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AUSTIN, Texas -- For West Virginia, it was a disaster. For
LSU, it was the perfect start to the season. Way back on Nov. 12, the Lady Tigers romped over the
Mountaineers 64-25 in the first game for both teams. It was another dominating performance for LSU, which had made
three straight Final Fours and came into the season expecting to
make a fourth. For a West Virginia program still trying to establish itself
nationally, it was an embarrassment. So guess what? It's time for the rematch. And there's an awful
lot at stake this time around. Third-seeded LSU (27-7) and No. 11 West Virginia (21-10) meet
again Monday night in the second round of the Fresno Regional. The
winner moves on to the round of 16. "I try to forget the score, to be honest with you," West
Virginia coach Mike Carey said of the first game. "We showed them
some of that film, but not a lot of it." It's easy to see why. Playing on LSU's home court, West Virginia was 9-of-44 shooting
the ball and committed 24 turnovers. The Mountaineers couldn't even
make free throws, missing eight of 13 attempts. It was like someone had hit the Mountaineers with some Louisiana
voodoo and all they wanted to do was get home and regroup. "We played so bad," Carey said. The Mountaineers have made plenty of changes since then. Back in that first game, Carey was still trying to mix and match
lineups, looking for the right combination. Eventually, WVU
recovered from its season-opening mess to finish fourth in the Big
East and win 20 games in the regular season for the first time in
15 years. LSU acting head coach Bob Starkey, a West Virginia native who
takes a keen interest in the Mountaineers, is impressed by their
evolution. "Every now and then, you're going to play somebody and you're
going to play particularly well and they're going to play
particularly poor. It just happened to be that day," Starkey said.
"They're just a different team. They're playing with a lot of
confidence now." In the first matchup, West Virginia center Olayinka Sanni scored
just two points in 14 minutes in her battle with LSU's 6-foot-6
Sylvia Fowles. In the Mountaineers' first-round win over Xavier on Saturday
night, she scored 20 against the Musketeers' 6-5 center Amber
Harris, who was the Atlantic 10 rookie of the year. "I have to go at it and go strong," Sanni said. "It's going
to be a real aggressive game tomorrow." Fowles expects a tougher game from Sanni, who appears much more
confident and physical than the first time they met. "I'm pretty sure she worked on a couple of things that she
needed to work on," Fowles said. In Monday night's other second-round game in Austin,
third-seeded Oklahoma (27-4) plays No. 6 Marquette (26-6) in the
Dayton Regional. The Sooners will be looking for a bigger game from their
All-American center Courtney Paris. She got her 59th consecutive
double-double in Saturday's win over Southeast Missouri State but
for once was relegated to role player status as freshman point
guard Jenna Plumley scored 20 points. While Paris is the established star, Plumley is the emerging one
for the Sooners. Only 5-4, Plumley is a swift dribbler and shooter who can scoot
around screens and defenders. She's been the starter since a Feb.
12 win over rival Texas and has helped spark the Sooners through a
nine-game winning streak. She scored 24 against Baylor in the Big 12 tournament
semifinals, then had the biggest game of her career against
Southeast Missouri State with six 3-pointers and seven assists
against just two turnovers. Her two 3-pointers late in the second half helped kill a
Redhawks rally. "Coach says that we are going to get open shots, especially
when they double-down and focus so much on Courtney," Plumley
said. "It just gives our shooters a great opportunity to get in
rhythm and knock down easy shots." "Easy" is debatable. Every time Plumley popped a 3-pointer, she seemed to drift
further away from the basket for the next one. "They were crazy, crazy deep. Beyond NBA deep," Oklahoma coach
Sherri Coale said. Even so, Marquette knows the Oklahoma offense runs through Paris
in the post. The Golden Eagles dominated first-round opponent
Louisiana-Lafayette with a front line that starts three players 6
feet or taller. Height alone won't get it done against Paris, who
averages 23 points and 16 rebounds. Paris became the first player to record 700 points, 500 rebounds
and 100 blocks last season as a freshman and needs just four
rebounds Monday night to do it again. "If she had 13 points or 30 points, she has all of our
attention," Marquette coach Terri Mitchell said. "We'll give her
all the attention she deserves."
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