Holiday Gift Guide: 13 gifts in 13 days for the WBB fan

On the 13th Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me........

It's 13 days before the big day, and we've put together a shopping guide for the women's basketball fan. (We start on day 13 in honor of the 13 Division I schools in our state.)

We will reveal one gift per day (trust us, the one we unveil on Christmas Day doesn't require any trips to the mall). We start with music and artist Noelle, the former Nicole Bellinghausen, a forward from Old Dominion. Her first CD is due out in 2012 and we love the title, "The First Noelle." Noelle, by the way, is Noelle Movement these days.

Until then, create your own CD by downloading Noelle's "It's Personal" from iTunes. The 12 songs for $9.99 are a mix of R&B, soul, hip hop and pop.

We love her smooth, silky voice and like the idea that we knew her when. As an aside, we can't let this post pass without paying homage to The Voice (that would be Frances Albert Sinatra, who would have turned 96 today. If you haven't heard his rendition of "Jingle Bells," -- J-I-N-G-L-E bells, you've missed).

Hokies cruise; Patriots fall to Maryland

Sunday's results:

Virginia Tech 70, NC Central 52
The Hokies (3-6) overcame a sluggish start to roll in the first athletic event held on campus since Thursday's fatal shooting. We’re still all a little numb from what happened the other day,” said coach Dennis Wolff. “I think the girls deserve a lot of credit with everyone being as upset as they are about Officer (Deriek) Crouse, and then still being in the middle of exams." Alyssa Fenyn and LaTorri Hines-Allen combined for 29 points and 18 rebounds. Tech will take a week off before heading to Florida for a pair.

No. 5 Maryland 78, George Mason 50
Jeri Porter acknowledged postgame that she knew what the Patriots were in for, and that was a matchup against one of the elite teams in the nation. The Terps led by as many as 40 shooting 46 percent from field, while the Patriots shot a miserable 24 percent. Taleia Moton scored 16 and Janaa Pickard 12 and GMU was 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. Not surprisingly paint points went to Maryland 44-10. "We didn't do a good job of staying patient in this game and putting the ball in the basket," Porter said. The Patriots (6-3) take off the next 11 days for exams.

The Norfolk State-Longwood game was canceled after an official collapsed early in the first half.

Maryland invades George Mason to highlight Sunday's action

Quick hits on Sunday's games:

North Carolina Central (1-7) at Virginia Tech (2-6), 1:30 p.m.
After five consecutive games away from home and three straight against Big Ten foes, the Hokies must surely be happy to welcome these Lady Eagles, in their first year as a fully accredited Division I program, to Cassell Coliseum. We won't be surprised if Tech's guards, particularly Monet Tellier, put up big numbers today. But the Hokies appear to have significant advantages inside against NCCU, so here's hoping Tech's post players take this opportunity to produce and gain confidence. We misread games involving Virginia Tech more than any other school - although we're beginning to struggle mightily with Radford, too - but we can't imagine being wrong about this one. Virginia Tech 78, NCCU 54

No. 5 Maryland (10-0) at George Mason (6-2), 2 p.m.
Women's basketball games at the Patriot Center are rarely treated as "events," but we hope a big crowd turns out to see these Patriots hosting a Top-10 team for the first time since 2005. The Patriots' strong start should have them brimming with confidence and we'd expect them to take the court fully believing they can win. But given the Terrapins' formidable blend of athleticism, experience and size (Maryland's front line is 6-2, 6-3 and 6-4, with 6-4 All-American Lynetta Kizer coming off the bench), the Patriots are about to get an all-too-realistic look at what a Top-5 team truly looks like. Maryland 74, George Mason 47

Norfolk State (5-3) at Longwood (2-6), 2 p.m.
If you read this five minutes ago, you read a great case for Norfolk State winning at home. Problem is the Spartans are on the road. The Lancers are 15-13 at home over the last 2 1/2 years. We're going with Longwood. Longwood 61, Norfolk State 54

Liberty (116 points!), Hampton, Radford and Richmond all dominate

Saturday's results:

Radford 63, Wofford 46: We loved this matchup for the Highlanders, a team that forces turnovers, against a Wofford group that commits them by the bushel. But because Radford's inability to leave campus and even keep games competitive, we wanted the Highlanders to prove they could handle their business on the road. And did they ever. The Terriers actually led most of the first half and the teams were tied at 27 with 16:15 left in the second. From there, however, the Highlanders sprinted off on a 20-2 run and never looked back. For the game, the Highlanders scored 22 points off 23 turnovers by Wofford, who lost their grip on the game after point guard Rachel Brittenham left the game with her fourth foul with 17:28 left in the first half. Da'Naria Erwin Spencer scored 24 points, freshman Ayana Avery added a career-high 13 and Victoria Hamilton snatched 12 rebounds as Radford snapped a three-game losing streak and won away from home for the first time in 17 December non-home games under coach Tajama Ngongba. Now since this was actually a neutral-site game - the event was part of UNC Asheville's Collegiate Invitational - the Highlanders' streak of futility in road games is technically still alive. But hey, the Highlanders won a game some 200 miles away from home. That's good enough for us.

