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1carol · Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 1043 Location: Phoenix AZ

http://thesundevils.collegesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/031305aaa.html
Quote: March 13, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. -
No. 24 Women's Hoops to Play Eastern Kentucky in NCAA Tournament

The 24th-ranked Arizona State University women's basketball team [22-9] will face 12th-seeded Eastern Kentucky [23-7] in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Division I Championship on Saturday, March 19 in Fresno, Calif.

ASU vs EKU on ESPN2 TV at 11am Pacific (12pm Mountain) Sat 3/19

The winner of ASU's game will take on the winner of the first-round game between fourth-seeded Notre Dame [26-5] and 13th-seeded UC Santa Barbara [21-8] at 6pm Pacific (7 pm Mountain) Monday, March 21 in Fresno with ESPN2 televising the action.
GO SUN DEVILS :twisted: :D

Mercurymaniac · Joined: 04 Aug 2002 Posts: 1197 Location: Scottsdale

Should be a good game, does anyone know anything about EKU?

1carol · Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 1043 Location: Phoenix AZ

http://sports-att.espn.go.com/ncw/clubhouse?teamId=2198
Quote: Analysis by ESPN's Beth Mowins
Eastern Kentucky 23-7 is in the tournament for the second time in school history, but it's the Colonels' first trip since 1997, thanks to a double-overtime win over Southeast Missouri State in the Ohio Valley Conference final.

Eastern Kentucky rides a school-record 15-game win streak into the NCAA Tournament. The Colonels started the season 3-6, but have only lost once since Dec. 19.

Miranda Eckerle, a 6-foot senior who is coming off a career-high 29-point 12 rebound performance in the Ohio Valley final, leads Eastern Kentucky. She has elevated her play late in the season, capping it with an MVP performance at the conference tournament.

Coach Larry Joe Inman made a switch at the point guard position midway through the season, and that was the turning point. Tamara Arnold stepped in to run the team, allowing shooter Laura Shelton to move to the wing.

Eastern Kentucky can shoot the 3, led by OVC Freshman of the Year Ashley Cazee, who has hit more than 50 3-pointers. Senior forward Pam Garett is an All-OVC selection and member of the 1,000-point club. Candis Cook is called upon to be the defensive stopper.

The Colonels can score inside and out, averaging 70 points per game. Coach Inman can go eight or nine players deep and will play lots of man-to-man defense. They don't rebound particularly well, however, and a lack of size might hurt.
official site for EKU athletics http://www.ekusports.com/

Nickname: Colonels.
Location: Richmond, Ky.
Enrollment: 15,733.
Record: 23-7, 15-1.
Bid: Ohio Valley champion.
NCAA history: 0-1 in one appearance.
Last: 1997, lost to Old Dominion in first round.
Coach: Larry Joe Inman, 286-191 in 17 seasons.
Overview: Won the regular-season OVC and conference tournament titles. Led by Miranda Eckerle, the Lady Colonels won their last 15 games and 20 of 21. Ashley Cazee, OVC freshman of the year, hit almost half her three-pointers since coming back from injury. Colonels are 8-0 in games decided by six points or fewer.
Best wins: Southeast Missouri State, Jacksonville State.
Starters: F Miranda Eckerle, 6-0, Sr. (15.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 41.9 3FG%, 80.7 FT%); F Candis Cook, 5-11, Sr. (10.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg); C Pam Garrett, 6-1, Sr. (10.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.1 spg); G Tamara Arnold, 5-6, Fr. (2.9 ppg); G Laura Shelton, 5-5, Jr. (9.9 ppg, 3.5 apg).
Reserves: G Ashley Cazee, 5-8, Fr. (11.3 ppg, 50.2 FG%, 48.2 3FG%, 80.6 FT%); F Nancy Hoist, 6-0, Fr. (3.0 ppg, 88.0 FT%).

mb · Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:38 am Post subject:

Hope the Sun Devils get the ball in to Kovedsy(sp?)!

Mercurymaniac · Joined: 04 Aug 2002 Posts: 1197 Location: Scottsdale

Kristin was on fire in the Stanford game until she got shut down. I'd feed the ball into her until she was exhausted and then kick it out to Ky and let her drain the 3's.

