womens bb....9:37pm est game
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STORRS - There are several reasons why the Temple University women's basketball team feels it has something to prove in the NCAA Tournament.
The Owls came into the tournament feeling slighted by the selection committee for its No. 6 seed in the Philadelphia Regional.
The Owls (28-3) entered the tournament riding a 24-game winning streak that included the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship, and they felt that should have warranted a higher seed.
"We feel like we've done a lot this year and we're still not getting the proper recognition for it," senior Ari Moore said.
That streak is now at an NCAA season-high 25 games following Sunday's 66-61 win over No. 11 Louisiana Tech. That win set up a rematch with third-seeded Rutgers today at Gampel Pavilion at 9:37 p.m.
The Owls, who have never been to the Sweet 16, haven't lost since Dec. 4 at Florida. Two games into the current streak, Temple hosted Rutgers and came away with a 71-60 win. Yet despite that win on Dec. 13, the consensus is that the Owls are the underdogs against the Scarlet Knights.
That's given the Owls a lot of motivation going into tonight.
"We want to show how good we really are for a number of reasons," Moore said. "Rutgers definitely feels that they can beat us because they didn't have Cappie (Pondexter) when we beat them in the regular season. This is another chance for us to show that Temple is an up-and-coming team and we really don't care who we have to play. We're ready."
Pondexter sat out the first eight games of the season because of personal reasons, but she showed on Sunday against Jennifer Rizzotti's University of Hartford squad that she is close to top form. That could pose a problem for the Owls tonight.
"Cappie Pondexter has the goods," Temple coach Dawn Staley said. "She is a star player in the WNBA waiting to happen. I think she has all the skills. I think she can score with the best of them. Her vision on the basketball court is second to none in the college game. She poses a big threat to our defense."
But Pondexter isn't the only star that will pose a threat tonight. Temple has its own star scorer in junior forward Candice Dupree. The A-10 player of the year had 20 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks against Louisiana Tech. She leads the Owls in scoring (16.3 points per game), steals (67), blocks (57), and rebounds (9.0).
"The more I look at Candice Dupree, and I saw enough of her the first time we played her, the more I'm convinced that she's just a formidable foe, and we're going to have a difficult time," Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said. "I spend morning, noon and night trying to figure out what we can do about her and I'm not sure how we're going to handle that."
Jordan a concern
The main focus of the Rutgers defense will be Dupree, but the Scarlet Knights aren't forgetting about Cynthia Jordan.
The Temple senior guard scored a career-high 28 points against Rutgers on Dec. 13, a performance that left a lasting impression on the Scarlet Knights.
"She had a career-high 28 points against us," Stringer said. "They basically had their way. To think that it's just Dupree is doing Temple an injustice."
Growing steadily
It didn't take long for Staley to leave her mark at Temple.
The two-time USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year needed just five seasons at Temple to reach the 100-win plateau, the fastest in the program's history. Linda MacDonald is the only other Temple women's coach to reach 100 wins. She needed seven seasons to reach the mark and finished 160-130 in 10 seasons.
Staley's record currently stands at 102-50, and she's just a win away from the team's first trip to the Sweet 16.
"I just know how to do things one way, and that is to work hard," Staley said. "I know that just from playing this game of basketball that if you put the work in, you do it the right way, you're fair with your kids, they'll run through a wall for you. I think I have approached this particular position that way."
Staley spends her summers leading the WNBA's Charlotte Sting, and she helped lead the U.S. national team to a gold medal in the Olympics in Greece last summer.
"It's a great situation and a great fit for Dawn," Stringer said. "Dawn lives in Philadelphia, so it's easy for her to go ahead and make it happen in the city that loves her so. I'm so glad that she is getting it together there at Temple. Temple is where they are because of her vision."
Forward progress
It couldn't have gotten much worse for Florida State. The Seminoles went 5-22 in 1996-97, 0-16 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
That was the season prior to the hiring of Sue Semrau as the team's head coach. Since joining the team, Semrau is 116-117, earning the ACC's coach-of-the-year honors after going 23-7 in the regular season and ACC Tournament following a 15-15 campaign in 2003-04.
"We knew it all along that we were heading in the right direction," Semrau said. It took eight years for Semrau to lead the Seminoles to where they are today. A win tonight against No. 3 UConn in the second round of the Kansas City Regional would send Florida State to its first berth in the Sweet 16. It would also be a signature win for a program striving to join the Huskies among the elite teams in the nation.
"Any win is going to be huge for us," junior guard Holly Johnson said. "They are a great team. What they have done over the past 10 years is unbelievable. To step out on their court - so much tradition, so much pride that they have - it's a very cool thing just to be here. It will mean a lot to us if we can get a win."
