallied 23 points, six rebounds and seven assists in UConn's 73-55 victory over Oklahoma on Monday, talks about embracing her role as a senior.

Getty ImagesTeams from the ACC -- Duke, Maryland and Miami -- have a hold on three of the No. 2 seeds.

One month from Monday we will know the field for the 2012 women's NCAA tournament, so Play 4Kay, which dominates the landscape of women's college basketball for these two days, not only serves as awareness for a great cause, it also marks the beginning of the final sprint in the selection process. Every game from here on out has ramifications for teams fighting for conference positioning, a place in the NCAA field, or a better seed. So which teams used Sunday to get out of the gates quickly for this final stretch, and which squads might now be running the race from behind?

Bracketology winners

West Virginia: The Mountaineers were the biggest winner Sunday and it wasn't even close. On the outside looking in most of the season, West Virginia was creeping closer to the field. Then with one tremendous, 40-minute effort at Notre Dame, Mike Carey's always hard-working team exploded into the field. West Virginia's 65-63 out-of-nowhere upset of the Irish was the biggest surprise of the season so far.

It's not as if the Mountaineers hadn't been making noise -- they had just beaten Louisville and won five of six games before arriving in South Bend. But Notre Dame has just been that good. St. John's 15-point loss was the closest anyone had come against the Irish since Jan. 7, and Notre Dame had gotten into a habit of rendering the outcome academic by halftime. West Virginia slowed down the Irish and then knocked them around. The deliberate, physical play wasn't to Notre Dame's liking, and West Virginia grabbed the win it needed, the same kind of victory every bubble team strives for this time of year.

Texas Tech: The Lady Raiders were fading and about to play themselves out of the field. The only wins they've managed since Jan. 7 were over lowly Missouri and even faster-fading Texas. Tech couldn't let Iowa State get of Lubbock with a win. It didn't, even on a day when the ball and the basket did not meet very often. Chynna Brown scored 19 points in her first start of the season and Texas Tech used defense and second-chance points to win 51-41. Nothing about the game looks that impressive, except the Lady Raiders had to have it. Why? Four of Tech's final six games are on the road and all except a visit from Texas on Wednesday are against teams ahead of Tech in the standings. The Lady Raiders survived as a winner this Sunday but might need to win on a few more Sundays before this race is over.

Miami: On a day when top scorers Shenise Johnson and Riquna Williams weren't shooting it all that well, and the Hurricanes got outrebounded by 10, Miami still managed to waltz into College Park and steal a win (and a season sweep) over Maryland. The outcome was huge for two reasons. By beating the Terps, Miami kept alive its hopes that the Feb. 24 game at Duke will mean something (that game will likely now be for the ACC regular-season championship). It also nearly assures that Miami will end up with a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Barring a few unforeseen results, it's extremely unlikely for other contenders -- Maryland, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Ohio State, Delaware or Georgetown -- to catch Miami. A loss on Sunday coupled with another to Duke, and the Hurricanes might have been vulnerable.

Bracketology losers

Kansas: While not officially part of the Play 4Kay lineup, Kansas versus Kansas State was one of the day's biggest games because it pitted two teams in a battle in the Big 12 standings and fighting to gain ground on the selection board. Just a few minutes into this rivalry game, however, the Jayhawks lost leading scorer and junior forward Carolyn Davis to a leg injury. If the injury is severe as it appears and Davis is lost, Kansas' outlook for the NCAA tournament changes. That puts more pressure on senior forward Aishah Sutherland, who was good (12 points, 17 rebounds) without her running mate against Kansas State -- but not good enough as the Wildcats won 47-43. The Jayhawks were on their way to a bid in their best season in a decade or so. But they don't appear to be good enough to survive the final six regular-season games without one of the nation's top post players.

Florida: This time of year is all about taking advantage of opportunity. Losing to South Carolina in a close game on the road by no means kills the Gators' chances of making the field, but winning a game like this would have vaulted Florida into a significant position of safety. But while the Gamecocks provided an open door, the Gators failed to walk through. Twice in the final minute South Carolina missed free throws, keeping it a one-possession game. But after one of those misses, Florida failed to secure the rebound. After the second, Florida got a great look at a 3-pointer that would have tied the score, but Lily Svete couldn't knock it down. The Gamecocks won by four, and Florida waved goodbye to an easier path to March.

