Old Dominion fan here. Just thought I'd give you guys a heads up. I can't find a link, but here's a quote from my local paper in Southeastern, Va: "The Lady Monarchs will open the season with a tournament at the University of Texas featuring the Longhorns, the University of Dayton and St. Mary's College." The rumor is this will be a round-robin tournament, so all the teams will play each other (3 games for each team total). I've also heard Texas is paying the 3 other teams hefty guarantee money. I did some quick research... Dayton: 25-9 (9-5 A10), #62 RPI, #148 SOS. Lost to Bowling Green in the WNIT 1st round. Best season in school history. St Mary's: 15-17 (6-8 WCC), #127 RPI, #68 SOS. ODU: 31-5 (17-1 CAA), #11 RPI, #29 SOS. Won the Colonial for the 17th straight year, lost to UConn in the NCAA Sweet 16, ranked #10 in final poll. Obviously, I know more about ODU than the other 2 teams. ODU graduated 3 starters: the top 3 point shooter in school history, an athletic wing, and a 6'4 center. ODU went 10 deep and they all play about the same minutes with no big stars. So ODU should fill the gaps fairly easily. ODU played the last 10 minutes of the Sweet 16 game with 5 underclassmen (most likely next year's starting lineup) and held UConn without a field goal. So ODU fans are pretty optimistic. I expect the Texas/ODU game to be the best of the tourney. Texas is one of the teams I always cheer for (I'm a longtime lurker on the boards), but this will be the one game I'll go against the Horns. ODU will probably have more size and depth in the paint, but Texas will have a big size advantage on the perimeter. ODU's backcourt will be 5'0 and 5'6. Both are lightning quick, but might have problems against Texas' press. ODU and Texas run similar systems although ODU is probably a bit more post oriented (that might change with Gayle and hopefully Bone!). I hope ODU and Texas will play a home-and-home soon. It would be great games against historical rivals, plus selfishly I'd love to see the Horns in my backyard. Duke played ODU several times while Gail was there. Mickie DeMoss is one of ODU head coach Wendy Larry's best friends. Wendy has mentioned on her weekly radio show that she talks with the Texas staff quite a bit. Looking forward to the tournament!
Thanks for the heads up. I'm glad we will be playing ODU--old memories. I'm excited to see Dayton. Their men's team was one of my faves when I was growing up. Unless you guys are pretty tall in the post, I don't know that you will have a height advantage there. The Horns will be able to go 6-4 (Lindsey), 6-4 (Gayle,maybe 6-5) with 6-3 (Kr. Nash) & 6-3 (Cook) in reserve with 6-1 (Williams), 6-2 (Ka. Nash), and 6-1 (Hughes) also available for work in the paint. Although I have to admit that Ka. Nash and Hughes will are more likely to be on the perimeter. I'm going to have to check out your roster. Though I don't think many teams will have a height advantage on the Horns.
Ironically, I've always had a soft spot for Dayton too. But that's because former ODU star and coach Oliver Purnell was the men's head coach there (Ollie's now at Clemson). ODU definately won't have a height advantage over Texas. But I do think ODU will have an advantage in the paint. Last year Lindsey was really the only post who could score consistently for Texas. The other posts were more defensive-minded. Gayle should be great, but she's also known as a defensive stud (and she's just a rookie). ODU has 3 legit posts who can all score. Tiffany Green (6'3, redshirt Sr) is ODU's star. She's a wide body, but still pretty athletic. She doesn't have a jump shot, but she's a big physical power player down low. I think she'll play in the WNBA in 2009. Jessica Candady (6'2, Jr) was ODU's "6th man" last year, but she still managed to be ODU's 2nd leading scorer and made All CAA. She's built like Green, but she's quicker and with a jump shot. Sierra Little (6'1, So) is a long, lanky athlete who plays a lot like Lindsey. ODU also has a 6'3 freshman from Scotland who is on the Great Britain national team. She's supposed to be pretty good, but I haven't seen her play so who knows. Texas' real height advantage will be on the perimeter. ODU's PG, Jazzy Walters, is not quite 5'0. She's a A'Quanesia Franklin type player. ODU's other guards are all quick with shooting/slashing abilities, but they are mostly in the 5'6-5'10 range. Texas' guards are all in the 5'10-6'2 range. Big difference. If ODU's tiny guards can handle the Texas press and get the ball to Green and Canady, it will be a great game. If the Texas press gets to ODU, Texas should win easily. The Green vs Lindsey match up will be worth the price of admission all by itself. Two of the best, most underrated senior posts in the country. Walters vs Cortijo should be a good one too.
A bit more information about the tournament here. It's scheduled for Nov 15-17 and called the 2008 World Vision Classic.
Other games scheduled: Texas will play in the Maggie Dixon" Surf 'N Slam Classic, Aztec Division on Dec 26-31. The host school is San Diego State. The two other teams making up the division are UTEP and Hampton.
Thanks for the link, BabHorn. I guess the rumor about the tourney being round-robin was right. I like those types of tournaments. More games and more fun. I hope it's televised. Side note: I love San Diego. Their head coach, Cindy Fisher, was an assistant at ODU during the mid-1990's (including ODU's 1997 Final Four run). Cindy's a great coach and a class act. BBV_Horn, I've enjoyed every single Texas win over Team Paris Twins. I'm looking foward to 2 (maybe 3) more this season. Could happen, especially if the OU guards continue to shoot like my 93 year old grandma. Tiffany Green isn't really like Courtney Paris. Green was once as big as Paris, but she lost about 50 pounds last summer. The weight loss made her much quicker, but she somehow didn't lose any of her power in the paint. So Green can actually jump, where as Paris seems to have her feet glued to the court most of the time (of course when you're as good as she is, I guess you don't need to jump). Green's great at flying in out of nowhere to block a shot. She's like Bill Russell, she blocks the shot and then gets the ball back. Most players today block the shot into the 5th row. Entertaining for the fans, but the opponent still gets the ball back.
