-
just stumbled upon this a few moments ago...
Louisiana Tech 76, Rice 52
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOX SCORE | RECAP
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- Amisha Carter had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Erica Smith-Taylor added 22 points and No. 7 Louisiana Tech won its third straight Western Athletic Conference tournament, beating Rice 76-52 Saturday.
Tasha Crain scored nine points for the Lady Techsters (27-2), who won their 19th straight game with more of the athletic defense that defines the program. With six steals apiece by Carter and Smith-Taylor, they earned their 23rd straight trip to the NCAA tournament.
Carter, the WAC player of the year, was named tournament MVP. Trina Frierson, who had four points and 10 rebounds, joined Smith-Taylor on the all-tournament team.
Louisiana Tech, the WAC's dominant team since joining the league in 2001, has won 25 straight tournament games and nine straight league tournament titles since the 1995 Sun Belt tourney. The school also has won 12 straight regular-season championships in three conferences, dating back to the 1988 American South Conference.
And if Louisiana Tech moves to Conference USA soon, as many expect, coach Kurt Budke's powerhouse would be a favorite there, too.
-
They know the same amount that we know!
-
ESPN has updated the article and removed the paragraph about CUSA.
-
that is what they printed, I feel bad they have retracted their statement.
Unfortunately, ESPN usually doesnt list the writers name. Also, they almost NEVER answer emails. However, one might think that the article was written by someone at the game.....
Regardless, something is about to happen.
-
This story was not from ESPN.
FRESNO, Calif. (AP)
ESPN.com just reprinted the AP's original story--the same story posted on another thread here earlier.
-
ESPN does not have writers at games, in most cases. They publish AP stories on the games just as do most newspapers. The AP doesn't have writers at most games. AP stories are mostly picked up from the local papers that cover the games.
Here is the story from which the ESPN article was created. I didn't see the earliest version and don't have any idea who put in the CUSA comment or who took it out.
In this case, the writer's byline includes the phrase AP Sports Writer, which means the writer actually works for AP.
If they use a story by a contract writer (stringer) or a story by a newspaper's writer, the byline is followed by The Associated Press. Most daily newspapers in the United States are members of the Associated Press. Large radio stations and television stations subscribe to the AP wire, although they don't usually generate copy.
No. 7 Louisiana Tech 76, Rice 52
Eds: Optional
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — With three titles in three years, Louisiana Tech clearly is the class of the Western Athletic Conference. Now the Lady Techsters will find out how much that means to the rest of college basketball.
Amisha Carter had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Erica Smith-Taylor added 22 points and No. 7 Louisiana Tech won its third straight WAC tournament, beating Rice 76-52 Saturday.
Tasha Crain scored nine points for the Lady Techsters (27-2), who won their 19th straight game with more of the athletic defense that defines the program. With six steals apiece by Carter and Smith-Taylor, they earned their 23rd straight trip to the NCAA tournament.
“I was just trying my best not to let them catch it easy,” Smith-Taylor said. “We knew that if we played tough defense, we could be successful.”
Carter, the WAC player of the year, was named tournament MVP. Trina Frierson, who had four points and 10 rebounds, joined Smith-Taylor on the all-tournament team.
Louisiana Tech, the WAC’s dominant team since joining the league in 2001, has won 25 straight tournament games and nine straight league tournament titles since the 1995 Sun Belt tourney. The school also has won 12 straight regular-season championships in three conferences, dating back to the 1988 American South Conference.
But that hasn’t meant much to the NCAA tournament selection committee in recent years.
Last March, the Lady Techsters went into the tournament with 27 straight victories, a No. 6 ranking and the WAC titles from the regular season and the conference tourney — and they were given a fifth seed in the West Regional, forcing them to start on the road. Louisiana Tech advanced to the regional semifinals before losing to LSU.
“Last year, we ran through this tournament a lot easier than we did this year, and it didn’t hurt our preparation for (the NCAAs),” coach Kurt Budke said.
Louisiana Tech never trailed against second-seeded Rice (21-9), the last team to beat the Lady Techsters back on Jan. 5. They opened the second half with a 17-5 run and never let up the pressure, even forcing turnovers in the final minutes of a blowout.
“This team is very good,” Budke said. “At halftime, we didn’t have to go in there and yell and scream and shout. We just talked about what we need to do to get better. All we had to say was that we weren’t playing to the level we want to play, come on.”
Anne Peck had 10 points for Rice, which has a good chance to make the NCAA tournament despite losing two of three to Louisiana Tech this season, including this embarrassing defeat.
“We just didn’t handle the ball well, and we didn’t have anybody step up and get some things done for us,” coach Cristy McKinney said. “They took it to us, and we kind of jumped back and got on our heels.”
