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RESEARCH TRIANGLE, N.C. - Joy Cheek and her Duke teammates had a really good week in early February.
The Blue Devils had blown out their two biggest rivals, North Carolina and N.C. State, in back-to-back games at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Not only did that make Duke's fans very happy, but it quieted their rivals for a minute.
"It's been going on for years and years, and it's a big game because of the schools' strong rivalry," said the junior forward, who played high school ball in Charlotte and was recruited by just about everybody. "(Duke fans) are like out to kill Carolina. We (players) are out to kill everybody."
With UNC's Chapel Hill campus eight miles from Cameron and N.C. State just over 20 miles away in Raleigh, fans of different schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference trip over each other every day. The sports rivalries go back more than a century, and in the 1970s women's basketball became a serious part of them.
N.C. Central in Durham added spice to the mix when it began the transition from Division II to Division I in 2007. There's even a big Division II rivalry in Raleigh between Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association members Shaw and St. Augustine's, while Raleigh women's colleges Meredith and Peace love to beat each other in the Division III USA South conference.
There may be plenty of fervor for one great team in a place like Storrs, Conn., or Knoxville, Tenn., but for a 365-day squabble that never ends, no place tops the Triangle. The three ACC teams have combined for 18 ACC championships and eight Final Four appearances, with UNC winning the NCAA title in 1994.
"I like rivalries, and if you want to coach at the highest level the Triangle is the place to be," said first-year N.C. State head coach and former Tennessee guard Kellie Harper, who got one of the biggest wins in her young coaching career in a 74-63 victory over UNC on Feb. 21. "People get excited about those natural rivalries. If it puts people in the stands I'm all for it."
UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell has been up to her neck in it for 24 seasons. "I'd never been in a place like this," Hatchell said. "When I was in graduate school at Tennessee we were the only thing in town. Here there are Duke and State people everywhere. The thing here is that traditionally all the programs have been good. We make each other better because of the competition."
Duke's third-year head coach Joanne P. McCallie said she can't even escape Carolina fans in her own neighborhood, a long 3-pointer away from the Duke campus.
"Those are fun games because of the fan support and the neighborhood barbs I'll get in Croasdaile," said McCallie, whose husband John is an economics professor at UNC. "Half that place is Carolina. During the season, all our opponents are dominoes we're trying to knock down. But when the season's over and you've been successful against a rival, there's talk about that. That's where these rival games take on a life."
UNC's Cetera DeGraffenreid has had ups and downs in the rivalry games, particularly against Duke. The junior guard is from 270 miles away in Cullowhee, but knew the situation well.
"It's a great feeling to beat them," DeGraffenreid said. "That's what you come to schools like this for. I grew up in North Carolina and knew of all the rivalries. It's a feeling that you want for so long, to play in those games. You cherish those moments. If you don't get up for them, I don't know what you do. The first time I played Duke we beat them at Cameron and I'll never forget it."
N.C. State junior forward Brittany Strachan, who is from Winston-Salem, said she had been a Wolfpack fan as long as she can remember.
"I've been growing up with the rivalries with Carolina and Duke," Strachan said. "You don't realize how big it is until you actually play in it. Those are big games for us and a lot of people come out to see them."
N.C. Central sophomore guard Danielle DeBerry grew up in Durham hoping to someday play for the Blue Devils. When the areas top Division I teams didn't come calling, she decided on NCCU. The Eagles haven't been close to Duke or UNC yet, but at least they've been invited to play.
"Those games really mean a lot to us," she said. "It's exciting to get a chance to be on those courts with those great coaches on the sidelines and get a sample of what it's like to play against such great teams."
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and McDonalds put on the two famed High School All-American games. This year the WBCA game will have the added bonus of being played on the same court as the Final Four in San Antonio.
If you make an All-American game roster, there is a good chance you are just a few months away from "big woman on campus" status. All Americans are game changers; players that teams are built around, athletes who become household names!
All-Americans go on to win NCAA championships and become WNBA draft picks. So if you want to know who is going to be good, check out the 2010 list!
