March has arrived and the bracket is unveiled. But before the NCAA Tournament games tip off, it's time to hand out our annual awards and make some projections for 2003-04. Here goes ...
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| Alana Beard and No. 1 Duke are 31-1 and the top seed in the Midwest. |
Player of the Year: Alana Beard, Duke
| REGULAR SEASON STATISTICS |
| PTS |
REB |
AST |
STL |
FG% |
FT% |
| 21.8 |
7.1 |
3.1 |
3.0 |
52.9 |
77.0 |
Geno Auriemma's first impression was right on.
"The first time I saw (Alana Beard) at practice, I was just immediately taken by the seriousness that she approaches everything that she does," Connecticut's coach has said. "Every cut, every drill ... There was no wasted energy, no wasted motion. She looked like the kind of kid you could trust 100 percent in every situation.
"I came away from that first week or two with her saying, 'This kid's got a chance to be one of the all-time greats.' "
This season, in our minds at least, Beard has been the greatest. UConn's Diana Taurasi might be the most clutch player in the game, and has an unbelievable shot. LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State is unstoppable offensively. But Beard, who played for Auriemma in the summer of 2001 on the USA Basketball Junior World Championship team, is the most complete player of them all. She scores, defends, makes everyone around her better and pulls some jaw-dropping plays from every spot on the court.
More importantly, the 5-foot-11 Duke junior does whatever is needed for her team to win, whether it's scoring 41 points to win a tight ACC game against Virginia, tallying 22 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals to top Tennessee or grabbing a career-high 20 rebounds in the ACC tournament title game. Beard is tremendously athletic, but also incredibly skilled at all facets of the game.
Of course, you don't have to take our word for it. Some quotes from coaches whose teams have faced -- and lost to -- Duke this season:
"Chamique (Holdsclaw) had great hang time. Beard certainly has that as well. ... She just ripped us apart with the quickness of her hands. She got a lot of steals, disrupted what we wanted to do offensively. She's very physical when she's on defense, and she's very physical when she's posting up. But it's that competitive drive and that focus and that toughness when you have to step up and make big plays, Alana's definitely going to step up and make the big play for her team. She wants the ball. She hits the pressure free throws. That's total package." -- Tennessee coach Pat Summitt
"(Beard) is in a league by herself in comparisons with players across the country. She has an incredible ability to score and she is an excellent defensive player. She's the type of player who wins games for you. She is just an amazing, amazing talent." -- Virginia coach Debbie Ryan
"(Beard) can make plays in bunches which ignites her team and gets the crowd going. There is no doubt in my mind that she is the best player in the country. I told her after the game, I said most coaches don't pay to watch anybody play, but I would pay to watch her play. She is that good." -- Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly
"(UNC's) Marion Jones was a very quick player and very good defensive player, but not near the package of Alana Beard. In the 17 years I have been in the league as a coach, and I have played in the league, (Alana) is ... tops." -- Georgia Tech coach Agnus Berenato
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| Seimone Augustus helped LSU win its first SEC tournament title since 1991. |
Other awards
Freshman of the Year: Seimone Augustus, LSU
In recent years, there have been some excellent classes. Nobody seemed to want to say goodbye to Tamika Catchings, Svetlana Abrosimova and Georgia's Miller twins in 2001. And the Class of 2004 -- this year's juniors -- has to be one of the best of all-time. But this season's rookies rank right up there, too.
Erin Grant has been great at Texas Tech. Cappie Pondexter has reenergized Rutgers. And UConn's freshmen duo -- Ann Strothers and Barbara Turner -- already have assured us that the Huskies' future is bright. There are too many quality freshmen to name.
The one that stands out is Augustus, who is a big part of the Lady Tigers' run to a No. 1 seed this season. Her team's leading scorer, Augustus notched double-digit scoring performances in all but five regular-season games, with seven performances of at least 20 points and shot a team-high 55.2 percent from the field.
