After an epic battle, #1 Baylor topped #3 UConn, 76-70. Brittney Griner passed the 3,000-point mark in the process.
Highlights.
Other results:
#8 Kentucky kept #10 Texas A&M at bay, 70-66.
#14 Dayton survived Duquesne, 58-57.
Washington bested Oregon State, 49-44.
Illinois ground out a win over Wisconsin, 60-53.
More college news:
Short-handed Virginia is struggling to gain traction.
Utah State leads the nation in free throw shooting percentage.
Injuries have hurt Bowling Green.
Don't ask Georgia State's Gaby Morris where she's from - it takes too long.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
That flagrant cheap shot by Griner on Dolson should have gotten her thrown out of the game.
This isn't Griner's first flagrantly unsportsmanlike move. The only difference is that there were no broken bones this time around.
To top it off they make a hero out of her after the game. Unbelievable.
That was a Flagrant 1 foul. Here are the NCAA rules:
... The panel also approved a change in nomenclature on fouls that are deemed more severe than a “common” foul in both men’s and women’s basketball. The terms “Flagrant 1” and “Flagrant 2” will now be used. A Flagrant 1 foul takes the place of an intentional foul and the Flagrant 2 foul replaces the previous flagrant foul.
An example of a Flagrant 1 foul would be when a player swings an elbow and makes illegal, non-excessive contact with an opponent above the shoulders. The team whose player was struck would receive two free throws and possession of the ball. Previously, this type of foul was called an intentional foul. The committee wanted to move away from the word “intentional,” because a player’s intent was never the point to the rule.
An example of a Flagrant 2 foul would be when a player swings an elbow excessively and makes contact with an opponent above the shoulders. In this case, the player who threw the elbow would be ejected from the game, and the other team would receive two free throws and the ball."
http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/2011-05-26/prop-approves-rules-changes
I know what they called.
Griner's contact was not "non-excessive." She intentionally grabbed Dolson and threw her to the ground. Explain to me what is non-excessive about that. Dolson was moving upcourt and Griner grabbed her arm from behind and threw her into the ground. Look at the tape. Dolson banged her head on the court.
If what she did wasn't excessive and intentional I don't know what foul might be. By any fair interpretation of the rule Griner should have been given a flagrant 2 and pitched from the game. By the NCAA definition at least the swinging of an elbow might be called inadvertent. There was nothing inadvertent about Griner's actions.
Instead it's a red letter date for Griner and WCBB.
Go Figure. I guess it was a made for TV moment. Not impressive to most WCBB fans and particularly not impressive to regular fans that might have been tuning in for one of their first WCBB contests.
A lot of people on my twitter timeline also said that if it were any other player but Griner, she would have been thrown out of the game.
If Dolson had been injured, I'd absolutely agree with those who feel that Griner deserved a flagrant 2 and ejection.
But Dolson not only took and made the free throws, but she remained in the game, playing the full 40 minutes.
We probably aren't going to agree on this one. It shouldn't take a physical injury for a ref to make the right call. If they had just been tied up and Dolson hit the floor that's one thing, but being grabbed from behind during a change of possession to me is a totally different deal.
I'm no UConn fan, but it's not like they had someone on the bench that could guard Griner if Dolson had to sit.
I don't want to beat a dead horse here cause it really doesn't matter now but I guess the thing that really got me going was the commentary after the cheap shot. The color / play by play people were raving about how that foul was a momentum changer and "got Griner going" instead of doing the right thing. Obviously the network had a reason to pitch Griner and the game positively but to me and I think to a lot of fans that understand and value the game it really came across poorly. I also don't like the message it sends to young ballers who should be looking up to Griner. That wasn't basketball.
In any case it doesn't matter now. It's history.
Games like that are the reason why I miss A Jones and Diana. Sometimes as a teamie, you have to send a bump or gutcheck to the oppostion. Its just to let them know "hey, don't be handling my teammate so rough" :)
True, but I hate to see the game devolve to the point that everyone is trying to out "John Wayne" each other.
That said this UConn team doesn't have that strong personality that some have had. Taurasi would have come out of her skin if someone had pulled that stunt on a UConn club from her era.
Would love to see Taurasi vs. Griner, but since the Mercury are about to draft Britt, I guess we won't.
I totally agree. You can't allow the opponent to hurt ur teammates. If Stef had leveled Griner, Sims would've been all in Stefs face...all 5'7 inches of her lol
Yep. Sims is a baller. She's got all kinds of juice. A point guard in the truest sense of the word.
I honestly don't know of a better 1 in the nation this year including Seems to me that with the best 1 and 5 in WCBB if Baylor doesn't repeat it's an upset.
I understand the teamwork thing, but I don't get the group hug that UConn had after Dolson got flattened vs. at least a candid discussion with Ms. Griner. Someone probably would have gotten T'd up but it might have held the momentum in the game and impacted the outcome.
The good news is most of these games within the top 4 or 5 teams have been close. It will be interesting to see who learns what from the experience and how it impacts the tourney.
Post a Comment