Lauren Avant Lausanne Collegiate School Tennessee
Kristen Doherty Sachem East High School Boston College
Alicia DeVaughn Blanche Ely High School Maryland
Stephanie Dolson Minisink Valley High School Connecticut
Ariel Edwards Christ the King High School Penn State
Aaryn Ellenberg Bishop Gorman High School Oklahoma
Karla Gilbert A&M Consolidated High School Texas A&M
Chelsea Gray Saint Mary's High School Duke
Cassie Harberts San Dlemente High School USC
Bria Hartley North Babylon High School Connecticut
Kaneisha Horn Ramsay High School Alabama
Natasha Howard Morrison R Waite High School Florida State
Richa Jackson Midwest City High School Duke
Sara James Oak Ridge High School Stanford
Afure Jemerigbe St Mary's High School California
Maggie Lucas Germantown Academy Penn State
Kayla McBride Villa Maria Academy Notre Dame
Laurin Mincy University High School Maryland
Tiffany Moore Frisco High School Texas
Chieny Ogwumike Cy-Fair High School Stanford
Jennifer O'Neill St Michael Academy Kentucky
Haley Peters Peddie School Duke
Theresa Plaisance Vanderbilt Catholic Louisiana State
Ronika Ransford H.D. Woodson High School Georgia
Shoni Schimmel Franklin High School Undeclared
Lindsay Sherbert Great Oak High School California
Meghan Simmons Byron P Steele High School Tennessee
Odyssey Sims Irving MacArthur High School Baylor
Samarie Walker Chamiade-Julienne Catholic Connecticut
Madison Williams Detroit Country Day Michigan State
Just for a moment, let's imagine the WNBA was an awards show, instead of a basketball league. It would go something like this;
"And the award for the Best Looking Arms goes to … Cheryl Ford!"
There is a loud applause from the audience and a TV cut away shot of runner up Tamika Catchings. Dressed in a sleeveless Versace gown, Cheryl steps on stage, collects her award from Donna Orender, and then turns to the microphone.
"I'd like to thank my father, Karl Malone, for passing along his genetics and I'd like to thank my trainer Dorian Lee for making me do extra bicep curls. Most of all I'd like to thank God for keeping me healthy."
So this whole scenario is a figment of my imagination, Cheryl has never collected such an award, but you have to wonder how she keeps in shape.
"People always ask me about em", Cheryl laughs when I ask her about her guns. "My arms have always been big, I think it has to do with genetics. My dad was a really strong cut up guy and just working out hard." Cheryl is the daughter of former NBA great Karl Malone, who was certainly known for his impressive physic.
But it isn't all genetics, the truth of the matter is, Cheryl loves to work out! "I want to be in shape, I want to look like I'm in shape," says Ford who prides herself on having a swimsuit body.
Cheryl hits the weights 3-4 times a week. She says it's one way to keep an edge on the competition. "You have to be stronger than your opponent. Somebody else is always out there working two or three times harder than you, so you have to match everybody else's intensity."
Intensity has been the name of Cheryl's game since she came in the league. As the third overall pick in the 2003 draft, she had an immediate impact averaging a double-double for the Detriot Shock. She won the Rookie of the Year award and was named to the WNBA All-Star team. Ford iced the season by sinking four free throws in the final minute of the WNBA Championship to lift the Shock over the LA Sparks for the title.
"It was an amazing game." Recalls Ford, "I was scared to death when I stepped to the line!"
Her rookie season would appear to be a tough act to follow, but that's not the case. Under no-nonsense coach Bill Lambier, the Shock went on to win two more WNBA championships in 2006 and 2008. Currently Ford is playing overseas in Poland. She returns to the US in the spring where she'll take her place on the new Tulsa, Shock.
Inside Big 12 Conference circles, and maybe Alaska, the folks who follow women's basketball know all about the team from Nebraska.
They know about Kelsey Griffin, the 6-foot-2 senior forward from Eagle River, Alaska, as versatile a player that exists in the game today.
They know that in the past 12 years, at least one player from the Big 12 has made some organization's first-team All-American list, and that because of Griffin, back from missing last season year because of an ankle injury that required two surgeries, that streak will reach 13.
They understand that Griffin is surrounded by a veteran cast that had major roles two seasons ago when the Huskers nearly beat top-seeded Maryland in a second-round NCAA Tournament contest at College Park, Md.