Game of the Year: Villanova 52, UConn 48 (March 11)
Usually, the UConn-Tennessee games generate the most hubbub in any season. And although it wasn't a pretty game -- watching that shot clock tick down on every Wildcat possession just took your breath away, right? -- Villanova stole the show as it snapped the Huskies' NCAA Division I record 70-game winning streak in the Big East tournament championship.
Coach of the Year: Jody Conradt, Texas
Over the past couple of seasons, the experts have complimented Conradt for rejuvenating her program. From our standpoint, it's mission accomplished and then some. The second winningest coach in women's college basketball already has guided the Longhorns to their first Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles this year. The road only gets tougher in the tough and talented West Region. But regardless of how far Texas might go, Conradt simply has had a great year and edges out sentimental favorite Sue Gunter, who has taken LSU to new heights this season.
Biggest 'What if ... ': Oklahoma
If Oklahoma could win 19 games and finish the regular season with an RPI in the low-30s, just think what the Sooners might have been able to accomplish if Caton Hill and a promising freshman hadn't gone down with torn ACLs in November? Even so, the Sooners and Sherri Coale reached the NCAA Tournament anyhow -- and probably should have received a higher seed.
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| Wecker |
Most Underrated Player: Kendra Wecker, Kansas State
OK, we admit most everyone knows about her. Heck, for the first part of the Big 12 season, it looked like she might run away with the league's player of the year honors. But she gets the nod here because apparently not everybody -- such as the folks picking the Wade Trophy winner -- seems aware that Kansas State has two legitimate candidates for the Kodak All-America team.
Biggest surprise: Rutgers
Just two years after reaching the Final Four, the Scarlet Knights suffered through a 9-20 season, winning only five games in Big East play and getting stuck watching the NCAA Tournament on TV. This season, Rutgers nearly reversed its record, and enters the Big Dance with a 20-7 record and No. 4 seed in the Midwest.
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| Wilson |
Biggest disappointment: Lindsey Wilson's college career is over
We don't fault Iowa State or coach Bill Fennelly. It's just time to reload in Ames. But the NCAA Tournament and women's hoops fans across the country deserved to see the senior point guard one last time. Instead, Wilson's career ended with a loss to Kansas in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. In Big 12 play, Wilson was the league's leading scorer (20.8) but is probably best known for her ballhandling skills. She averaged 6.3 assists last season.
Runners-up: Every player whose season ended because of a torn ACL.
Five statements we never would have made in the preseason:
1. Connecticut will win its first 31 games of 2002-03 and break the NCAA D-I record for consecutive wins.
2. Carolyn Peck, who led Purdue to the 1999 NCAA title, will be an SEC cellar dweller (9-19, 1-13) in her first season at Florida.
3. Longtime Tennessee assistant Mickie DeMoss will leave the Lady Vols after 18 seasons.
4. The Big East will send seven teams and Conference USA will get five berths to the NCAA Tournament.
5. Rutgers will be a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Five bold predictions for 2003-04:
1. Duke, Kansas State, Texas and Stanford will reach the Final Four in New Orleans.
2. With 90 percent of its offense back, Gonzaga will make some noise on the West Coast.
3. One of the game's biggest-name coaches will retire.
4. Former Louisiana Tech coach Leon Barmore will pull a Michael Jordan (AKA "unretire") and return to the game.
5. Georgia will be a top-five team from start to finish. And Kara Braxton will learn how to get to practice on time.
Questions we're looking forward to getting answered:
1. DeMoss finally left Tennessee for a head coaching job. Will UConn's Chris Dailey follow suit?
2. Jenni Benningfield is great, but will she be enough to counter the departure of Chantelle Anderson and Ashley McElhiney at Vanderbilt?
3. Who will emerge as the best player in the Big Ten -- Kelly Mazzante, Lindsay Whalen or Shereka Wright?
4. Who will cap their senior seasons with the national player of the year honors -- Alana Beard or Diana Taurasi?
5. What's New Orleans like in April?
Melanie Jackson coordinates ESPN.com's women's college basketball coverage. Click here to e-mail the Dish with any story ideas, suggestions or feedback.