Hampton 75, UMBC 47: We've been waiting for Jericka Jenkins to have a breakout game. Not a good game; she's had plenty of those. But a game befitting her status as a returning honorable mention All-American. Well, the pint-sized point guard delivered on that score Saturday, going off for 26 points and 10 assists in the Lady Pirates' rout. And that wasn't even the headline of Hampton's effort - although we make it so - as the Lady Pirates buried the Retrievers with a school-record 14 3-points. Choicetta McMillian had 7 of those, on just 11 attempts, en route to 21 points and Jenkins added five more triples. Also, Alyssa Bennett notched her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and also have 5 steals. Of course, no report on Hampton would be complete without a nod to the Lady Pirates' defense, which held the Retrievers to 27.9 percent shooting. It marked the fourth straight game Hampton (7-1) has held an opponent to 47 points or less, and it gave the Lady Pirates their fifth straight win since dropping a 63-46 decision at Florida on Nov. 22.

Liberty 116, Glenville State 65: Not surprisingly, a lot of crazy numbers came out of this one. The 116 points were the most by Liberty (4-5) since they got 142 on Roanoke College in 1976. Avery Warley had 20 points and 18 rebounds and now has 1,001 career boards. Devon Brown also scored 20 points (and 12 rebounds), Jasmine Gardner had a career-high 19 more, freshman Reagan Miller added 13 and Danika Dale added 12. No wonder the Lady Flames keep playing these guys.

Richmond 75, UNC Greensboro 60: A near-perfect post-exams tuneup for the Spiders (7-2), who torched UNCG's pressure defense to the tune of a season-high 45 first-half points on 56-percent shooting before the break. Coach Michael Shafer spread the minutes liberally throughout the roster after that; and players like newly minted first-team soccer All-American Becca Wann (10 points, 8 rebounds) and Kristina King (7 points) took full advantage. Of course, starters Abby Oliver (19 points), Gen Okoro (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Rachael Bilney (12 points, 4 assists) weren't bad, either.

Richmond, Hampton, Radford and Liberty in action Saturday

Saturday's games:

UNC Greensboro (2-5) at Richmond (6-2), noon
The Spiders acquitted themselves reasonably well in their last outing, a 69-56 loss to a stingy Virginia team. We're never sure how a team will play in its first game after an exam break, particularly a team with a lot of young players. It should help that the Spiders are playing this game at home. The Spiders took on Virginia without freshman point guard Miah Register after the surprise announcement that she would transfer at the end of the semester. Register had started the Spiders' first seven games and was averaging 7.4 points per contest. Another freshman, Keri Soppe, started at the point against the Cavaliers, and senior Abby Oliver rotated in as lead guard as well. No reason was given for the move with Register, but after the Virginia game, Spiders coach Michael Shafer told the school's Collegian newspaper the following: "I really believe we have five kids on the floor that are on the same page. It may not have looked like it tonight in spurts, but in terms of buying in and understanding what it is we need to do, I don't question that with Abby, I don't question that with Keri." In addition to Register, the school also announced that reserve guard Leah Johnson, who played sparingly last season and had missed all of this year's games with injury, would also transfer after the fall semester. Richmond 69, UNCG 58

Radford  (4-3) vs. Wofford (6-2) in SoCon/Big South Challenge at UNC Asheville, 2 p.m.
The Highlanders have dropped their last three games by double digits, all on the road, and are 0-16 in December road games since coach Tajama Ngongba took over in 2008. The Wofford team when watched against Old Dominion Wednesday is exactly the type of team these Highlanders should be able to bother with their superior athleticism and defensive tenacity. But given their road woes, both this season and in their recent past, the Highlanders need to prove they can play like that away from home. It would help if the Highlanders can get off to a decent start, as they effectively played themselves out of losses to George Washington and Loongwood in the game's first 10 minutes. Wofford 62, Radford 53

Glenville State (6-2) at Liberty (3-5), 4 p.m.
The first of two straight games against Division II opponents for the Lady Flames. Run-and-gun Glenville State leads the nation in scoring at 101.9 points per game but has been held an average of 60 by Liberty in the teams' meetings the last two seasons.  Liberty 95, Glenville State 70

UMBC (5-4) at Hampton (6-1), 6 p.m.
In its 65-53 decision over George Mason Thursday, the Retrievers got big games from its usual stars, Michelle Kurowski and Erin Brown, but also got a big night from reserve Brittany Crowell. Hampton's defense specializes in taking stuff away from opponents, so we'd be surprised if even two of these players are able to get theirs tonight. The Lady Pirates have won four straight and have limited their last four opponents to 41 points or less. Hampton 65, UMBC 44

Playing the prediction game

It looks like we've got Richmond figured out, and we never miss on Longwood.