These hoops lovers also have watched freshman point guard Lindsey Moore, a Parade All-American from Covington, Wash., handle the ball with such meticulousness and distribute it so smoothly to make it as if she's been playing with her new teammates for years rather than months.
But for most fans that who reside elsewhere, the Huskers are such a tiny speck on the radar screen that they might not yet even be considered the next 'dark horse' challenger to the kingdom ruled by the Connecticut's and Stanford's of the world.
Which is precisely how the nation's only unbeaten squad outside of Storrs, Conn., prefers it.
"People might talk to us about being ranked this and being ranked that and us playing UConn," senior guard Vonnie Turner said. "We've never looked at the rankings and we're not going to let it get to us now."
Nebraska had no need to peek at the rankings when the season began, because it was nowhere near the Top 25. In fact, the Huskers were picked in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll to finish sixth in their league.
But after winning nine its first 10 games by double-figure margins, Nebraska made a huge statement about its worth by having an easy time of it against then-No. 5 LSU. Two games later, the Huskers went to Vermont and beat the soon-to-be-ranked Catamounts by 44 points (two more than UConn had), and by the time the first week of February had ended they'd toppled four more Top 25 opponents (three by double digits).
As a result, this team now finds itself faced with a question never before asked of a program that has never gotten past the second round of the NCAA Tournament:
Can it really make a serious run for the national championship?
"As a team, we haven't really sat down and re-discussed goals," said the ever-modest Griffin. "We have goals from the beginning of the year and that's what we're trying to do -- and how we do it is one practice at a time.
"Big picture, it can be super overwhelming. We're just enjoying the experience."
Strangely enough, so, too, are some whose job it is to devise plans to beat them.
After his 12th-ranked team had given a tenacious effort during a 71-60 loss to Nebraska on Reb. 6, Texas A&M coach Gary Blair noted how the Aggies had been "perfectly ready" to engage in battle.
But then he spilled the beans about the Huskers.
"This is a team that has a great chance of getting to that Final Four, Elite Eight, Sweet 16," he said. They played with so much emotion."
And they remind him of Connecticut's first Final Four team of 1991: "A bunch of no-names that play well. . . . When you don't have some of those All-Americans, you don't have to worry about ego."
Blair does marvel over Moore, noting "that little point guard is going to be special."
He also likes how 6-2 senior forward Cory Montgomery and the guard tandem of Turner and junior Dominique Kelley blend into the Huskers' full-court attacking mix, with each putting up double-figure scoring averages.
Montgomery is a rugged Minnesotan who's as fond of the three-point shot as she is of throwing her wide assortment of post-up moves at opponents.
The Omaha, Neb., product Turner, already considered the Big 12's best on-the-ball perimeter defender, has also become one of the league's top three-point shooters thanks to being able to spend less time at the point.
And home-town girl Kelley, a player whom eighth-year coach Connie Yori says she recruited harder than anybody else during her 18 seasons in Division I, has the kind of strength that allows her to do a little bit of everything.
As for Griffin? Don't ask Blair, unless you want to give away a good part of your day listening to him describe her attributes.
When Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly is on that subject, he offers that Griffin is one of two famous females from Alaska, with the other being Sarah Palin.
"I think Kelsey is having a better year," Fennelly said.
Former Nebraska assistant Cindy Fisher (now head coach at San Diego), found Griffin at a summer AAU tournament in Washington, D.C., and encouraged Yori to pursue her. Michigan State and Arizona State also showed interest, but Nebraska was the only school to offer a scholarship.
Griffin earned first-team All-Big 12 honors as a sophomore and junior, but each of her first three seasons tested her will to want to play.
She played most of her junior seasons with a cracked rib. As a sophomore, she pushed through an issue that affected her breathing. And as a freshman, she played the final nine games severely weakened from a bout with mononucleosis.
LSU coach Van Chancellor sees enough in Griffin's ability to shoot from the perimeter, rebound, dribble penetrate and post up that he's sure she'll thrive as a power forward in the WNBA.
Thus, to Fennelly "I don't think it's an accident that Nebraska's team from last year to this year is totally different."
But to pin Nebraska's success this season all on Griffin would be to overlook how Yori went about building her club.
