I don't know how many of you all watched the UNC-UT women's basketball game but it was a real barnburner. The first half was downright brutal, with Ivory Latta of UNC and Candace Parker getting into early foul trouble. The defense on both sides was stifling, but UNC missed a lot of easy chances to pull away early. In the second half, UNC did, in fact, pull away and built up a 12 point lead. But just as the UNC men did, the Tar Heel women simply collapsed with 8 minutes left. Foul trouble hurt, as two players fouled out (though Latta stayed out of further foul trouble until the very end). I think UNC just ran out of gas. As for the Lady Vols, I was really impressed with Nicky Anosike and Shannon Bobbitt, who kept the team composed even when they fell behind big. The Lady Vols won without the usual help from Candace Parker, who missed the first half because of foul trouble and didn't contribute a whole lot from the floor in the second half either.

Rutgers pulled off a stunner over LSU and it's hard to imagine them taking out the Lady Vols in the final. In many ways the Lady Vols had a charmed tournament schedule with Ole Miss and Marist taking out potentially tougher opponents. UNC was the only really tough opponent the Lady Vols had to face.

I'm a lukewarm women's basketball fan to be honest. I love watching two great teams, like UT, UNC, LSU or UConn. But when you get to non-elite teams the game can be downright painful to watch. That said, there's a lot more talent spread throughout Division I now so you don't get as many embarrassing missed layoffs and botched passes as in the past. I'm not sure if this is because of the WNBA, Title IX, ESPN or what but this women's hoops tournament has been a real joy to watch - much more so than the men's tournament this year. Go Lady Vols!