|
Lady
Frogs await NCAA seeding This Sunday, expect members of the TCU women’s basketball team to have their eyes glued to the television at the John Justin Athletic Center. That is when the Lady Frogs will learn their seeding in the NCAA Tournament. The Women’s Basketball Selection Show will broadcast live on ESPN starting at 5 p.m. Despite losing in the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament to Tulane 80-76, head coach Jeff Mittie said he still believes they have not dropped off very far from where they were. “The loss didn’t help (seeding),” Mittie said. “Anytime you take a loss and you’re not in that championship game, it can hurt you. I think we had the potential to be a No. 5 seed, and people were saying 5-6. I think it will be a 6-7 now.” Mittie said Tulane is a team he believes will be in the tournament, and that losing to a quality team does not hurt the team as much. A
few Web sites have reported where the Lady Frogs might end up. Collegerpi.com
has the team as a No. 6 seed in the West, and playing No. 11 Clemson
in Columbia, S.C. Mittie said the NCAA is trying to keep teams as close to home as they possibly can. The women have the possibility of playing in Waco, less than two hours from the TCU campus, he said. “There is a possibility of that (Waco),” Mittie said. “I think with the regionalization of our tournament, they are trying to keep teams more in their region. That, however, doesn’t mean it will be that close. It could be Waco, or at Texas (Austin). We could also be back in Shreveport, La., and Oklahoma is another possibility.” Freshman post player Sandora Irvin said that the challenge of a top-ranked team would be fun, but it really does not matter who they play. “It really doesn’t matter where we are seeded at,” Irvin said. “I’m really just happy to be in it. I would like to play somebody like a Tennessee or a UConn, but it really doesn’t matter who we play because we are going to play hard.” In Chicago at the conference tournament, the team appeared to have a couple of its weaknesses exposed. Mittie had the team work out some of those kinks during practices this week. “I think we played extremely hard, and I don’t think we overlooked Tulane,” Mittie said. “I think what the game did was expose a couple of weaknesses. We have not rebounded as well, and we have to be a more physical team. I hope we will learn from that game like we have other games.” Irvin said the loss to Tulane was a learning experience. “We are basically taking the loss, and trying to get better,” Irvin said. “We’re working hard in practice and everybody’s communicating better. I think we are ready.” Last year, the Lady Frogs made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. As a No. 11 seed, the team defeated Penn State in the opening round before losing to Louisiana Tech in the second round. Four of the five starters on this year’s team played significant minutes in last year’s tournament run. Mittie said he wants those players to bring insight from that experience to the new players. “I think they (the freshmen) can grow on the experience,” Mittie said. “I think they can grow off the success of the tournament and how we approached that tournament. I believe this time of the year, you have to be a loose and dangerous basketball team. That’s what we are trying to sell to our players. If you can play loose, free and hard, that makes any team dangerous.” Danny
Gillham |
|
|
TCU Daily Skiff © 2002 |
||