"We've always known that the other kids are good players, but when Kelsey got completely healthy, and they added Moore, who is a perfect fit for their team at the right time, I knew they'd be very, very good," Fennelly said.
Good enough that after his team got drilled by the Huskers in a battle for first place, Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke was practically conceding the Big 12 race to Yori's club. And the Cowgirls still had eight league games left.
"I can't imagine Nebraska losing two games," Budke said. "She's got this special team that just doesn't come every year --unless you're sitting in Hartford, Conn."
OK, so he meant Storrs. But, yes, for once Nebraska has reason to dream just as big as the Huskies do every season.
"Did we know that we can accomplish great things? Yes," Turner said. "If we can believe it, we can achieve it. We have great character on our team, and we have a coaching staff who believes in us."
By Jayda Evans
Seattle Times staff reporter
Russia, Russia, Russia.
It's all anyone is talking about in the women's pro basketball world. The country's money. Its elite players. Its palatial villas with private chefs.
Its fabrication.
Russia is not as its seems, but the attention it receives would have fans believe the competition is better than the WNBA. Well, the league may have the WNBA's top players in past two MVPs Diana Taurasi (2009) and Candace Parker (2008), yet the drop-off is steep these days.
The WNBA's 143 players from last summer are sprinkled across Europe, many landing in Turkey, Spain, and Israel - which have become more competitive than Russia overall this season. Still, in the thick of Euroleague play, Russia's Spartak Moscow and UMMC Ekaterinburg are pegged to meet in the finals.
Spartak, led by Taurasi and Chicago center Sylvia Fowles, won the past three Euroleague titles.
"The two top teams are like WNBA All-Star teams," said Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault, who travels overseas to scout and visit players. "You have wealthy businessmen who are willing to lose money for the fun of owning a team. They are willing to make that their hobby regardless of whether they make any money. Here, we're a little bit different format. Our owners don't like losing money."
Since there aren't collegiate teams scattered around Europe and Asia, sports enthusiasts have to get their sporting fix from club teams. Russia took the passion to another level, competing with each other as owners - deriving a civic pride from winning.
In 2008, four teams in Spartak, UMMC, CSKA Moscow, and Dynamo were supporting the WNBA's elite from Becky Hammon and Deanna Nolan to Tina Thompson and Sue Bird.
Deceased Spartak owner Shabtai von Kalmanovic can be pegged for the acceleration of salaries. Before his death in November 2009, he lured Taurasi and Bird from Dynamo with high, six-figure salaries apiece. He also signed Australian Olympian Lauren Jackson and Fowles to equal deals, helping Bird get an Israeli passport so the team could maneuver around FIBA rules regarding how many active players could be from one nation.
That moved UMMC to offer Parker a reported $1.2 million contract to play and sign 2007 WNBA Finals MVP Cappie Pondexter to a lucrative deal to team with Belgium center Ann Wauters (San Antonio) and Nolan.
"Playing in the Russian league has been a great experience for me," wrote Parker on her Facebook fan page. She scored 23 points in leading her team to a Russian Cup win against Spartak. "The fans cheer and celebrate their teams at a high level, especially at the UMMC Sports Palace where we play our home games.
"I'm truly blessed to be in this position because the game of basketball has allowed my family to travel the world and feel secure wherever we are. My lovely daughter has adjusted very well in Russia. It's always a joy to open my eyes and see her smiling in the morning."
Still, ticket-sales and how it relates to salaries is a mathematical marvel.
"I went to a game in Prague, Lindsay Whalen's team against Ekateninburg and there were maybe 500 people in the stands," said Thibault of a matchup last year. "If you go to a game at Ekateninburg, you could see 3-4,000. But that's top end."
The WNBA as a whole averaged 8,039 in 2009.
"It's funny, people always try to figure out how things work in Russia," Bird said. "But it's not like an American corporation. The owners are the business, they are the money. They do what they want."
But not every American in Russia has the same experience. Bird, Taurasi, and Jackson lived in a six-bedroom villa that von Kalmanovic outfitted with a piano, chef, and caviar. For wins, he'd give the team $500 bonuses or shopping trips in Paris - and everyone was chauffeured.
Storm center Janell Burse, who played a season for Dynamo, was in a modest apartment. At times, she was her medical staff, payment was slow and the food wasn't memorable.