Go Devils

1carol · Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 1043 Location: Phoenix AZ

After 87-65 win over Eastern Kentucky, ASU, ranked 24 & 5th seeded, takes on 4th seeded Notre Dame (27-5) Mon night in their march to the 2005 NCAA Basketball Championship.

ESPN2 televising ASU v Notre Dame action Mon 3/21 at 7pm Mtn

Winners of six of their last 7 games and 8 of their last 10, the Sun Devils earned victory in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament for 2nd time in 4 years. At 23-9 overall, ASU turned in the 7th 20-win season in school history & the 3rd under 9th-year head coach Charli Turner-Thorne. The team's 23 victories mark the most since ASU tied the school record for wins with a 25-9 record in 2001-02. The Sun Devils head into Mon night's game with the Fighting Irish looking to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 for just the 3rd time in school history and the 1st since 1983.

The winner of Mon night's game will advance to the Tempe Regional, being hosted by ASU at Wells Fargo Arena on March 26 and 28.

SuziQ · Joined: 17 Apr 2004 Posts: 288 Location: Phoenix

GO ASU!!!!

I've got tickets for the rounds at Wells Fargo, and would LOVE to be able to root for our home-town team! Merc fans would rock the house for home! Thought they played quite well against EKU, enjoyed the offense for a change of pace for them.

Mercurymaniac · Joined: 04 Aug 2002 Posts: 1197 Location: Scottsdale

ASU is coming home! What a great game, I don't think ND knew what hit them with all of the pressure D.

It was funny to hear the announcers talk about a senior laden squad. What a great win. Pac 10 is 6-2, soon to be 7-2.

1carol · Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 1043 Location: Phoenix AZ

Arizona State tops Notre Dame in NCAA 2nd Round 70-61

It took our women some time to figure out Notre Dame & to realize how much this game means. Then they pulled it together before 1/2 time & never looked back. I've never seen coach so intense & excited during a game. Hi-fiving & encouraging her players the whole way. What an experience :D
Turner-Thorne asked her team to be aggressive against the physical Irish, and they more than obliged. ASU's aggressive defense, timely shooting and gritty determination earned the Sun Devils a coveted trip home for the Tempe Regional.

The 5th seeded Sun Devils erased an early 13-point deficit to shock No. 4 Notre Dame on Monday night. ASU opened the 2nd half with a 12-2 run to build a 35-30 lead.

Loney scored eight points in the final 1:29 and finished with 20. Aubree Johnson had 12 points and 9 rebounds. Amy Denson added 11 points and 8 rebounds off the bench for the spirited Sun Devils, who gained the momentum on Betsy Boardman's buzzer-beating 3-pointer at halftime.

The Fighting Irish, ranked 11th in the nation, didn't show the kind of fight the Sun Devils showed in the 2nd half.

mranderso · Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 10:45 am Post subject:

The Observer Online (Notre Dame)

South Bend Tribune/Columnist

South Bend Tribune/Staff Writer

Devil Digest

FortWayne

Web Devil

Web Devil

San Jose Mercury/Praise for new format

Praise for new format

TOURNAMENT SITES TO HELP GAME'S GROWTH

By Darren Sabedra

Mercury News

FRESNO - The NCAA women's tournament ventured into uncharted territory over the weekend, expanding its early-round sites from four to eight teams. The crowds have been mostly small, particularly when a local team isn't playing, but coaches say the change is a positive step.

``It's a process,'' said Utah Coach Elaine Elliott, whose team lost to Stanford 88-62 in a second-round game Monday night. ``It's good to go to new places, and especially if you look at it as part of the growth of the entire tournament.

``This area obviously will benefit from that and this program here will benefit from that, and that grows the game. I'm really happy they're looking to expand to new sites. There's absolutely nothing about what's happened here that's been disappointing. It's been great.''

The locals might disagree. With the Fresno State program in a state of scandal -- instead of participating -- Saturday's play attracted only 2,631 spectators for the day session and 2,708 at night to the 15,621-seat Save Mart Center.

``Obviously, we would like for this community to be coming out a little bit more,'' said Arizona State Coach Charli Turner Thorne, whose team beat Notre Dame in the first game Monday. ``We don't want the women's basketball committee and people to be second-guessing and going back to where we were.

``We'd like to be like the men's tournament, have all neutral sites. I don't think we can expect, in the first year, for there to be the major money-maker and filling up these arenas.''