But Virginia Tech? Seems like we don't have a clue.

We'll keep making predicting their games, though. Everyone else's games, too. Trying to pick the winners, score and all, has become one of the most fun things we do.

Now, we don't take these picks - or ourselves, for that matter - too seriously. No advanced metrics or serious numbers-crunching. We just study each matchup for a bit, then go with a gut feeling. So far it seems to be working - out of the 90 games involving state teams this season, our gut has been right 70 times.

Our start was an inauspicious one. For our very first pick on the very first day of the regular season, we thought Old Dominion would christen the Karen Barefoot Era with a 10-point home victory over Virginia Tech. Instead, the Hokies christened the Dennis Wolff Era with a 12-point road victory over ODU.

But recently, we've hit our stride. From Nov. 27 through Saturday, we hit on 17 consecutive correct picks over the six-day span and came within one game of a perfect week (who knew JMU would lose at Towson?).

Probably our favorite pick came on Thanksgiving Day, when we played a hunch that winless Old Dominion would find a way to get it done against Alabama in the Virgin Islands' Paradise Jam Tournament. Becca Allison saved us, er, the Lady Monarchs, by draining a jumper at the buzzer for a one-point victory. Just like we predicted, right:?

The one that still has us scratching our head came two days later, when George Washington Hall of Famer Tajama Abraham took her undefeated Radford team to play her old school. We just knew the Highlanders would be fired up to make their coach look good and deliver a prime-time performance. Instead, they fell behind 23-0 and went on to get blown out by 24.

But that's the only Radford game we've missed on. We also have just one loss picking games involving Hampton and Liberty, and were perfect with Longwood and Richmond. For some reason, though, we can't quite figure out those Hokies, who we've swung and missed on four times. That's twice as many losses as we have with any other school.

That's just one of the reasons we have no plans to start playing our hunches in Vegas any time soon. Otherwise, we're really getting a kick out of trying to figure out which way these games are going to go. It's a great way to focus in on each game. And fans seem to enjoy knowing where we stand (or think we stand).

So we'll keep making the picks. And who knows? Eventually, we may even start getting a few Tech games right.

For a game-by-game look at our predictions and the actual results, check out our prediction archive.

VCU's Q quite a line in Hungary

Eighteen points and 17 rebounds doesn't sound too shabby to us, a line good enough to earn Quanitra Hollingsworth MVP honors in the Euroleague for the second time this season.

The former VCU center, who plays for Uni Seat Györ (that's in Hungary), pulled down 14 defensive boards - a record this season in the road victory in Gdynia,. Others in the running for Week 9 MVP: Tina Charles, Angel McCoughtry and Nicole Powell. Q, by the way, has scored in double figures in all but one game this season.

We love hearing Q is doing well overseas and only wish she had some eligibility left, so we could see her alongside Courtney Hurt and Andrea Barbour.

UMBC snaps Mason's 6-game win streak; JMU mashes Maine

Thursday's results:

UMBC 65, George Mason 53: The final score makes this look worse than it was, as these teams exchanged the lead 22 times and the Patriots led by one with less than five minutes remaining. But those final five minutes were disastrous for Mason as the Retrievers got offensive rebounds, made it to the free throw line and hit clutch shots during their game-closing 17-4 run that resigned the Patriots to their first loss since their Nov. 11 season opener at American. The Retrievers also succeeded in containing Patriots star Taleia Moton (24.7 ppg), who had scored at least 30 points in her previous three games. Using a zone defense that neutralized Moton's attacks of the rim, the Retrievers limited Division I's third-leading scorer to just 9 points on 2-of-12 shooting. Erin Brown led UMBC with 21 points, Michelle Kurowski added 19 and Brittany Crowell, a transfer from James Madison, contributed 12 points and 9 rebounds. Janaa Pickard scored 17 points and Amber Easter had 14 for the Patriots (6-2).

