New York is in the house -- or, in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.
Is it just coincidence that the two teams that moved on to the championship game in the women’s NCAA tournament each start two players from New York City? Rutgers, who smothered LSU with C. Vivian Stringer’s “55” defense and lit up the Tigers with 8-of-10 three-point shooting in the first half, has Kia Vaughn of the Bronx and St. Michael’s Academy down low and Epiphanny Prince of Brooklyn and Murry Bergtraum on the perimeter. Tennessee, who came back from 12 down with 8:18 to go against North Carolina, couldn’t have done it without point guard Shannon Bobbitt of Manhattan and Bergtraum or Nicky Anosike of Staten Island and St. Peter’s.
Neither LSU nor North Carolina has a New Yorker on its roster, and they’re going home. Rutgers even has the benefit of freshman guard Brittany Ray of the Bronx and Aquinas coming off the bench.
It isn’t about the address, but about what the New Yorkers brought to the court. They had attitude to spare, toughness, and they all lifted their games to a different level.
In the first semifinal Sunday night, Rutgers got the jump on LSU, literally. Vaughn, the 6-4 center, won the tip when LSU’s 6-6 center, Sylvia Fowles barely got off the ground. That could be a metaphor for the rest of her night. Fowles, who’d dominated the tournament with stellar play on both sides of the ball, was swarmed by Rutgers defenders. Vaughn managed to keep her off the block and had help from 6-1 forward Heather Zurich. Vaughn got into foul trouble about halfway through the first half, but her 6-4 backup center, Rashidat Junaid, took over where she left off.
Although Vaughn’s stats don’t stand out – she had 8 points, all in the second half; 4 rebounds; and 2 blocks in 25 minutes – the sophomore had a tremendous impact on LSU’s stats, namely Fowles’. Fowles, who had entered the game averaging 17.2 points and 12.7 rebounds per game, was held to 5 points, tying her lowest output of the season. She had 7 rebounds and 4 turnovers.
Rutgers’ offense fed off its defense, as it always does, but this time it was a feeding frenzy. Matee Ajavon was 4-5 from three-point range. Essence Carson was 3-6. They finished with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
“We were hitting shots. I think we were like 80% in the first half from three-point range,” Zurich said. “With the three, you live by it or die by it. We knew in the second half if our shots weren't falling, that we couldn't always be going for that. So, we tried to get some penetration inside and get some points off rebounds. Kia stepped up inside and that was basically it."
Prince did a little bit of everything. But, for a change, her defense and dishes came before her scoring. The freshman guard had 7 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and just 1 turnover in 39 minutes. That’s a royal performance by Prince.
Rutgers’ 59-35 semifinal win puts them in their first-ever national title game. They also set some records with their defense, holding LSU to the fewest points in a Final Four, the lowest field goal percentage, 26.4, and fewest field goals, 14.
“Wow – that’s the best way to describe what's happening right here," Stringer said. "I am so proud of these young ladies.”
Rutgers will face Tennessee Tuesday night for the women’s NCAA basketball championship. Tennessee got a bit of revenge on North Carolina in the Vols’ 56-50 win. The Tar Heels had eliminated them last year, in Cleveland, in the regional final.
During her halftime pep talk, Coach Pat Summitt exhorted her team to take care of the ball after being plagued by turnovers in the first half.
“It’s about possessions,” she said. “It’s also a game of wills. Let’s see how tough we are.”
There were none tougher than Bobbitt, the smallest player in the Final Four at 5-2, and Anosike, a 6-4 forward/center. They both were seemingly everywhere, grabbing key steals, rebounds and making big shots.
Bobbitt, a junior college transfer, matched up against All-American point guard and All-American talker Ivory Latta. Bobbitt did some talking of her own and had to be separated from Latta by a ref after giving her a shove. The speedster stayed glued to Latta, stride for stride, except when the Tar Heels star sat with foul trouble and after two hard picks by LaToya Pringle sent the former Rucker Park stalwart heels over head onto the hardwood. After the first, Bobbitt recovered and hit a three-pointer. After the second, she sat stunned for a few seconds at midcourt, then went to the bench, shooting the cheering UNC bench a stare that said, “Watch out, I’ll be back.”
She was all about hustle, chasing after loose balls, coming up with 4 steals and rattling Latta in the first half. She finished with 6 points on two 3s and 1 assist in a woeful shooting night for the Vols. Part she was part of the defensive clampdown Tennessee laid down in the second half to hold usually high-scoring UNC to 2 points as the Vols went on a 20-point run.
“We just turned up the intensity," Bobbitt said. "Defense wins games."
Anosike was a big part of the win. She had the unenviable assignment of going up against UNC’s many bigs, including Erlana Larkins and Pringle, who were each held to 4 points. Anosike, not a prolific scorer, matched Wade Trophy winner Candace Parker with a game-high 14 points. More importantly, in a game that saw Tennessee shoot a measly 27 percent (the lowest percentage for a Final Four winner), Anosike grabbed 7 rebounds. In addition to her 3 assists, she blocked 4 shots and picked up 5 steals. In the physical, defensive battle Tennessee had a record 20 steals.
Anosike’s layup with 2:04 left was huge, tying the score at 50. The Tar Heels wouldn’t score again, while the Vols went 6-8 from the free-throw line to win the game.
Who knows what will happen when the New Yorkers meet up on the same court with the championship at stake. There will be trash-talking. And defense will rule the day. But it all might come down to one non-New Yorker who can play every position: Parker, from Naperville, Ill., has made it her mission to bring a seventh championship banner to Thompson-Boling Arena.
After the win over UNC, she held up one finger to the crowd and yelled, “One more.” I don’t think she was hailing a cab.