But, Turner Thorne added, ``There are many cities around the country, including our own, Tempe, that really love women's basketball and will embrace it, whether they have a home team there or not.''

• Tara VanDerveer coached her 600th game for Stanford. With the victory, she is 481-119 on the Cardinal bench and 633-170 overall.

• The Cardinal is headed to its 13th Sweet 16 appearance.

• In its five previous 30-win seasons, Stanford reached the Final Four four times and won two national titles.

• Stanford is 8-0 against Utah, including two victories this season.

San Jose Mercury/Cardinal benefit from Pac-10's success

Cardinal benefits from Pac-10's success

By Ann Killion

Mercury News Staff Columnist

FRESNO - One of the most vocal Arizona State fans at the Save Mart Center during Monday evening's early game wore a tailored black blazer and a different allegiance.

Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer sat at a courtside table and cheered the Sun Devils players as they ran past her up the court.

``What's her name?'' she asked her sister Heidi, as a jersey with ``Westerberg'' on it passed by.

``Emily,'' Heidi reminded her.

``Come on, Emily,'' yelled VanDerveer, who is accustomed to seeing other players as numbers, not names.

This wasn't just friendly Pacific-10 camaraderie. This wasn't merely VanDerveer supporting her former player, Sun Devils Coach Charli Turner Thorne.

This was serious business. The Pac-10 teams are rooting hard for one another, coming into this tournament with a collective chip on their shoulder, determined to prove that they aren't just some midnight basketball league that plays when the real teams are sleeping.

So far the Pac-10 has proved it belongs. And then some. The conference went 5-0 in the first round, and VanDerveer was busy leaving messages of congratulations on other coaches' cell phones.

Monday the Pac-10 flexed its muscle again, nearly sending three teams into the Sweet 16.

In the afternoon, USC came within two points of knocking off top seed Michigan State. VanDerveer watched that game at a Stanford booster club gathering in the arena, and was the most vocal of Trojans fans.

``USC sent the first message that the Pac-10 is for real,'' VanDerveer said.

One could make the argument that Michigan State stole Stanford's No. 1 seed. The Cardinal was clearly hurt by the selection committee's perception that the Pac-10 is a cream-puff conference and Stanford -- which went 17-1 in conference play -- is a lone hot knife slicing through the fluff.

But that perception may have changed when Arizona State knocked off 11th-ranked Notre Dame, one of the darlings of the Big East. The Sun Devils, the Pac-10 runners-up, played the kind of physical basketball that Stanford became accustomed to during the regular season. Now the Sun Devils get to host the regional on their home court.

The large Stanford contingent was as vocal in its Sun Devils support as the Cardinal coach, chanting ``A-S-U'' and ``Go Pac-10'' during the final minutes of the game.

``I'd like to officially thank the Stanford fans,'' said Turner Thorne, who played her last three years at Stanford under VanDerveer and was co-captain of the 1988 team her senior year.

Turner Thorne spent some of the next game courtside to support her alma mater in its quest to join the Sweet 16 fun. The coaches could openly root for each other because of the ``pod'' system, in which teams at one first-round site move on to different regionals.

Stanford didn't need much help. The Cardinal dismantled a Utah team -- 88-62 -- that it had met in the first game of the regular season. The Cardinal was a far different team in November -- playing without Susan King Borchardt, with an unknown in Candice Wiggins and a rusty Brooke Smith, who hadn't played for a full season.

The Cardinal's continued improvement over the past four months hasn't been the result of an easy schedule but of a lot of talent, steadily improving chemistry and determination.

``We showed great improvement and that's because of the games we play day in and day out, and that's our conference,'' said VanDerveer, who -- by winning her 600th game at Stanford -- made it to her 13th Sweet 16.

The Cardinal's probable next opponent is Connecticut, the team that has won four of the past five national championships, including the past three. The Huskies take on Florida State today in Storrs, Conn. A peek at Stanford's possible road to a championship reveals opponents such as top-seeded Michigan State and Tennessee.

It's a daunting, obstacle-filled path, but it doesn't scare Stanford. The Cardinal fully believes it has been battle-tested. Now the rest of the country might believe it, too.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

aml10 · Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Posts: 323 Location: iowa

wow, well done ASU!!!

i really thought Notre Dame was gonna break it open at the end of the first half, but ASU came back and just took it to 'em in the second half!

