 |
| |
|
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
|||
|
EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|
Tournament MVP: Molly Goodenbour (Stanford) Stanford won its second national title in three years. The Cardinal -- with a starting lineup of three juniors, a sophomore and a freshman -- got up early on Western Kentucky and never looked back in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Goodenbour, a junior guard, produced six assists and 12 points in the final. The story of the tournament was Stanford's 66-65 upset of Virginia in the semifinals. The pre-tournament No. 1, Virginia stumbled its way through the game. Naismith Award-winner Dawn Staley converted a twisting layup to put the Cavaliers within a point with 11 seconds remaining, then pounced on a Stanford turnover and called timeout with eight-tenths of a second left. Staley took the inbounds pass but couldn't get a shot off in time. High Scorer: Kim Pehlke of Western Kentucky averaged 22.8 points over five games. They Said It: "Before every home game I always stand in the same place and look up at the banner from the 1990 championship," Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said prior to the tournament "I went in this time [before the tournament], looked up again and said, 'Move over.' " They Said It II: "It hurts. This team deserves so much better," a tearful Staley said, on ending her prolific career without a national title. Coming Up Empty: Virginia played in three straight Final Fours, making just one appearance in the final game: the Cavs lost 70-67 in overtime to Tennessee in 1991. On the Tube: With the Final Four in Los Angeles, the NCAA started the semifinals at 9:30 a.m. PDT so that CBS could broadcast both games before the start of the men's semis. "We had our pregame meal at 6:30 a.m.," said Western Kentucky coach Paul Sanderford. "I couldn't swallow a thing." All-Tournament Team: Molly Goodenbour, Stanford; Rachel Hemmer, Stanford; Val Whiting, Stanford; Kim Pehlke, Western Kentucky; Dawn Staley, Virginia.
|
||||||
|
|||||||