Said Budke: “You cannot tell me there’s 63 teams better than Rice. There’s no way. They belong in the tournament.”
The Lady Owls began the season 2-5, but won 15 of their last 16 before falling apart against the Techsters’ defensive pressure with 35.8 percent shooting, 29 turnovers and a 52-33 rebounding deficit. Freshman Lauren Neaves, who made the all-tournament team, blocked six shots but was held to eight points.
“I felt I should have been much more physical,” Neaves said. “I apologized to my teammates and coaches for not stepping it up. ... I need to get stronger. They outweighed me by, like, 30 pounds. I need to put on some weight.”
Only one thing didn’t seem to go Louisiana Tech’s way: A cheerleader left the court at the Save Mart Center after she fell awkwardly during a first-half stunt.
Tulsa’s Jillian Robbins also made the all-tournament team.
-
The Fresno Bee's site has the same story here http://www.fresnobee.com/24hour/spor...-8202902c.html with the C-USA reference still included. Beacham's affiliation is listed as Associated Press there also.
-
The fact that the CUSA comment appears on the Fresno Bee Web site could mean that it was a part of the original story by the AP writer. Or it could mean someone at the Bee who edited the story added in the CUSA comment and the AP, for whatever reason, decided it should not be in the story, since it cannot be confirmed. It is something that could appear in a personal column by a sports writer but should not be published in a news story (sports, in this case). Maybe the Fresno Bee doesn't apply journalistic standards to its Web site but the AP is supposed to.
The ESPN site, however, is obviously governed by ESPN standards, which are far from objective in broadcasting and constantly allow a mix of reporting and commentary in everything they do. Their selection of events to cover is governed by MONEY and amounts to editorialization in who is covered and who is excluded.
-
Interestingly if Louisiana Tech WERE to move to CUSA then CUSA would be getting the WAC's Top 4 womens basketball teams this season. The WAC would take a HUGE hit in that sport and CUSA MIGHT become a Top 6 conference in womens basketball ... Houston is ranked pretty high this season, Tulane has in recent years but they tanked this season. SMU, Tulsa and Rice field solid squads. Tech is perrenial Top 10 team ... Thats half the conference right there. Memphis is pretty solid too.
-
UCF also has a winning record but CUSA is going to be a BIG step up for them. Marshall also has a winning record.
-
C-USA is a Top 6 conference in overall RPI this year. C-USA will take almost as big a hit in women's basketball as in men's basketball after next year, losing 7 of its 9 Top 100 RPI teams. Bringing in the "WAC 4"--RPIs of 24, 52, 90, and 138--would still not replace losing the 14, 29, 37, 39, 84, 87, and 95 RPI teams. Marshall finished at 109 and UCF at 186 this year.
-
CUSA is not a perrenial Top 6 conference, even in RPI. They were 8th, 9th and 10th the 3 prior seasons, howver they were 6th the season before that. Remember, the Sun Belt was 7th in RPI one of the last few years we were in it. (I wanna say 97ish) .... (8th in 1999-2000), SMU, Rice and Tulsa have all enjoyed some success finishing behind us by varying degrees in the WAC the last few seasons. 
They have been solid over the course so I expect they will remain solid.
RPI and looking at a single season is making things look a lot worse. CUSA will be losing some, but they are adding teams that are solid. I bet CUSA maintains Top 8 status even if they do not add Tech. Adding Tech makes it pretty much a certainty ... remember a 24 RPI for us with the record we have is low. It would normally be right at 16-17.
Here are the composite rankings, which are actual rankings, as opposed to RPI which is not a ranking and is dependant mostly on scheduling, which will improve for most of the teams not in CUSA now (mostly through the 12th) ... this is still looking at one season though.
Teams not changing
11 Houston (27-3)
59 Memphis (20-9)
117 East Carolina (14-14)
179 UAB (9-19)
145 Tulane (10-18)
169 Southern Mississippi (14-13)
Incoming (if Tech is added)
10 Louisiana Tech (26-2)
62 Rice (21-8)
94 Tulsa (19-11)
115 Marshall (18-12)
138 SMU (13-15)
232 UCF (17-12) --just goes to show how BAD thier current competition is
Gone
24 TCU (24-6)
34 DePaul (22-6)
49 Marquette (21-9)
98 South Florida (14-14)
55 Louisville (20-9)
83 UNC Charlotte (16-13)
84 Cincinnati (15-15)
173 St. Louis (8-19)
I agree that there would be some solid losses but adding 4 teams from the WAC who have done well, and one perrenial power is certainly not going to hurt as much as I think you think it is.
What will hurt CUSA MOST is the graduation of Houston's top senior.
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
Forum Rules
Reply With Quote
