Baylor vs UConn-This Time The Script Is Flipped

The last time they played each other both were ranked as the number one and number two women's college b-ball teams in the nation.  

Both had their superstar players in UConn's Maya Moore and Baylor's Brittney Griner and as the Baylor Lady Bears painfully remember the then Number 2 ballers had a chance to be the team that ended UConn mammoth win streak in Storrs, CT. 

They had an eight point 56-48 lead with seven minutes to go before a late Huskie rally fueled in large part by Griner missing some crucial free throws down the stretch as part of a horrific 8 for 13 night at the line led to a narrow 65-64 loss and Baylor becoming victim number 80 of The Streak.  

It was eventually ended by Stanford and the Ogumwike sisters ten games later on December 30, 2010..

Brittney and her Lady Bears teammates are getting their wish for another shot at redemption versus a UConn team that doesn't rebuild, they reload. 

Maya Moore has taken her talents to Minneapolis and led the Lynx to a WNBA title but don't cry for the Huskies.   They may have found her replacement in freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis who is leading the Huskies in scoring at 15.9 ppg and have Stefanie Dolson patrolling the lane  to anchor their defense.   

Griner this season is averaging 22.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 4.9 blocks in just 30 minutes a game this season for the Lady Bears (10-0) and shooting 73 percent from the foul line in the runup to this titanic b-ball shootout.

So far no dunks as of yet.

Before Maya Moore departed for the WNBA she played on three NCAA championship squads while my Houston homegirl hopes to lead Baylor to their first since 2005   

Now the script is flipped and it's 10-0 Baylor with the number one ranking and the winning streak trying to defend it and a sold out Ferrell Center against 9-0 number two UConn in a prime time Sunday night matchup on ESPN.

Both teams have knocked off top ranked opponents.   Baylor has already taken down then number two Skylar Diggins led Notre Dame in Waco and Tennessee in Knoxville while UConn demolished defending national champ Texas A&M by 30 points in Madison Square Garden.. 

Should be a fun game to watch tomorrow

Number One Baylor Beats Number 2 Notre Dame In Preseason WNIT Title Game

The reason I'm not tripping about the NBA lockout is because of the quality basketball being played in collegiate arenas around the country.   There was a great early season number one versus number two matchup on the women's basketball side that for the first time in years didn't involve UConn.

It was an early season showdown in Waco between the Brittney Griner led Baylor Lady Bears and the Skylar Diggins led Notre Dame Fightin' Irish for the preseason WNIT championship. 

Number two Notre Dame was the NCAA championship runner up to Texas A&M last spring and the Aggies have jumped out in defense of their title to a 4-0 start.

The Lady Bears and the Fighting Irish are just two of the NCAA women's squads who want to be cutting down the nets at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Y'all know I love my Houston homegirl Brittney Griner, who had 32 points and 14 rebounds in this 94-81 win in the Ferrell Center and established themselves (for now ) as one of the elite women's squads in the country.   But I have no doubts that Notre Dame will be there when March Madness rolls around.  



Go Lady Bears!

Kye's Not Playing This NCAA Basketball Season

The 2011-12 NCAA collegiate basketball season is getting underway at collegiate arenas and gyms near you.

But if you surfed by the George Washington University athletic website and perused the 2011-12 lineups for the GWU women's or men's basketball teams, you will not see Kye Allums' name listed on either roster or in the team photos.

GWU announced that Kye Allums "has decided that it is in his best interest to no longer participate in intercollegiate athletics."

Allums had last year's historic season cut short by two early concussions he suffered early in the season that limited his playing time to a mere eight games and announced in May he wasn't going to play his senior season.

"I alone came to this conclusion," Allums said in a statement released by GWU, "and I thank the athletic department for respecting my wishes."

He's enrolled in classes at GWU for the fall semester, and was asked in an interview back in March what he would do if he couldn't play ball again.

"I'll just be trying to make some kind of difference in the world," he said at the time."Try to get into grad school and look forward to my life."

You're off to a great start in terms of making a difference in the world already, Kye. Your visibility as a trans athlete opened the door to have those serious discussions that needed to happen on the issue of trans participation in sports and led to NCAA rules that will make it easier or future trans student athletes to compete at the collegiate level.

