The Ladyswish latte

Who needs coffee? Get your morning started with a few basketball musings....

Stopped by Hampton Wednesday night for the Pirates' "Midnight Madness" and got another reminder of why coaches hate these events. On three different occasions, Lady Pirates coach David Six cautioned his players "Don't get hurt!" - and this was before they even threw the ball up. The Lady Pirates' "scrimmage" lasted just five minutes - with a running time - and none of the players even thought about playing defense. Still, Six didn't exhale until the final horn and all players left the court in the same condition in which they took it. 

In the works

- Who's got the best Division I team in Virginia? Beats us. But that's never stopped us from weighing in on the topic, so look for our preseason state rankings soon. Really soon. 

- Hampton All-American Jericka Jenkins talks about dancing, her funny teammates and when she might get her first tattoo. Oh, and a little bit about surviving Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Once one of the top high school players in the country, Alyssa Bennett set off on an arduous two-year journey - only to wind up right back in her hometown. 

We're shouting out....

- Avery Warley, the Liberty star who returned to Lynchburg Wednesday after a stint with the United States squad in the Pan Am Games. Like Team USA itself, Warley got better as the tournament progressed and did her school and all of Virginia women's hoops proud. Still, Avery, we were just wondering...is there any way you could have packed Breanna Stewart's jump hook for the trip home? That kid is a stud.

- Rachael Ross, a rising senior from Illinois who verbally committed to Radford earlier this week. In addition to being a fine alliteration teammate for current Highlanders freshman Ayana Avery, the 6-3 Ross will add size to a Radford squad starved for bigs. (Click here to see all the Division I verbal commitments in the state.)

 - Eric Bohannon, who settles into Dustin Semonavick's seat as Old Dominion's women's basketball information man. We haven't seen the last of Semonavick, though - he's now handling men's basketball at Towson.

Last-second shots

- We too will really miss Sue Donohoe. Huge loss for the women's game.

- Xavier seventh in the Atlantic 10? Tough league.

- Cardinals 4, Rangers 2. Pujols goes deep. Bring on Game Seven.

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Wiedersehen, folks.