Commonalities are no one enjoys the sometimes 30-hour train rides for games. The cold chill will make anyone love vodka. And everyone gathers for dinners or a quick conversation after games.
"You're just so happy to see another American," said Los Angeles guard Betty Lennox, who played for Orrenberg.
Teams have grueling practices like in the WNBA, but the games never exceed two a week. Sometimes it's one, if a player isn't on the Euroleague roster, only playing for the Russian league.
"I had a driver, but it wasn't a Mercedes. It was a regular car," Burse said with a laugh. "I was pretty much happy receiving my monthly payment because it was a financial crisis going on in Russia. People don't understand why we go overseas; not understanding it's a huge financial difference (from the WNBA).
"It's a matter of do you want to make this your livelihood? What you do to get all your money? Or play and be comfortable in America? Sometimes you have to go out of your comfort zone to benefit your future financially."
The spiraling economy and the assassination of von Kalmanovic, a former KGB spy, most likely will alter the future in Russia, however. Von Kalmanovic's widow is overseeing the team, but her philosophy may not be to continue to paying high salaries in the future.
Plus FIBA is changing its governing rules, which will change how many Americans - even if they have passports - can play on a particular team. That will shift where players sign next offseason.
"That gives a lot of teams in Europe some hope in signing those players," Thibault said. "You saw that with Katie Douglas (Turkey), Penny Taylor (Turkey), and Becky Hammon (Spain) when they signed with other teams this year."
Riding the pine for a year may have been the best and worst thing that ever happened to Melissa Beyruti. "It was terrible, I didn't like it at all," says the All-American for Division III Kean University.
Last season the three-point specialist was sidelined with a knee injury, but now admits the experience has improved her game tremendously. "I think I learned more about he game and the coaches perspective, just the way she views it as the coach rather than me as a player."
"She gained a few extra pounds," laughs head coach Michele Sharp about her top player sitting out. Sharp designated Beyruti a "player/coach". "She sat up next to the coaches, she heard what we were saying and she was able to communicate with the kids on the floor what they needed to do differently for us to have more success last year."
Last season without Beyruti the Cougars were still impressive finishing 22-8. But they feel they left unfinished business on the table, falling in the conference championship game, and then bowing out in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
This year from day one, the goal has been to get to the national championship. "We played as a team last year," says junior forward Tiffany Patrick, "but this year we have to become one team, one heart beat. We have to play together as one."
It appears the Cougars have done just that; Kean is ranked second in nation and is undefeated in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. Their only loss of the season was to Division I Rutgers.
The Cougars are defeating opponents by an average of 31 points. They've beaten four teams by 40+ points and even had a 74-point win over John Jay College.
Meanwhile Beyruti is having the best season of her career. The 5'8" guard has become the most prolific scorer in school history. On January 13 Beyruti broke the NCAA Division III three-point record on against Richard Stockton College, hitting five three-pointers to surpass the old record of 368 set by Meegan Garrity of Clark University.
Then, on February 23rd, Beyruti knocked down six three pointers becoming the most prolific three point shooter in NCAA history. Melissa surpassed the record 392 career three pointers held by Kansas State's Lauri Koehn to become the scoring leader for Division I, II and III.
Earlier this season, Beyruti hit a school-record and a NCAA Division III season-high 10 three-pointers in the win over Lycoming College.
Coach Sharp describes Melissa as a "pure shooter", the best she's ever coached in her 20-year career! Prior to the 2009 NBA draft, Stephen Curry was working out in at Kean University. Beyruti went shot for shot with Curry in an informal three-point contest. Curry went on to be drafted 7th overall to the Golden State Warriors. Beyruti is well on her way to her fourth NJAC All-Conference award and possibly her second All-American honor.
But as we mentioned, this team plays as one! The Cougars are not relying solely on Beyruti. They have plenty of other scoring weapons in Tiffany Patrick, Naimah Clemons and Danielle Brown. Patrick is well on her way to becoming an All-Conference player averaging a double-double in points and rebounds.
Right now the Cougars are poised to receive a number one seed in the NCAA tournament, which would go a long way to help them achieve their pre-season goals.
"The perfect ending," says Beyruti, "would be to have an NJAC championship under our belt and an NCAA tournament with a ring."
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