Rutgers: The good news was that Khadijah Rushdan was back after missing three full games following a concussion, and led the Scarlet Knights in scoring. The bad news was the offense still sputtered and Rutgers lost to St. John's, the Scarlet Knights' fourth straight defeat. Once thought of as possibly the third-best team in the Big East and a possible No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, the Scarlet Knights are now in eighth place in the conference and fighting for a No. 5 or 6 seed. Sunday's game against St. John's was one of the final shots Rutgers had at a true résumé-worthy win, but once again, the shooting woes that early in the season looked to be a thing of the past were impossible to overcome. A trip to West Virginia is up next, and then it's a run of games that Rutgers should (and must) win to stabilize its tournament position. That was something a better showing against St. John's on Sunday could have done.

There's no surprise among the No. 1 seeds, which would be Baylor, Connecticut, Notre Dame and Stanford. But which teams join Maryland as a No. 2? ESPN.com's Charlie Creme gives us a brief Bracketology update, with a full field of 64 coming Jan. 9.

UConn's Geno Auriemma talks about the positives for both teams out of Sunday's loss to Baylor.

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey talks about how animated she got with the officials in Sunday's 66-61 win over UConn.

ESPN's Rebecca Lobo grills Baylor's Brittney Griner with five questions, getting the Lady Bears' star to fess up on something she might have said about Geno Auriemma last year, which player Griner would most like to dunk on … and the best words to describe coach Kim Mulkey's hair.

Baylor's Odyssey Sims talks about how defense and following the game plan helped the top-ranked Lady Bears win Sunday at No. 7 Tennessee.

AP Photo/University of Virginia/Matt RileyJoanne Boyle gives Virginia a new coach for the first time since 1977-78.

There are always different faces in new places every college season. But it's still strange to get used to it when very familiar faces aren't in the same places anymore.

For the first time since the year of the Bicentennial and Jimmy Carter's election as president, Virginia's women's basketball team will be starting a season without Debbie Ryan as head coach.

She took over for the 1977-78 season, and led the Cavaliers to three Final Four appearances in her time in Charlottesville, Va. Those came in consecutive years -- 1990 through 1992 -- and represented the peak of her program. Ryan really wasn't ready to leave after last season, which ended in the WNIT for the Cavs. But she stepped down because the athletic department wanted a fresh start for Virginia, which had not advanced past the second round of the NCAA tournament since 2000.

Enter Joanne Boyle, a Duke graduate who previously had been head of another program in the state, Richmond, from 2002 to 2005. Boyle passed on a chance to coach at her alma mater in 2007, when her former boss Gail Goestenkors went to Texas. Boyle said then she was committed to what she was building in Cal, a program she took over in 2005.

[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Elaine ThompsonAmong the many coaching changes, Kevin McGuff left Xavier to take over at Washington.

But Boyle ended up wanting to get back to the East Coast. Virginia -- with its still-like-new John Paul Jones Arena and high academic standards -- was a perfect chance for her to return.

Boyle's move created an opening at Cal, which was filled by her former assistant Lindsay Gottlieb, who spent the past three years at UCSB.

Boyle had brought a new energy to the Pac-10 (now 12), as did Nikki Caldwell when she came to UCLA. But Caldwell also moved back east this spring. Like Boyle with the ACC, Caldwell went to the conference she'd both played and coached in, the SEC. Caldwell took over for Van Chancellor at LSU, which seems a logical fit.

The Bruins had given Caldwell her first head-coaching job in 2008. When she left, they once again filled the job with a longtime assistant: Cori Close, who played collegiately at UC Santa Barbara, then was an assistant for 18 seasons with UCLA, UCSB and Florida State. While being a California native wasn't a requirement for the Bruins job, it certainly helped that Close is from the Golden State and immediately knew the recruiting landscape.

Another important figure in the coaching merry-go-round was Kevin McGuff going to Washington to try to re-establish success at that program.

McGuff, an Ohio native, moved with his wife and five children to the Pacific Northwest after spending his career in the Midwest as an assistant at Miami of Ohio and Notre Dame, and head coach at Xavier.

Tia Jackson had gone 45-75 in four seasons at Washington, a program that a long time ago seemed like it might be at least an occasional strong challenger to conference giant Stanford. Now we'll see if McGuff, whose Xavier team lost a heartbreaker in the 2010 Elite Eight to Stanford, can make that happen.

Atlanta's Iziane Castro Marques talks about having back center Erika de Souza and how that impacts her role and the rest of the Dream.

Minnesota's Maya Moore talks about the adjustments she expects both teams to make for Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.