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STORRS - There are several reasons why the Temple University women's basketball team feels it has something to prove in the NCAA Tournament.
The Owls came into the tournament feeling slighted by the selection committee for its No. 6 seed in the Philadelphia Regional.
The Owls (28-3) entered the tournament riding a 24-game winning streak that included the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship, and they felt that should have warranted a higher seed.
"We feel like we've done a lot this year and we're still not getting the proper recognition for it," senior Ari Moore said.
That streak is now at an NCAA season-high 25 games following Sunday's 66-61 win over No. 11 Louisiana Tech. That win set up a rematch with third-seeded Rutgers today at Gampel Pavilion at 9:37 p.m.
The Owls, who have never been to the Sweet 16, haven't lost since Dec. 4 at Florida. Two games into the current streak, Temple hosted Rutgers and came away with a 71-60 win. Yet despite that win on Dec. 13, the consensus is that the Owls are the underdogs against the Scarlet Knights.
That's given the Owls a lot of motivation going into tonight.
"We want to show how good we really are for a number of reasons," Moore said. "Rutgers definitely feels that they can beat us because they didn't have Cappie (Pondexter) when we beat them in the regular season. This is another chance for us to show that Temple is an up-and-coming team and we really don't care who we have to play. We're ready."
Pondexter sat out the first eight games of the season because of personal reasons, but she showed on Sunday against Jennifer Rizzotti's University of Hartford squad that she is close to top form. That could pose a problem for the Owls tonight.
"Cappie Pondexter has the goods," Temple coach Dawn Staley said. "She is a star player in the WNBA waiting to happen. I think she has all the skills. I think she can score with the best of them. Her vision on the basketball court is second to none in the college game. She poses a big threat to our defense."
But Pondexter isn't the only star that will pose a threat tonight. Temple has its own star scorer in junior forward Candice Dupree. The A-10 player of the year had 20 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks against Louisiana Tech. She leads the Owls in scoring (16.3 points per game), steals (67), blocks (57), and rebounds (9.0).
"The more I look at Candice Dupree, and I saw enough of her the first time we played her, the more I'm convinced that she's just a formidable foe, and we're going to have a difficult time," Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said. "I spend morning, noon and night trying to figure out what we can do about her and I'm not sure how we're going to handle that."
Jordan a concern
The main focus of the Rutgers defense will be Dupree, but the Scarlet Knights aren't forgetting about Cynthia Jordan.
The Temple senior guard scored a career-high 28 points against Rutgers on Dec. 13, a performance that left a lasting impression on the Scarlet Knights.
"She had a career-high 28 points against us," Stringer said. "They basically had their way. To think that it's just Dupree is doing Temple an injustice."
Growing steadily
It didn't take long for Staley to leave her mark at Temple.
The two-time USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year needed just five seasons at Temple to reach the 100-win plateau, the fastest in the program's history. Linda MacDonald is the only other Temple women's coach to reach 100 wins. She needed seven seasons to reach the mark and finished 160-130 in 10 seasons.
Staley's record currently stands at 102-50, and she's just a win away from the team's first trip to the Sweet 16.
"I just know how to do things one way, and that is to work hard," Staley said. "I know that just from playing this game of basketball that if you put the work in, you do it the right way, you're fair with your kids, they'll run through a wall for you. I think I have approached this particular position that way."
Staley spends her summers leading the WNBA's Charlotte Sting, and she helped lead the U.S. national team to a gold medal in the Olympics in Greece last summer.
"It's a great situation and a great fit for Dawn," Stringer said. "Dawn lives in Philadelphia, so it's easy for her to go ahead and make it happen in the city that loves her so. I'm so glad that she is getting it together there at Temple. Temple is where they are because of her vision."
Forward progress
It couldn't have gotten much worse for Florida State. The Seminoles went 5-22 in 1996-97, 0-16 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
That was the season prior to the hiring of Sue Semrau as the team's head coach. Since joining the team, Semrau is 116-117, earning the ACC's coach-of-the-year honors after going 23-7 in the regular season and ACC Tournament following a 15-15 campaign in 2003-04.
"We knew it all along that we were heading in the right direction," Semrau said. It took eight years for Semrau to lead the Seminoles to where they are today. A win tonight against No. 3 UConn in the second round of the Kansas City Regional would send Florida State to its first berth in the Sweet 16. It would also be a signature win for a program striving to join the Huskies among the elite teams in the nation.
"Any win is going to be huge for us," junior guard Holly Johnson said. "They are a great team. What they have done over the past 10 years is unbelievable. To step out on their court - so much tradition, so much pride that they have - it's a very cool thing just to be here. It will mean a lot to us if we can get a win."
