LSU advances on merit

So did the 5,067 fans dotting the New Orleans Arena miss 39 shots? Did they turn the ball over 16 times?

And did Erlana Larkins make only two of 11 shots because LSU was playing a lot closer to home than North Carolina? And was it the location that forced freshman point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid into one-of-nine shooting?

No, the answer to the question ‘Why did LSU win?’ is a simple one: LSU was a better team, at least on the last day of March, 2008. The five Tiger seniors had been to three previous Final Fours on merit, and the fact that they got there for a fourth straight time had a lot less to do with the Selection Committee than with LSU, which took the lead with 8:46 left in the first half, and never trailed again.

The omens, after all, had not been good. The Tar Heels struggled against an undermanned Louisville team that well might have won the third-round game with a little more depth. After all, 65 of the Cardinals’ 74 points came from three players, and one other added seven, and that 37-19 first-half lead wasn’t about luck.

UNC had no answer for Angel McCoughtry, well on track to being the number one overall pick in the 2009 WNBA draft. She finished with 35 points, 13 rebounds and three rebounds, if Candyce Bingham (17 points, 20 rebounds) hadn’t flat run out of gas in the second half, Louisville, depth or no depth, might have pulled off the biggest upset of the tourney.

And nervous Tar Heel fans couldn’t help but notice Larkins’ struggles against 6-3 Chauntise Wright, who is a hardly a household name in women’s basketball. Larkins was two of 12, and though she had five steals and 12 rebounds, it was clear that this was not a Naismith Player of the Year candidate – or even a New Orleans Regional Most Outstanding Player candidate either. And DeGraffenreid and sister freshman point guard Italee Lucas combined for six turnovers, and no assists.

Rashanda McCants, the team’s leading scorer, did manage 21 points, but it took her two games to do it, and Heather Claytor made one basket in her trip to Louisiana. If not for LaToya Pringle (48 points, 22 rebounds, 16 for 25 from the field in the two games), Louisville moves on to the regional finals, or LSU wins by 30.

Meanwhile, the Tigers were handling Oklahoma State, as Erica White outplayed thuggish Andrea Riley, and Sylvia Fowles controlled the paint. White, who is shooting more and better for Van Chancellor than for Pokey Chatman, finished with 18 points and four assists on five of 11 shooting, while Riley needed 28 shots to get her 26 points, and added four turnovers. Sure, she had five steals, but her cheap shot sucker punch to the side of White’s head was completely inexcusable. (If the NCAA or Oklahoma State wanted to step up and really honor sportsmanship, either or both would suspend her for the first game of next season.)

Aside from Riley, though, the Cowgirls had little to offer. No one else was in double figures, and as a group, went 10 for 41 from the field and two for 14 from three-point distance. Yes, the Big 12 was tough, but against an elite opponent, Oklahoma State was revealed as a team that has a long way to go before it thinks about the Final Four – and most of all, its star needs a serious dose of maturity.

And speaking of conferences, the New Orleans final also supported the theory that though the SEC is still a pretty good league, watching its teams ranks somewhere above a trip to the dentist but still below being stuck in rush-hour traffic. LSU and North Carolina uglied their way to a 15-15 tie, and when Quianna Chaney buried a three to put the Tigers up for good, LSU simply ground out the victory with grit, physical play and all the delicacy of a thirsty elephant sensing nearby water.

The Tar Heels, despite their athleticism, were simply unable to match the Tigers’ tenacity or toughness, and only Pringle was able to rise to the occasion. And blaming the 5,000 fans, LSU’s Southern comfort, or the Selection Committee’s stupidity misses the main point: North Carolina lost to a better team, and needs only to look in a mirror, not at a map, to see why its season ended short of the Final Four.