A look at the NCAA Women's
final:
Baylor 84 Michigan State 62
The
story line: After a competitive tournament, the score of
this game was the second biggest blowout in women’s NCAA
Finals history. Baylor controlled the game throughout. Their
forward tandem shut off Michigan State’s inside game, with
quickness that totally neutralized MSU’s much larger center
Kelli Roehrig.
The
princess: While ESPN named the forward tandem of
Steffanie Blackmon (22 points 7 rebounds) and Tournament MVP
Sophia Young (26 points 9 rebounds) co-players of the game,
the game princess was Emily Niemann. With Baylor struggling
to hang onto the ball early, she changed the tempo of the
game, hitting two 3-pointers, on her way to five treys in
the first half. Her first basket of the second half restored
double-digit lead after Michigan State began with three
quick points to cut the lead to nine.
The
stepsister: Michigan State’s supporting cast. Kristin
Haynie was solid, but the rest of the team shot a miserable
37%.
The game
play: An offensive rebound and basket by Sophia Young
pushed the lead back up to 19 after a Spartan run had cut it
to 10 only minutes earlier.
Stat:
Offensive rebounds favored Baylor 12-4; total rebound
35-21.
Off-Court Story: Kim Mulkey-Robinson joined Bobby Knight
and Dean Smith as the only three to win national
championships as both players and coaches. Mulkey-Robinson,
a former Louisiana Tech point guard, was long-time assistant
coach under Leon Barmore and was expected to succeed him
when he retired. But Louisiana Tech offered her only a
one-year contract instead of the five-year deal Barmore
recommended, so she accepted the job at Baylor, who had been
7-20 the year before she arrived.
Quote:
“What a team I get to coach.” – Kim Mulkey-Robinson
Fluke or
pattern: Is parity in women’s basketball now a reality?
Were this game and this Final Four a fluke in a sport
dominated heavily by two teams? This was only the third
championship game in the past 11 years that did not include
Tennessee, Connecticut or both. It remains to be seen
whether this was a once-in-a-lifetime magical season for
Baylor and Michigan State, or whether they will become new
powerhouses. Baylor has the best chance of coming back, as
star Sophia Young is only a junior, and Niemann, Abiola
Wabara, Chemeka Scott and key role players will also be
returning. College sports benefit from the sustained
excellence of schools that can serve as models of how to
build teams. But while Connecticut and Tennessee will
continue to produce great teams, women’s basketball is no
longer a two-horse race.
Apology:
Michigan State guard is Victoria Lucas-Perry, not
Lance-Perry as I mistakenly wrote in my previous column.
Thanks to the Outsports reader who pointed that out. Also,
MSU coach Joanne McCallie is a “rookie” in Final Fours but
not a rookie coach. |
