Women revealing meaning of parity

By Walt Moody

In most major women’s college basketball conferences, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to predict how the conference race will finish.

In the Big East, you can count on Connecticut and Rutgers to be at the top. In the ACC, it’s North Carolina, Maryland and Duke. In the SEC, Tennessee and LSU will always be grappling for the crown.

It’s usually that way in the Big Ten, but not this season. In just the second full week of conference play, the league is well on its way to giving new meaning to the word parity.

No team is unbeaten in conference play and just three — Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue —have one loss. To put that in perspective, Ohio State won the league with 15-1 record, while Purdue was 14-2 and Michigan State was 13-3.

While many coaches expected a competitive race, they didn’t expect such a mish-mash in the conference standings this soon.

“I don’t think any of us would have said that at this point every team would have a loss,” Wisconsin’s Lisa Stone said during Tuesday’s Big Ten teleconference.

“I just think that it’s anybody’s ballgame right now,” Penn State’s Coquese Washington said. “The Big Ten Conference is wide open. Every day, every game, you have to be ready.”

New coaches have certainly made an impact. Washington, Illinois’ Jolette Law and Michigan’s Kevin Borseth, have their teams playing better than a year ago. Suzy Merchant has struggled early, but her squad handed the No. 19 Buckeyes their only league loss.

“The four coaches coming into the league inherited very nice situations — not perfect, but nice situations with players they could work with and have immediate results,” Ohio State’s Jim Foster said.

When asked to pinpoint the crazy start, Foster points at the lack of experience on most Big Ten rosters and some key injuries — such as Purdue’s Lyndsay Wisdom-Hilton.

“It’s not a strong senior league.” Foster said. “I think most teams in this league are very, very young. We’re going to grow in the confines of the league. That means learning how to win on the road. That means learning how to carry over some intensity, etc.”

Experience hasn’t helped some others. Stone, whose starts three seniors including Preseason Player of the Year Jolene Anderson, is 10th in the conference.

“You can’t wallow in it too long. You can’t celebrate in it too long, either,” Stone said of league play. “You have to go on to the next opponent.”

Washington said she wouldn’t be surprised if Foster’s Buckeyes separate themselves from the pack. “I still think that from top to bottom they’re still probably the odds-on favorite to win the conference,” she said. “They’re probably the most experienced and have got a lot of talent. ... I think they’re going to put a string of wins together and be at the top of the conference at some point.”

As for Penn State, “Honestly, I don’t know,” Washington added. “We’re capable of beating a team like Michigan State and we’re capable of losing on the road. I don’t know where we rank. ... We could be ninth or we could be second. We’re all in the big jumble.”

Strong woman

Although she’s relatively new to Ohio State’s starting lineup, don’t expect forward Tamarah Riley to get pushed around. The 6-foot-2 senior is one of the strongest players Foster has seen in his long career.

“She’s unbelievable in the weight room,” Foster said of Riley, who is averaging five points and six rebounds per game. “Her strength in the bench press and just whatever it is that they’re doing in there is just impressive.”

Since being inserted into the starting lineup three games ago, Riley is averaging 13.0 points and 8.7 rebounds.

“I think strength is a great attribute for any player, knowing how to use it and how to use leverage,” Foster said. “Leverage is a big, big deal in this game. I think Tam understands that very, very well.”

Numbers game

Many might be surprised, but Penn State has the highest Ratings Percentage Index among Big Ten schools. The Lady Lions (12-4) are 15th nationally, while Ohio State (12-3) is next at No. 26 according to the Web site collegerpi.com.

Penn State is benefiting from its strong schedule, rated the eighth-toughest so far. The Lady Lions beat Duke (11-3) and Pittsburgh (12-3), who are 12th and 19th, respectively in the RPI rankings. They’re also being helped that three of their losses have been to teams that are winning. Old Dominion (11-3), Syracuse (13-2) and Xavier (10-5) are rated 10, 17 and 38 in the RPI rankings.

“I’m happy that the teams that have beaten us are still doing well,” Washington said.