The University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team repeated as NCAA Division 1 Women’s champions after a scrappy victory over Stanford 53-47 in San Antonio on Tuesday night.
The Huskies started uncharacteristically slow, trailing 20-12 at halftime before righting their ship in the second half and putting on a blitz that turned the tables, bolting to an 11 point lead. Once the Huskies were on top by a 38-27 margin with 7:42 left on the clock Stanford could come no closer than five points for the remainder of the game.
The final score count was the lowest in NCAA Women’s title game history and was witnessed by a crowd of 22,936 in San Antonio, Texas.
While a common thread of this season being a bit sub par compared to past offerings, Duke and Butler put on a show to remember in the NCAA Championship match. In the end the Blue Devils became the first team to score 60 or more points against the stingy Bulldog defence by scoring 61 and hanging on in the tumultuous final minutes for a 61-59 title win.
The game will ultimately be seen as a classic having gone down to the wire with a Butler last gasp heave just bouncing off of the rim as time expired. The win made it two titles in a row for the ACC after the conference was perceived as weaker than usual throughout the season.
Congrats to both teams on a match well played.
The final bit of NCAA business will be settled when the ladies from Stanford (36-1) attempt to end Connecticut’s (38-0) 72 game win streak in Tuesday night’s ladies final in San Antonio, Texas.
The National Basketball League (NBL) today released its free agent list in order to allow clubs to begin their recruitment process for the 2010/11 season. The free agent list shows players from all clubs that had not signed new contracts with their existing teams by the deadline of 5:00PM AEDT today (Thursday 1 April). Any player on the free agents list may now be approached by any club who wishes to offer them a contract for season 2010/11. Some of the league's leading stars appear on the list including the reigning NBL Most Valuable Player Corey Williams as well as fellow 10-point players Tywain McKee, Adam Ballinger and Ayibde Ubaka. The full Free Agents List is below:
Tuesday at noon Australian time, a new innovative basketball tourney will kick off with the start of The Elite Classic-High Stakes Hoop$ tournament. The classic will see eight teams vie for a minimum purse of $250,000 over the five day event. The event can be seen live on Australia’s OneHD.
The Classic will provide some unique features including a “Game Breaker Phase”, where on one occasion in each half for a three minute period, every made three point shot will count as four points. The phase can be initiated by either the coach of the team or the on court captain.
The Classic will also feature the “Game within the Game”, where points are awarded for winning individual quarters. This will be compiled by awarding two points for every quarter won by the losing team. The winning team will automatically receive eight points.
The rosters for the event have a smattering of talent from across the globe, some instantly recognisable with NBA pedigree and most with NCAA experience along with some of Australia’s favourites.
The Rosters:
Rush Team Rights Owner – Lanard Copeland
Coach – Sedale Threatt.
25 Michael Boone *
23 Lonnie Harrell *
9 Chris Brown *
22 Michael Rose **
24 Brad Bridgewater
10 Sedale Threatt Jr
11 Yusuf Qaafow
12 Daniel Dillon
14 Thalo Green Fleet
Team Rights Owner – Brett Maher & Consortium
Coach Ken Cole
12 Troy Jackson **
23 Willie Farley **
15 Brett Maher
21 Chris Goulding
20 Riley Luettgerodt
24 Luke Schenscher
7 Tom Daly
25 Chris Molitor
22 Oscar Forman Rays
Team Rights Owner Pat Reidy & Matt Shanahan
Coach – Matt Shanahan
25 David Fisher *
14 Freddy Robinson *
11 Kevin Lisch **
13 Peter Crawford
33 Tony Ronaldson
10 Damien Martin
15 Adam Gibson
20 Brad Hill
24 Ben Allen
David Bowley Cyclones
Coach – Bruce Bolden
21 Terrence Woodberry *
22 Mario Brown *
14 Graeme Dann
10 BJ Carter
20 Clint Reed
9 Deba George
24 Steven Broom
11 Josh Knight
12 Brad Gerlach
25 Jordan Dodman Monarchs
Team Rights Owner – John de la Torre
Coach - Al Green
20 Isiah Victor *
11 Scott O’Gallagher *
24 Martinis Woody **
12 Wayne Oliver **
21 Ed Millard **
15 Rashard Tucker **
22 Galen Young **
13 Brad Williamson
14 Julius Hodge
23 Lance Allred Coasters
Team Rights Owner – Julie Corletto
Coach Darryl “D Mac” McDonald
23 D’Lancy Carter *
10 Mike Helms *
11 Bennett Davison **
15 Sean Lampley **
12 Luke McMillan
13 Kevin Ratzch
4 Brad Davidson
7 Darren Ng
9 Derrick McDonald Pythons
Team Rights Owner – Lance “Buddy” Franklin
Coach – Mark Bradtke
10 Mark Bradtke
5 Tony Danridge **
11 Kevin Johnson **
15 Harry Lum **
23 Corey “Homicide” Williams **
4 Dante Sykes **
13 Geremy Robinson **
7 John Rillie
9 Michael Florence
8 Mike McDaniel Reef
Team Rights Owner – Stewart Briggs & Dale Ryan
Coach Dale Ryan & Mick Downer
14 Jason Cameron
8 Nathan Niesler
13 Todd Blanchfield
15 Blogoj Janev
12 David Bartholomaeus
9 John Fitzgerald
10 Keith Borgen
11 Jason Curtis
5 Anthony Esparza
4 Stephen Hoare
*denotes Draft pick from Overseas Player Draft.
** denotes overseas player signed directly by team, these players did not nominate for the Draft and were signed as free agents.
TBA denotes To Be Announced.
The Draw:
Tuesday 6 April 12:00 pm Cyclones v Monarchs
2:00 pm Coasters v Rays
4:00 pm Fleet v Rush
6:00 pm Reef v Pythons Wednesday 7 April 12:00 pm Pythons v Coasters
2:00 pm Rush v Cyclones
4:00 pm Rays v Reef
6:00 pm Monarchs v Fleet Thursday 8 April 11:00 am Fleet v Cyclones
1:00 pm Reef v Coasters
3:00 pm Rush v Monarchs
5:00 pm Pythons v Rays Friday 9 April 4:00 pm Semi-Final #1
6:00 pm Semi-Final #2 Sunday 11 April 4:30 pm Championship Game
