Tonight, Women Have the Last Word
April 6, 2010
by Anna Belle Pfau
|Duke may be “The King of the Dance, 2010,” but it remains to be seen who will be “Queen of the Dance.” We’ll find out tonight when UCONN, on a 77-game winning streak, attempts to secure another national championship. The Huskies play the Stanford Cardinals, the last team they lost to, for that championship tonight. You can watch on your local ESPN channel, beginning at 8:30 EST.
UCONN Huskies' Maya Moore
If you have never watched a women’s basketball game, I highly encourage you to catch this game. Before 2003, when ESPN began to cover more than just the women’s playoffs, it was difficult to catch women’s games on television. Since 2003, ESPN and ESPNU have aired every women’s game in the conference. As a result, the women’s games have gained in popularity among sports enthusiasts and women have been able to make names for themselves in the sport.
Take Maya Moore, for example. The 6’0” tall Moore is a junior at UCONN who carries a 3.9 GPA in academics. She holds the record for single-season scoring at UCONN with 754 points during her sophomore year. She was the first player, male or female, to earn Big East Player of the Year as a freshman (2008). Her game is amazing, and her moves demonstrate the grace and fluidity of seasoned players like “Pistol” Pete Maravich.
Joining her on the team is Senior Tina Charles, at 6’ 4” perhaps the most formidable player in women’s college basketball today. She holds an amazing array of records, including 211 blocks, 104 starts out of 110 games, and has tallied over 1600 points and 296 turnovers in her four-year college career. Charles maintains a 3.82 GPA as a psychology major and scored 1080 on the SAT. She is seeking vindication for the 2008 loss to Stanford tonight in the final game of her college career.
Stanford Cardinals Senior Jayne Appel
Moore, Charles, and the rest of the UCONN Huskies will have a formidable opponent in the Stanford Cardinals. The Cardinals seat 8 participating players who are 6’ 2” or taller. The stars on the Cardinal Team include Senior Jayne Appel (6’ 4”), Sophomore Nnemkadi Ogwumike (6’2”), and Junior Kayla Pedersen (6’4”). These ladies hold GPAs of 3.5, 3.8, and 4.0 respectively.
The Cardinals might prove a difficult front-court combination for the Huskies to beat this year, but try they must. If they do, they will have the record for college basketball winning streaks within their sights. Only the UCLA men’s team under legendary coach John Wooden can beat them, with 88 consecutive wins. Coaches Tara VanDerveer and Geno Auriamma have their work cut out for themselves and the players tonight. This game promises to be every bit as good as, if not better than, watching Butler hold its own against Duke last night.
I notice my husband has been watching women’s basketball as well as the men’s games (I don’t watch TV sports). It is nice to see women’s basketball doing well since they haven’t pornified the sport. I was shocked to see what women’s track has done to attract male viewers. I turned it off as it was offensive and it is too bad that young girls who run track won’t have the pros to look up to. ESPN is a Disney channel and it seems to me Disney is one of the few media companies who do a good job of portraying girls and women on their channels.
I’ll be watching tonight again too tonight AB!
Isn’t it fantastic that, at least with college basketball playoffs, women have reached parity! Even if not during the regular season, I’ll take it!!!
When I was growing up, only the final game of women’s college ball was televised…and of course there was not WNBA.
Now THAT’s progress – Title IX worked!
P.S.: I’ll share your piece with my kids tonight – they’ll love it….
Oh Bes, I do hope you and your hubby will watch tonight. It is amazing, and UCONN is on the longest winning streak of any female team. If they win tonight, only 11 more to go before they beat the men’s record too!
I can’t wait, Amy. Can’t wait to hear what your kids think! Hope to see you on twitter later. I’ll be live-tweeting from my handle @annabellep!
Uconn won!! I’m so excited. Does anyone know when the next season starts?
I don’t watch sports but I am proud of my state (CT) – they have been giving excellent coverage to Uconn women in the local news for the past several years and no doubt that has some positive synergy with the wins of Uconn women. The top three state newspapers all had the Uconn women’s win as their top headline in huge letters.
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