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Conference play starts winding down
By Seth Traub, Special to CNNSI.com With only two weeks left until the end of the regular season a couple conclusions can be made. Second-ranked Tennessee is on its way to going undefeated in the conference for the first time since 1997-1998, the year they won the national championship. Disregarding the Lady Vols and their probable No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament, there be will seven teams jockeying for the other three spots and first round byes. The inside track goes to Florida and Georgia, at 8-2, and LSU at 7-3. Vanderbilt is 5-5, while South Carolina, Alabama and Arkansas are 5-6. But with most teams having four games left -- at least one being between a teams with the inside track and one without -- anything can happen. Mississippi hosts Florida on Thursday, a game with lots of storylines. Florida coach Carol Ross was a four-year starter for the Rebels from 1978-1981. UF assistant coach Renee Ladner played for Mississippi during the same time. Mississippi coach Ron Aldy became the Rebels' coach three years ago after being associate head coach for five seasons at UF. Aldy was also Ross' high school basketball coach at Grenada Kirk Academy. Ross still holds school records for steals in her career (333), in a season (135) and in a game (11). Entering this season, Ross was fourth in career assists and her season total of 208 assists is second all-time for Mississippi. Also on Thursday, Vanderbilt hosts LSU. The Commodores were on a five-game losing streak before they beat Mississippi on Feb 11. They play three of their last four games at home, with the lone away game in Knoxville. In contrast, the Tigers play three of their last four on the road, with that lone home game against the Vols. Missing VolConspicuously absent from the Tennessee sideline Sunday during its blowout over Florida was All-America Tamika Catchings. Catchings, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in January, had surgery Feb. 5 and didn't make the trip to Gainesville. Instead the 6-foot-1 forward went to Las Vegas. At ESPN's ninth annual Espy Awards held at the MGM Grand Hotel on Monday, Catchings received the award for Women's College Basketball Player of the Year. It was Catchings' first time winning the award and she was the second Vol to win it. Chamique Holdsclaw won the honor in 1997, 1998 and 1999 -- her sophomore through senior seasons. Worth notingThe finalists for two national awards were released this week, and both feature prominent names from the SEC.Six of the 15 finalists for the 2000-2001 Naismith female player of the year are from the conference: Vanderbilt's Chantelle Anderson, Tennessee's Tamika Catchings and Michelle Snow, Georgia's Coco Miller -- this week's SEC player of the week -- and Kelly Miller, and Florida's Brandi McCain. Selection for the award is based on a nationwide poll of the Naismith selection committee, including a national advisory board, Division I coaches, former Naismith winners, conference commissioners and selected media representatives. Also from the SEC are three of 10 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman-Cline Step Up Award given to the nation's top collegiate point guard in Division I basketball: Florida's Brandi McCain, Tennessee's Kara Lawson and Georgia's Kelly Miller. Criteria for the second-year award include floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills that personified Lieberman-Cline during her career. Last year's award went to Sue Bird, a member of the NCAA Champion Connecticut Huskies. Associated Press sports writers nominate the finalists and the eventual winner. Both award winners will be announced April 7.
Seth Traub is a reporter for the Independent Florida Alligator, the student paper that serves the University of Florida.
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