women\\\''s basketball

Make no mistake, the game that tips off tonight in Tempe, Ariz., is a huge moment in Tulane athletics. Eliot Kamenitz/The Times-Picayune Tulane guard Chassity Brown says the team has the utmost confidence in Coach Lisa Stockton and her game plan entering their first NCAA Tournament game in seven years. It's not just vindication for Green Wave Coach Lisa Stockton, who has pushed the program back into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003.

This is our third (Conference USA) championship since Katrina, but getting to this level, getting to the NCAA for me personally, I feel Katrina is behind us. This is the step we had to make to make sure there is no looking back and that we could put that part of our lives behind us.   -Lisa Stockton

 

Beverly Schaefer/Times of Trenton Princeton women's basketball head coach Courtney Banghart watches practice after the Tigers arrived in Tallahassee earlier this week. Courtney Banghart has been here before. Her team, Princeton, hasn't.

Even though I’ve been here four times — two as a player, two as an assistant coach — it’s different   -Courtney Banghart

 

Riley's actions in 2008 result in punishment tonight. TEMPE, Ariz. — An ill-fated decision in the Sweet Sixteen two years ago by Andrea Riley has left a dark cloud over the Oklahoma State women's basketball program. Riley took a swipe at LSU's Erica White, and although she never made contact, Riley received a one-game NCAA Tournament suspension.

The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee does not have jurisdiction over the regular season   -Jane Meyer

 

What do you do when you see your dream come true? If you're a University of Wisconsin women's basketball player, you upgrade the dream. The Badgers realized what at times seemed like an improbable dream Monday night when they received the school's first NCAA tournament bid in eight years.

I think that our excitement that we made the NCAA tournament, at this point, it’s over   -Alyssa Karel

 

Six years into her stint at Oklahoma, Sherri Coale had an epiphany. The women's basketball coach told a small room full of supporters at a preseason banquet that the Sooners needed some help. "There were about 35 people there," John Gibbs recalls.

There were about 35 people there   -John Gibbs

 

Winning a second national championship today will not cement Brian Morehouse's legacy at Hope College. The women's basketball coach is already at the head of the class. Morehouse, just 41 years old, is the best coach ever at Hope — in any sport.  

It's all hit Aisha Jefferson with a whoosh. Each game from here on out could be the Michigan State senior's last. "I remember being a freshman and not understanding what seniors meant by how they felt and having a sense of urgency during the tournament," Jefferson said Friday.

I remember being a freshman and not understanding what seniors meant by how they felt and having a sense of urgency during the tournament   -Aisha Jefferson

 

For the three Florida State women's basketball seniors, who have helped transform the women's basketball program from a good one to an elite one, their final NCAA Tournament has arrived. For the head coach, who still feels "sick" about the last time the tournament was at the Civic Center because her team wasn't in the field of 64, comes the chance to play a postseason game in front of her fans. On her home court.

To have it here finally and be a big part of it just feels like things have come full circle   -Sue Semrau

 

View full size Matt Ludtke / Associated Press Cleveland State junior Shawnita Garland, cutting down a net last weekend after winning the Horizon League Tournament, will be looked on to provide leadership next season with the loss of four Vikings seniors. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Leadership for Shawnita Garland admittedly does not come easy. "I'm not a vocal person," the 5-5 Cleveland State junior said.

I'm tired of losing like this.   -Shawnita Garland

 

A feisty firecracker of a point guard, Jenna Plumley led Frontier to a pair of state titles in high school, provided a late-season spark to Oklahoma 's conference championship team in 2007, then became a starter for the Sooners in 2008. But after being arrested for shoplifting in July 2008, Plumley was suspended for the next season. She transferred to Lamar a month later.