Draft Week Begins; Championship Game Set

We're now less than 72 hours away from the 2009 WNBA Draft. Anticipation seems to build a little slower than with the NBA equivalent because attention is still focused on the Final Four. Last night's action delivered one classic semifinal and one that was, um, not classic. UConn looks unstoppable en route to a perfect season that has yet to see the Huskies even be challenged. The last obstacle in their way will be Louisville, which already lost twice to UConn, including a lopsided defeat in the Big East Tournament title game.

Back then, the Cardinals looked nothing like the confident group that has rallied behind Angel McCoughtry and "brutally honest" Head Coach Jeff Walz to knock off a pair of No. 1 seeds, first Maryland and now Oklahoma. I picked Louisville to reach the Final Four, but I did not expect them to be able to contain Courtney Paris. I watched the first half of the game before missing the Cardinals' second-half comeback until seeing the climactic final minute. When I tuned back in and saw the score with Louisville leading, I was stunned.

McCoughtry has taken glee in disproving doubters at every stage ofLouisville's run, and there will be plenty of them going into tomorrow's national championship game on ESPN (including me), so there will be no shortage of motivation in trying to do the impossible and knock off UConn.

If you haven't gotten a chance to watch McCoughtry play, this is your last chance to do so before she's taken in Thursday's WNBA Draft, possibly with the top overall pick. Connecticut's Renee Montgomery is also a potential top-five pick, while Louisville forward Candyce Bingham may go in the second or third round.

In other draft news, the WNBA announced last week the 15 players who have been invited to attend the draft in Secaucus. WNBA.com's Brian Martin also posted his mock first round, which has the Storm taking Duke center Chante Black. Black is one of the five centers featured in today's final position breakdown on storm.wnba.com.

WNBA Draft Viewing Tonight

Coleman

McCoughtry

If you're interested in watching the likely top picks in the 2009 WNBA Draft as they complete their college careers, tonight offers a terrific matchup. Louisville and Maryland will square off at 4 p.m. Pacific on ESPN with a spot in the Final Four on the line. That means a matchup between Louisville's Angel McCoughtry and Maryland's Marissa Coleman, the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in my first mock draft. McCoughtry and Coleman will likely end up going against each other much of the evening.

The Terrapins also feature senior Kristi Toliver, who could be the first guard selected and topped storm.wnba.com's rankings of the point guards released last Friday. Louisville forward Candyce Bingham is another senior prospect.

Tonight's second regional final, Stanford-Iowa State, is not as big in terms of the draft. Cardinal forward Jillian Harmon is the top senior prospect on display, with Stanford's top players still underclassmen. Still, Iowa State will be looking to complete an improbable run to the Final Four while Stanford looks to get back for a second straight year with the benefit of a friendly crowd in nearby Berkeley. That matchup follows Maryland-Louisville on ESPN2.

While watching Saturday's games, I shared some thoughts on Twitter, including my belief that Coleman might just be the best prospect available.

Dramatic Finish to Seattle Subregional

If you weren't at Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion last night, you missed out on some terrific basketball. Gonzaga and Pittsburgh went back and forth all night long before the Panthers overcame a pro-Zags crowd and made just enough plays down the stretch to steal the win.

It looked like Gonzaga might pull the upset when Pitt turned the ball over while leading by one with just under 30 seconds to play, but Janelle Bekkering traveled and a three attempt that would have tied the game in the closing seconds missed.

Pitt star Shavonte Zellous, a sure first-round pick in next month's WNBA Draft, showed why she is considered a streaky but dangerous scorer. Using both man and zone, Gonzaga did an excellent job of keeping Zellous on the perimeter and contesting her shots. Zellous was 1-of-6 in the first half and made six of 21 shots for the game, but she was able to get to the free-throw line to score a game-high 24 points. It was Zellous who had a key three-pointer to tie the game and a transition score in the late stages. She has a WNBA body with athleticism to match, including an impressive vertical.

While the loss was heartbreaking for the Zags because of missed opportunities and turnovers down the stretch, I came away from the weekend highly impressed with Kelly Graves' squad. Before wearing down in the final minutes, Courtney Vandersloot more than held her own against elite competition, coming up with 18 points, seven assists and a career-high five steals. Heather Bowman was obviously bothered by Pitt's combination of length and quickness, but ultimately found a way to contribute. Of the Gonzaga players who saw action, only defensive specialist Jami Schaefer graduates, while the Zags will add Katelan Redmon, a Pac-10 All-Freshman Team pick at UW in 2007-08 before transferring. Something tells me we haven't heard the last of the Gonzaga women in the month of March.

