Liberty hangs on to win Big South

We called it a little early on Twitter, but like Devon Brown, we were sure Liberty was going to win all the time. The Lady Flames survived a monster Gardner-Webb run to win their third straight Big South title, 68-66. Last Lady Flames shot? You got it. Brown with 4.2 seconds left.

Now Liberty joins Hampton and James Madison as automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Tournament field.

Don't be surpised if UConn is Norfolk-bound

A thought to ponder. ODU has never been to the WNIT. Will the Lady Monarchs (18-13) accept a bid given that they're hosting first and second rounds in Norfolk?

As crushing as it was for the marketing folks in Norfolk to watch ODU go down to JMU in Sunday's CAA final, the silver lining might be the UConn Huskies and their arena-filling fans coming to town. It's either Norfolk or Pitt for the Huskies (bracket will be unveiled Monday evening), and we're betting the committee will look south.

JMU, Evans dominate ODU to win CAA

James Madison is the CAA champion for the first time since 1989. The Dukes delivered Kenny Brooks' first conference title on Sunday on their home floor by outhustling and outworking the Lady Monarchs from tip to buzzer. ODU had a late spark to cut a 19-point game to five, but the Lady Monarchs' horrid shooting combined with their lackluster performance on the boards and from the free-throw line contributed to their 67-53 loss.

But take nothing away from JMU. The Dukes had more energy, balanced scoring and a stupendous effort by Dawn Evans (25 points) beat ODU for the fourth time in five games.

If you saw the tears at the end, you had to be touched. As difficult as it was to watch Jasmine Parker sob on the bench, it was incredibly heartwarming to see Dawn Evans wipe away tears of joy.

We'll be back with more.......

Hampton storms to MEAC title and NCAAs

We've been saying for weeks now that Hampton looks like the class of the MEAC. Now, the Lady Pirates have the hardware to prove it.

The second-seeded Lady Pirates outclassed No. 8 South Carolina State 57-46 in Saturday's MEAC title game, completing the final step in a dominant three-game tournament run. Hampton won its first game by 24 points; its second by 20. The Lady Pirates have now won 14 of their last 15 games.

Not that anyone at ESPN cares. Although the network has the rights to the MEAC tournament, the so-called Worldwide Leader opted against airing Saturday's 5 p.m. final live. Instead, the game will be televised Sunday at 11 a.m. Love to see the ratings for that one. I mean, why even bother showing it at all? End of rant.

With the win, Hampton (20-11) becomes the first Virginia Division I school to cement an NCAA Tournament bid. Two more will be on the line Sunday when Old Dominion plays host James Madison in the CAA final (12:30 p.m., Comcast) and Liberty takes on Gardner-Webb in the Big South title game (2 p.m., MASN). Also, Virginia will surely receive an at-large bid when the field is announced Monday at 7 p.m. (ESPN). And JMU will likely receive an invitation no matter what happens against ODU.

As for Hampton's NCAA Tournament prospects, projections by both collegerpi.com and espn.com have the Lady Pirates as a No. 15 seed. Such a seeding would make it unlikely that Hampton could open NCAA Tournament play in Norfolk (Old Dominion is one of 16 hosts for the first two rounds), especially if the Lady Monarchs win their way into the field Sunday. ESPN projects the Lady Pirates to play their first-round game against Duke in Durham. Not only would such a pairing make regional sense, but it would also serve as something of a learning experience for the Lady Pirates. With its myriad of presses and traps, Duke is sort of a souped-up version of Hampton. Maybe the Lady Pirates could pick up a few tips....

But Hampton can worry about that next week. For now, it's party time, because the newly crowned MEAC champs are going dancin'.

Oh, and by the way, wouldn't this would be a good time to remove the interim tag from head coach David Six's title?

JMU thwarts VCU's comeback in CAA semi

VCU clawed and clawed, but could never get all the way back from an 18-point halftime deficit (though the Rams' eight points in 21 seconds to start the second half was remarkable). But if you turned the TV off at the break, you missed a heckuva effort by the Rams, who surely have a WNIT bid awaiting.

Credit to James Madison (25-6), which held on to win 79-70, and what a game by Dawn Evans. Her shot was off (she still scored 21 points), but the rest of her game was on. Every time the Rams got close, Evans made a play -- the little kinds of intangibles that the stat sheet doesn't reflect. The only bad news for JMU -- Evans played 38 minutes, something we know Kenny Brooks didn't expect with his team up 18.

We believe Evans has enough left in her for Sunday's date with ODU, a game that will be played in the JMU Convocation Center (12:30 p.m,). The last time JMU won the conference championship was 1989, before Evans was born.

EDD: It's only the beginning

Elena Delle Donne's freshman season might soon be over (Delaware will surely get a WNIT bid), but her college career is just getting started.

"We will be back," said Blue Hens coach Tina Martin. "And we're going to be around for years to come competing for a championship."

Added ODU coach Wendy Larry: "That young Delaware team will have a lot of those great games in their bucket down the line."

ODU beat Delaware three times this season with a meager 4 points separating the teams.

