Everyone knows by now that the Vols pulled it off today, and without a whole lot of difficulty. I was at the HAX and didn’t get to the game until near the end of the first half, but after that was when Tennessee took over.
The Vols double-teamed Baylor freshman dunking sensation Brittney Griner, so she didn’t get one off. But the kid had a nice game and is looking great. Give her some time and she’s going to be scary as hell.
Shekinna Stricklen is continuing the rampage she began at the end of last season, and I couldn’t be happier. I think she’s my favorite Lady Vol since about last February. And it’s so nice to see Tennessee looking like the Tennessee of old. (Did they learn a lesson?) I pray this wasn’t a fluke today, but I really don’t think it is.
Some former Vols are pretty happy today, too, and it seems a huge number of them were watching the game. Candace Parker and Nicky Anosike twittered throughout the game and ended with, “thats how we do! good job lady vols!! great win!”
Anosike was the funniest: “Hahahaha!!! Did someone say 9 National Championships??? UCONN we’ll take it from here. lol”
But the next best thing about this game after the win was the way people knew it was going on and tuned in. People stopped what they were doing at the HAX, turned away from games in progress, to watch. Now it may seem like a gimmie at a place like that, but this isn’t always the case. Just as some women’s college fans are ignorant about the next level (WNBA), so can some high school players and parents be in the dark about college. Not so today.
Coupled with yesterday’s big turnout for the Poly-Mater Dei showdown, I am excited about the rise of the women’s game. You can feel it.
Other college games:
Stanford knocked off Rutgers by 15 freakin points. Stanford is very, very scary right now.
Texas A&M thrashed Duke, which is pretty darned amusing.
Georgia upset Oklahoma.
So will it be one of those years? We’ll see.