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Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Wednesday, March 16, 2011 7 Underdog Utes confident against the Fighting Irish Bubba Brown WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK STAFF WRITER Although it might seem like a long shot for No. 15-seed Utah to knock off No. 2-seed Notre Dame when they meet Saturday in the NCAA Tournament's first round, the Utes are confident in their ability to score the upset. "I think we're playing well," said head coach Anthony Levrets. "We wouldn't be here if we weren't playing well. Our kids have been resilient all year long, they've bought in to what we're trying to do." Despite their low seed, the Utes insisted they won't be intimidated by the Fighting Irish after upsetting the top two teams in the Mountain West Conference Tournament "No, (we're not intimidated) at all," said guard Janita Badon. "Playing as well as we did in the conference tournament is the only thing I'm thinking about. We're just focusing on ourselves." While no 14 or 15 seed has ever won a game in the Women's NCAA Tournament, No. 16 seed Harvard beat No. I seed Stanford in 1998. Freshman of the Year When Michelle Plouffe hit a gamewinner Friday to beat top-seeded BYU in the MWC Tournament, she followed that performance Saturday with a 24-point outing in Utah's win over TCU in the final. The two-game run not only delivered the Utes the championship, but also provided a capper for the forward's stellar freshman year. Although those performances earned her recognition and headlines, the truth is Plouffe has been outstanding all season long. She averaged 13.9 points and 7.3 rebounds on her way to being named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year. "She's extremely talented," Levrets said. "We've moved her around positions a couple times this year and she's really responded to it both times. Right now, she's playing where she's most comfortable. She shoots the basketball incredibly well, but she does the other things too...She's a very complete freshman." Conference tournament success Utah's appearance Saturday in the MWC Tournament final marked the third consecutive year the Utes participated in the championship game. In 2009, the Utes beat San Diego State, and they lost to the Aztecs in overtime last year. Overall, the Utes have won the MWC Tournament four times, with the other two wins coming in 2000 and 2006. In addition to earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with their conference tournament championship, the Utes also created a bit of Mountain West history. The Utes were the first No. 5-seed to capture the MWC Tournament title. Canadian connection While most of the Utes knew very little about Notre Dame when it was announced Utah would be playing the Fighting Irish this weekend, one Ute player did have some firsthand knowledge of their opponent. Plouffe played with Notre Dame forward Natalie Achonwa when they were teammates for the Candian Junior National Team. Achonwa was named to the Big East all-freshman team and averaged 7.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this season. "I'm excited to be matched up against her," Plouffe said. NCAA experience Although only two Utah regulars, Badon and Michelle Harrison, have ever experienced the NCAA Tournament, the program as a whole has a rich history in the Big Dance. This weekend will mark the 17th time Utah has appeared in the NCAA Tournament, and the Utes have compiled a 9-16 tournament record. Their most successful run came in 2006, when they advanced to the Elite Eight before losing in overtime to eventual champion Maryland. bubba@ chronicle.utah.edu SPENCER SANDSTROM/The Daily Utah Chronicle Michelle Plouffe was named the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year after the Utes won the MWC Tournament. BULLINGER CHOUINARD continued from Page 6 continued from Page 6 not have exhibited composure during the regular season, but the Spartans know how to turn it on come tournament time. MSU has the internal strengths to make some noise in the tournament, but can it deal with the Big Dance's external obstacles? Fortunately for the Spartans, they have been placed in the tournament's weakest region. MSU takes on No. 7 UCLA in the first round. UCLA played strong for much of the Pac-io season and upset BYU early on, but the Bruins have been a fickle team and shouldn't prove to be much of a challenge for the Spartans. After UCLA, the Spartans will likely take on No. 2 seed Florida, perhaps the most over-ranked team in the entire tournament. Chandler Parsons is a diverse leader, but Florida lacks the strong inside play to cope with the Spartans. MSU will easily beat the Gators. Things start to get complicated in the Sweet 16. The Spartans' two most likely opponents are both talented and are tough matchups. MSU could meet No. 3 BYU and Jimmer Fredette, a player Utah fans know can easily change the outcome of an entire game. If Fredette is hot enough to go for 35 or 4o points, MSU might not have the firepower to keep up. However, I think the Spartans can weather the Fredette storm and should have no problem locking up the rest of the Cougars, especially without forward Brandon Davies. If BYU doesn't reach the Sweet 16, MSU will likely take on St. John's, a team that has proven to be a giant-killer. My counterpart has listed all that is great about Steve Lavin's team, but there are some downsides the Red Storm has to overcome. St. John's is inexperienced, both in coaching and throughout its roster. None of the players on Lavin's roster have been in the NCAA Tournament, and Lavin himself has yet to advance beyond the Sweet 16. The Storm has been a great story all season long, but I'll take Izzo over Lavin any day. It's feasible to think MSU can make it all the way to the Elite Eight. At that point, it will probably face No. I Pittsburgh, but that is also a winnable game. From the Elite Eight on, there are rarely mismatches. The game usually goes to the hot team on that given night. MSU is a team that knows how to prepare and win in the NCAA Tournament, and seeing it in the Final Four once again wouldn't surprise me a bit. j.bullinger@chronicle.utah.edu .500. Insert Lavin, and the team sits at 21-11 going into the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Utah fans are used to hearing former head coach Jim Boylen say year after year that his players had to buy into his system for the team to be a success. Well, we all know how that turned out. Compare that to Lavin, who had a single offseason to work with a roster full of guys he has never met. How long did it take for the Red Storm to get that ball rolling? St. John's is not only deep—with nine players averaging more than io minutes a game—but it is also talented. At the top of the deep Red Storm roster is the trio of Dwight Hardy, Justin Brownlee and D.J. Kennedy, all of whom average more than io points per game. Hardy was Follow us on Twitter! twine r. co14f heChro14y one of the most dynamic scorers in the Big East this season and broke 3o points more than four times, and Brownlee and Kennedy will cause matchup problems down low for teams such as Gonzaga and BYU, which St. John's will play in the second round after knocking off the Zags. Gonzaga has had a down year in comparison to the lofty expectations that are put on the program. Gonzaga went only 2-5 versus teams in the NCAA Tournament field with its only wins coming against Marquette and Xavier. Although you might not be impressed with St. John's' regular-season record of 21-11, look at its strength of schedule. It went 12-6 in the Big East, which is the best basketball conference in the country, bar none. St. John's went 9-7 against teams in this year's field, beating ranked teams such as Syracuse, Pitt, UCONN, Villinova, Notre Dame, Duke and Georgetown. This is one of the most battle-tested teams in the country and though the players and coaches might lack NCAA Tournament experience, playing in the Big East has made the Red Storm prove their brass all season long. Also working in St. John's' favor is its favorable draw. After sending home the Zags, the Red Storm will likely face the Cougars in the second round. Although Jimmer Fredette has been great all season, the length down low and the athleticism of St. John's will be a bad matchup for the Cougars. The Red Storm will then move on to face either a weak Florida team or a Michigan State team that has struggled with the top teams in the country all year. From there, it will likely be Pitt, which St. John's has already beaten once. A second win against Pitt, and St. John's is headed to the Final Four, where anything can happen, but even as a No. 6 seed, no one wants to face St. John's. b.chouinard@ chronicle.utah.edu 0000 but for current, breaking news, look into www.dailyutahchronicle.com |