Gonzaga Pulls Day 1's Biggest Upset

How's your bracket looking midway through the first round of the tournament? I went 13 for 16 on the first day. One of those three misses came in the game I attended at Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion - 12 seed Gonzaga taking down fifth-seeded Xavier in front of a partisan crowd. In hindsight, I underestimated the energy the underdog Zags would draw from their fans.

As expected, 6-6 Xavier center Ta'Shia Phillips dominated the paint against a Gonzaga team with no player taller than 6-2. Phillips finished with 26 points and 18 rebounds, 10 of them on the offensive end. Alas, she had a lot of chances for putbacks because her teammates shot a combined 13-of-55 (23.6 percent) from the field.

Meanwhile, the Zags were led by their talented inside-out duo of point guard Courtney Vandersloot and post Heather Bowman. Vandersloot controlled the tempo and efficiently ran the team, handing out 11 assists against three turnovers in 38 minutes. Bowen battled Phillips at one end and found multiple ways to score at the other, finishing with 23 points. Vivian Frieson (17 points) relieved pressure when the Musketeers sold out defensively against Vandersloot and Bowman. I was also very impressed by the coaching of Kelly Graves, who kept his team calm as Xavier rallied in the second half and drew up some great plays out of timeouts.

Now Gonzaga, which won its first NCAA Tournament game ever in its second appearance, can legitimately aspire to reach the Sweet 16 by winning Monday's matchup with Pitt, which beat Montana 64-35 in the first game of Saturday's Hec Ed double-header. To do that, the Zags will have to find a way to slow down Panthers star Shavonte Zellous, who scored 31 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the win.

Once again, Gonzaga will have a home-court advantage of sorts. It's possible the crowd may be filled with even more Bulldogs supporters, since today fans had to divide their attention between the Gonzaga women and the men, who advanced to the Sweet 16 with a buzzer-beater against Western Kentucky just as the women were tipping off. Pitt-Gonzaga, which will air on ESPN2, tips off at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

Tournament Pool

With the Men's NCAA Tournament tipping off today, I've got brackets on the brain, and I'm sure I'm not alone. I set up a Women's Tournament pool on ESPN.com so you can compete against fellow Storm fans and even some employees. I hope you'll join us before the tournament begins Saturday morning.

Seattle Field Set for NCAA Tournament

The University of Washington and Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion will be playing host to one of 16 subregionals during the first weekend of the NCAA Women's Tournament. The four teams coming to Seattle, as revealed during yesterday's selection show, are:

• No. 4 seed Pittsburgh
• No. 5 seed Xavier
• No. 12 seed Gonzaga
• No. 13 seed Montana

Pitt takes on Montana in the early matchup at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, with Xavier and Gonzaga squaring off a half-hour after the completion of the first game. On Monday, the winners of those two teams will meet for the right to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

Tickets for all sessions are available now through GoHuskies.com. The teams will also hold open practices on Friday, starting at Noon.

If you're interested in scouting next month's WNBA Draft, Pittsburgh guard Shavonte Zellous is a likely first-round pick. WNBA Draft Net currently has Zellous as the seventh pick by Sacramento. Zellous averaged 22.9 points per game in Big East play, but was the only Panthers player to average double-figures.

Xavier, which advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons, is led by sophomore center Ta'Shia Phillips. Phillips was named A-10 Player of the Year after averaging 13.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, shooting 61.3 percent from the field. The Musketeers were 13-1 in A-10 play to win the conference regular-season crown, but were upset by Dayton in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Gonzaga needs no introduction to Hec Ed, having defeated the Huskies 64-59 in Seattle in November. The Zags won the West Coast Conference tournament for the second time in three years, as well as the WCC regular-season title. Guard Courtney Vandersloot won WCC Player of the Year honors, while Heather Bowman averaged 19.5 points and 7.6 rebounds for Gonzaga, which is sure to have a healthy contingent of supporters from the Seattle area and making their way across the mountains.

Montana is returning to Seattle after losing at Hec Ed in the opening round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, the last time the Huskies hosted a subregional. Under legendary coach Robin Selvig, now in his 31st season at the helm, the Lady Griz has made 18 trips to the NCAA Tournament. Senior guard Mandy Morales, an Arizona State recruit who transfered back home before suiting up for the Sun Devils, is the Montana player to watch. Morales averaged 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game and was named Big Sky Conference MVP for the second time in three years. (In between, the award was won by 2008 Storm training-camp invitee Natalie Doma.) WNBA Draft Net has Morales going in the third round.