Best of luck this semester, in the future and much success in whatever you choose to do with the rest of your life.

2011 Carrier Classic

Caught the inaugural Carrier Classic Game in San Diego between Michigan State and number one ranked North Carolina that was played on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson and witnessed by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.  

Both teams wore camouflage patterned uniforms and the jerseys all had USA on the back instead of the players names on them.  It was paused for a moment for the lowering of the flag.   Honorary captains Magic Johnson for Michigan state and James Worthy for North Carolina were there along with several iconic Tar Heel players who were able to attend due to the NBA lockout.     

It was a nice way to spend Veterans Day and the Carrier Classic will happen again.  Arizona and UConn have already agreed to play in the 2012 game with a tentative date set of November 9.   

I also like the idea Dick Vitale suggested during the game of making it a doubleheader and having the service academy teams involved.




The USS Carl Vinson was the carrier from which the SEAL Team 6 mission to take out Osama bin Laden was launched back in May and they conducted his burial at sea from its flight deck.  It was interesting seeing a 7000 seat basketball court set up on the flight deck of this ship and the game that was played on it.

North Carolina justified that preseason number one ranking and won the game 67-55 to claim the trophy, but the real winners were all the personnel on the USS Carl Vinson who got to witness this.

It's also a nice way to kick off the college basketball season.   

Minnesota Lynx 2011 WNBA Champions

I'm late with this post, but in the midst of the news about the NBA canceling 2011-2012 season games no thanks to the lockout, had to show the WNBA and the Minnesota Lynx some TransGriot love.

I was a proud season ticket holder during the Houston Comets dynasty (sniff sniff) from 1997-2000 when they won four consecutive WNBA titles.  The Minnesota Lynx joined the league in 1999 along with the Orlando Miracle as an expansion franchise.  

Back in the day we Comet fans would watch our Big Four of Cooper, Swoopes, Thompson and Janeth Arcain blow them out in WNBA basketball mismatches, make jokes about the Minnesota Missing Lynx or as a nod to the then popular game show at the time, call them 'the Weakest Lynx'.

Well, fast forward a decade to the WNBA's 15th season. My beloved Comets, one of the Original Eight WNBA franchises that started play in 1997 have been extinct for several years while the expansion team I gleefully made jokes about while ensconced in my Section 117 Compaq Center aisle seat is still in the league and is now the 2011 WNBA Champion.

And oh yeah, Compaq Center is now the sanctuary of Lakewood Church

Donna Orender, I and other Houston Comets fans are still pissed about how the WNBA handled the situation in 2008, and it's making it hard for me to regain the level of passion I once had for the WNBA.

Putting a new Houston Comets expansion team in the WNBA would be a nice start, but back to discussing 2011 WNBA ball and the new WNBA champs.  


The Lynx drafted UConn's Maya Moore with the number one overall pick and rolled to a league best 27-7 record in the always tough WNBA Western Conference   

They faced the fourth place San Antonio Silver Stars in the opening round best of three series and won it 2-1 to advance to the Western Conference finals against the Phoenix Mercury, who upset the defending WNBA champion Seattle Storm 2-1.  Minnesota swept Phoenix in the Western Conference Finals 2-0 to advance to their first WNBA final against the Atlanta Dream.

The Dream finished third at 20-14 and one game behind the Eastern Conference regular season winners the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun.  Both teams had identical 21-13 records but Indiana was seeded first due to winning the regular season series against the Sun.  

The Angel McCoughtry led Dream got hot in the playoffs. They swept the Connecticut Sun 2-0, won the Eastern Conference title and advanced to the WNBA finals for the second straight year by getting past WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings and her Fever teammates 2-1.

The dream of a WNBA title for the ATL-based WNBA ballers died once again as the Lynx swept the Dream in the best of five WNBA Finals 3-0 with the help of Moore and WNBA Finals MVP Seimone Augustus to claim their first WNBA championship.

Maya Moore was also named WNBA Rookie Of the Year to cap off a marvelous rookie season.