MAREN IN MOURNING: After losing to Connecticut 89-67 on Friday, junior forward Maren Walseth and Penn State ended the season with a 30-5 record.
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Player of the day:
Every time Penn State pressed UConn's lead, Sue Bird had an answer -- a 3-pointer. The Huskies' sophomore guard went 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. Bird, 6 of 13 from the field, scored a team-high 19 points against the Lady Lions. Better yet, she dished out five assists and didn't make a turnover in 34 minutes.
Stat of the day:
A day after being named to the Kodak All-America team, UConn's Shea Ralph and Penn State's Helen Darling failed to score a single point in the first half of their game Friday. Tennessee's Tamika Catchings, another Kodak All-American, scored just two points in the first half of her game, but they didn't come until 36 seconds were left in the period. The three players were a combined 1-for-12 in their first-half performances. Catchings finished with 13 points and Ralph had nine. Darling finished 0-for-6 from the field for zero points.
Stat of the day, II
The Huskies and Vols are already going head-to-head. Tennessee sophomore center Michelle Snow's seven blocks Friday set a new Final Four record, replacing the old mark set by ... UConn's Kara Wolters.
Food for thought:
The Connecticut men's basketball team had its hopes of winning its second straight national title dashed by Tennessee. The Vols sent the Huskies home with a 65-51 second-round victory.
Call it even:
After splitting the home-and-home series this season, the Connecticut-Tennessee all-time series is tied at 5-5. In their last meeting, the Vols beat the Huskies 72-71 in Storrs, less than a month after losing to UConn in Knoxville, 74-67. At neutral sites, both teams are 2-2. In the postseason, Tennessee is 2-1.
Record watch:
With a crowd of 20,060, Friday's semifinals were the best attended college basketball games -- men's or women's -- in the state of Pennsylvania.
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Changing of the guards
 | | Lawson has led the Vols into the NCAA title game. | |
Connecticut sophomore guard Sue Bird and Tennessee freshman guard Kara Lawson had a lot in common in Friday's national semifinals, writes ESPN.com's Mechelle Voepel. Both players scored 19 points. Neither one committed a single turnover. Yep, just a couple of 19-year-olds scoring 19 points and running the show on the biggest stage for women's college hoops. And, fittingly, they get to go head-to-head on Sunday in Philadelphia in the national championship game.
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WHAT THEY'RE SAYING IN PHILADELPHIA:
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Shea Ralph: I think everybody has been waiting for this game. If you ask anybody who watches women's basketball, they would probably have said or put down in their pocket that UConn and Tennessee would be in the final game. It's definitely fate. It's going to be a big battle.
Pat Summitt: Nothing Kara Lawson does surprises me. She's the kind of player that wants to make the big plays and distribute the ball. She has a great mind for the game and is one of the best freshmen I've ever seen in running the half-court game.
Geno Auriemma: Sue Bird hasn't gotten any awards this season. She didn't even make first-team all-league. I wouldn't take any other point guard playing out there in America right now ahead of Sue Bird. Without her, there's no way we'd be where we are.
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TOURNAMENT CHALLENGE
Nearly 50,000 folks joined the women's Tournament Challenge. And as we roll out an updated version of the Tournament Dish throughout the women's NCAA Tournament, we'll continue to provide an inside look at how the users filled out their brackets:
• 17,501 users predicted a Tennessee-Connecticut final
• 21,141 brackets -- 43.7 percent -- had the Huskies as national champs
• 9,983 users picked Tennessee to win the NCAA title
Click here to check your bracket.
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ESPN BRACKETS
Six of the seven entries in our own Women's Tournament Challenge group picked a UConn-Tennessee final. And with one game to go, ESPN analyst Vera Jones maintains her slim 30-point lead. To see how we're doing, log on to the Challenge main page, then check out the Featured Group ESPN Experts to see our predictions for the NCAA Tournament. |
Bio Rhythms: Tamika Catchings
| |  | | Tamika Catchings will play in her second NCAA title game on Sunday. |
To give fans an inside look at the personalities behind March Madness, ESPN.com asked more than 20 players to share information about themselves. Look for the Tournament Dish's "Bio Rhythms" -- a fun and humorous look at the athlete by the athlete -- throughout the women's NCAA Tournament.
The series continues with a look at Tennessee junior Tamika Catchings, a self-proclaimed romantic and poet who enjoys watching Christmas movies anytime of the year.
And in our 2-for-1 special, check out what Tamika's sister, Illinois senior Tauja Catchings, had to say in our survey as well. Incidentally, both of them picked the other as the toughest player they've ever faced, and credit their father for their start in the sport. Tauja also is in Philly this weekend, to root for her sister and compete in the WBCA All-Star game.
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