Great game ASU! :D

caune · Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1562 Location: Phoenix

WOW!

Never in a million years would I have thought this group of "non-shooters" would ever make the sweet sixteen!!!

WOW!
Great job ladies!!!!!

Keegan · Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 977

Goooooooo Pac-10!

1carol · Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 1043 Location: Phoenix AZ

http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14210253&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=7592&rfi=6
Quote: 03/24/2005 New Haven Register excerpt
STORRS — During the first timeout of Tuesday’s second-round game against Florida State, University of Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma sent five players to the scorers’ table to replace his entire starting unit.

While it is a technique he has used in the past when the five players on the floor were not meeting his standards, this time it had nothing to do with punishment. It was yet another example of the Huskies’ newest rotation. So far it has worked.

Junior guard Ann Strother compared it to the rotation of a hockey team.
Geno learned a lesson from Coach Charli Turner-Thorne. I'm sure they were embarrassed when ASU kicked their but this past season :lol:

I think everyone learned not to underestimate ASU by season's end.

mranderso · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 9:12 am Post subject:

Nice feel good piece in the AZ Republic

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/0325asubkw0325.html

mranderso · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 12:45 pm Post subject:

Fox Sports Arizona To Broadcast ASU Women's Hoops Press Conference

Sun Devils and Coach Turner Thorne Meet the Press At 3 p.m.

March 25, 2005

Fox Sports Arizona will broadcast the Arizona State women's basketball team press conferences beginning at 3 p.m. Friday from Wells Fargo Arena. ASU head coach Charlie Turner Thorne will be addressing the media at 3 p.m. with student-athletes to follow.

1carol · Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 1043 Location: Phoenix AZ

http://thesundevils.collegesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/032705aab.html
Quote: Sun Devils Fall To Tar Heels 79-72 in Sweet 16

Arizona State had the home crowd roaring and the 3-point shots falling, at least for a while.

That wasn't enough against the quick, strong Tar Heels of North Carolina, who beat the scrappy Sun Devils 79-72 in the semifinals of the Tempe Regional on Saturday night.

North Carolina (30-3), chosen as a No. 1 seed over top-ranked Stanford, dominated play inside to advance to Monday night's regional final against No. 2 seed Baylor, a 64-57 winner over Minnesota in Saturday's first game at Wells Fargo Arena.

Kylan Loney, playing with a broken nose, scored 18 points, including 3-of-6 3-pointers, in her final game for the Sun Devils (24-10), who lost for only the second time in 14 home games this season. The other loss was to Stanford, the No. 2 seed in the Kansas City Regional.

Kristen Kovesdy added 13 points for Arizona State, but only two in the second half when she was in foul trouble. Aubree Johnson scored 12. Emily Westerberg, Arizona State's all-Pac 10 forward, scored 12 points but was just 3-for-16 from the field.

The lead reached 20-10 on Aubree Johnson's 15-footer with 12:54 to play in the first half. Arizona State's fifth 3-pointer of the half, by Johnson, triggered a 7-2 Sun Devils run to finish the opening 20 minutes.

Down just 46-42 at the break, Arizona State tied it twice early in the second half, the last time at 48-48 on Loney's 16-footer with 17:33 to play. But Bell had eight points, including two three-point plays, in a 10-3 run that put the Tar Heels ahead 58-51 with 15:01 to go.

The pesky Sun Devils stayed close though, and Amy Denson's two free throws cut the lead to 62-60 with 9:29 to go.

Larkins' rebound basket boosted the lead to 66-62 with 8:40 to play. Arizona State never got closer than four after that.

After falling behind 6-0, the Sun Devils got the crowd going with a 13-0 run, nine of them by Loney - two 3-pointers and three free throws when she was fouled on another 3-point try.

But the Tar Heels came back, dominating play inside in a 13-2 surge to go up 30-26 on Latta's 25-foot 3-pointer 5:44 before the break. Larkins, a 6-foot-2 freshman, scored on a layup and rebound in a 6-0 spurt that put North Carolina ahead 44-35 with 2:36 to play in the half.
ASU earned a lot of respect this year. No one expected them to keep the game so close. If a key player had played her usual game, ASU would be going to the Elite 8 -- but that's tournament basketball in March Madness. Everyone has up & down days. What ifs don't count.