James Madison 64, Maine 47: The Dukes' defense was the start in this one, particularly in a first half during which it produced almost as many turnovers (16) as the Black Bears had points (17). JMU led by 17 at the break and kept a double-digit advantage the rest of the way. Jasmine Gill and Tarik Hislop each had 13 points to lead the Dukes (6-1). The Dukes also got some much-needed inside scoring from starting forwards Lauren Whitehurst and Nikki Newman, who combined for 20 points. Newman's 9 points were particularly welcome, as she began play with only 13 points in her previous six games combined. Newman always brings the defense and rebounding, and she was productive in those areas again Thursday with 8 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 steals. If she can add a bit of scoring punch, we're talking about an All-CAA caliber player - and the Dukes would be that much more dangerous a ballclub. Samantha Wheeler scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the second half for the Black Bears (3-6), who settled down after intermission and played the Dukes evenly (30-30) over the final 20 minutes.

RANDOMNESS with Virginia Tech's Monet Tellier

We're back with RANDOMNESS and our eager (willing?) subject today is Virginia Tech sophomore Monet Tellier. Tellier, a starter in all eight games, averaged 17 ppg and 4.6 rpg and shooting .432 from the field and .455 from behind the arc. As much as we love her game (and we imagine coach Dennis Wolff does, too), we really love her first name. So that's what we start with.

The name? My mom actually did name me after the painter. I actually have three (prints) of his and I have a blanket of one of them, Monet's Garden, hanging on my door.

You grew up in Husky country (Willimantic, Conn.) Did that have an impact on you? I actually grew up right down the street from UConn. My grandfather worked at UConn at one of the facilities. I can remember watching one of the national championships.

Are you a closet Husky fan? Yeah, I have to admit I am. I grew up so close to them. I respect Geno.

Your favorite spot in Blacksburg? Our locker room

Favorite movie? "Space Jam." It used to be "Love and Basketball," but there was a time I watched "Space Jam" three times a day. I have "Space Jam" pajamas and everything.

You're into shopping? I'm addicted to shoes, though I probably don't have as many as other shoe addicts.

Fave pair? Jordans.

What would you like for Christmas? Beats by DRE (headphones)

Push shuffle on your Ipod and what might come up? A lot of R&B songs. Or Drake.

What is this I hear about you and seafood? I absolutely am disgusted by seafood. My mom said I used to love it growing up. Maybe I grew out of it.

What would surprise folks about you? I like owls and snow tigers. I got this gigantic snow tiger on a vacation with my family. Owls are just fascinating animals to watch. And snow tigers are beautiful.

Speaking of owls....I'm a night owl. I'm the furthest thing from a morning person.

Food vice? Sour candy

Pet peeve? People being loud for no reason.

What is the transition like to a new coach this season? Coach Wolff is a more simple coach. He doesn't like all these flashy plays.

You were on the national adidas Candace Parker team in 2009. What was that like? It was a great experience. I got to travel to Japan and play different college teams. I got to meet Candace Parker. She's amazing. She's a very humble person.

Who do you like to watch? Diana Taurasi. She was in the national championship game I was watching when I was young. I think it was her second one. Also Dwyane Wade.

Your major was general studies, but now? It's human development, childhood and adolescent. I'd like to put my own gym or recreation center in a bad place.

On TV, you like...."Phineas & Ferb," "Jersey Shore"

Has it always been about basketball? I played football until I was 9. Every position except lineman. I played softball up until high school. I was in love with softball. Then I started playing AAU basketball and made new friendships. It was so much fun to me.

Also see: RANDOMNESS with....

George Mason's Amber Easter

Norfolk State's Rachel Gordon

Is there someone you'd like to read about? Let us know at ladyswishing@hotmail.com

George Mason, JMU in action Thursday

Thursday's games

James Madison at Maine, 6 p.m.
The temperature should be in the reasonable low 30s at tipoff time in Orono, Maine, so the Dukes should first be thankful they're playing this game on Dec. 8 instead of Jan. 8. The next thing is to try and find some scoring in the low post to take some of the load off some perimeter players who may be pressing a bit. Given how much different this JMU team is from the one that repeated as CAA champion a year ago, a 5-1 record at this stage is not bad at all. The search for their offensive identity continues tonight. JMU 67, Maine 55

George Mason at UMBC, 7 p.m.
Interesting story on the Patriots' web site about the red-hot Taleia Moton, who has flourished since moving from the point to the 2-guard, currently ranks third in the nation in scoring and has dropped at least 30 points on her last three opponents. Moton's individual brilliance has headlined the Patriots' six-game winning streak, but it's been Mason's CAA-leading defense that has been the backbone. We think UMBC will struggle to solve that defense, so even if Moton isn't Supergirl again, we expect the Pats can find enough offense to make it seven wins in a row. George Mason 58, UMBC 52