Delaware led forever, but ODU notches the win for trip to CAA final

Elena Delle Donne was nothing short of amazing in Saturday's CAA Tournament semifinal against Old Dominion. We're used to the CAA Player of the Year dominating, but scoring the final 19 points of the game all by herself? Wow! Here's another wow. Delaware lost 50-49.

So many times in the last 18 years, you think that Old Dominion must be lucky. But nobody's luck is this good, so once again we credit Wendy Larry, a wizard at winning in this league for a victory that for 38 minutes looked like a loss. But we of little faith; you don't get to be 53-1 in the CAA tournament by luck.

ODU trailed by 12 at the half after the kind of miserable scoring drought that has haunted the LM all season. ODU didn't exactly open the second half on a burst either, and for all the world, it looked as if Delaware would become the first fifth seed to reach the championship game.

But ODU picked away and Delaware's guards continued to give away the ball, but still, until the final three minutes, it looked as if ODU would not be able to get over the scoring hump.

Then freshman Jackie Cook brought ODU within 3 at 45-42, her lone trey of the game. After a Delle Donne miss, Eva Riddick grabbed what seemed to be the 100th rebound for the Hens only to have EDD misfire again. Shadasia Green nabbed it and went to the line after a blocking foul by EDD. She downed two, bringing ODU within one. After another Hen miss, Green had her second greatest assist as a Lady Monarch, dishing off to Mairi Buchan, who fooled EDD with a running jumper off her right hand at the 1:34 mark, which gave the Lady Monarchs an actual lead, at 46-45. The teams traded baskets, and with 45 seconds left, Delle Donne scored her 30th point of the game, her 10th from the line for 49-48.

Buchan's shot was too hard, but this time ODU snatched the offensive board and Lewis got the putback. A triple-teamed EDD had one more look but it didn't go down and ODU season MVP Jasmine Parker ran away with the rebound and flung it in the air at the buzzer.

You ask yourself how, how, how does ODU do it, but yet again they're in the final for the 18th time in the last 19 years. Simply put, Larry knows what she's doing in this tournament.

CNU's magical streak ends in Sweet 16

We salute the Christopher Newport University Captains, who finished the season at 30-1 on Friday night. CNU fell to Rochester 74-69 in the Division III Sweet 16 in Union, N.J. Not surprisingly, Chelsie Schweers led the way with 27 points. We wish the run wasn't over but nothing can diminish the accomplishment of winning 30 consecutive, the best season in CNU history.

It will be a JMU/VCU clash in CAA semis

So who do you like in the second CAA semi on Saturday? James Madison (24-6) blasted UNC Wilmington 67-40 and VCU denied Hofstra 51-38 in Friday's quarterfinal to set up the state matchup.
The good news for JMU coach Kenny Brooks is that the Dukes won despite Dawn Evans playing 21 minutes. The junior got into early foul trouble and is pacing herself in this tournament due to a kidney ailment that increases fatigue. But JMU had plenty of firepower, led by Tarik Hislop with 18. And if you recall, the Dukes blew out VCU in the team's last meeting in Richmond, largely without Evans, who sprained an ankle eight minutes into the game and did not return.

VCU (20-11) without La'Tavia Moss has gone beyond our expectations and won't go down without a fight. Defensive CAA Player of the Year Kita Waller is playing her best ball of the season. But given JMU swept the series this season, we go with the Dukes again here in a house anticipating a meeting with ODU.

What we'd really like to see is some points between both teams. Wilmington could only manage 40 and Hofstra a mere 38? We credit the JMU and VCU defenses (picture above shows Moss and Hofstra senior guard Sam Brigham who had a ghastly 10 turnovers), but missed open layups and ill-timed shots have plagued not just the CAA, but women's basketball this season (we're not talking about UConn and Stanford, by the way). How about a little of "She shoots. She scores!"

And one more gripe. The 2010 Virginia 529 College Savings Plan CAA women's basketball championship doesn't exactly have a ring to it.

Hampton rolls to MEAC final; S.C. State next

Another quick start, another easy Hampton victory and one more step towards a MEAC Tournament title.

The second-seeded Lady Pirates stormed to a 22-6 lead before the game was 12 minutes old and cruised to a 58-38 rout of No. 6 Bethune-Cookman Friday in Winston-Salem. All that stands between Hampton and the title now is No. 8 South Carolina State, who surprised yet again by thumping No. 4 Howard 63-50.

Quanneisha Perry had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Lady Pirates (18-11), who scored 21 points off 23 Bethune turnovers and blew out an opponent by jumping on them early for the second straight game. In Wednesday's quarterfinal against Maryland-Eastern Shore, Hampton surged to a 23-6 lead en route to a 65-41 victory.

Hampton and S.C. State will meet in the final Saturday at 5 p.m., with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament at stake. The Lady Pirates will be the heavy favorites - they won by 20 when these teams met in Orangeburg, S.C. on Feb. 6. Granted, the Lady Bulldogs are clearly playing better basketball at this point. But judging from what they've done these first two rounds, so are the Lady Pirates.