Colleges

FAU Owls at home on road

By wire services
Published March 18, 2006

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Florida Atlantic is no stranger to road trips. Power outages from Hurricane Wilma forced the 16th-seeded Owls from their Boca Raton home to Daytona Beach, and they were kept out of their own gym for about six weeks afterward.

Players say the experience helped them survive a 12-day road trip to conclude the regular season and the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament in Dothan, Ala.

They won four of five games to clinch their first NCAA berth. Florida Atlantic meets No. 1 seed Louisiana State University today.

"Probably about the 10th day we're heading over to Wal-Mart, which is our normal stop," Florida Atlantic coach Chancellor Dugan said. "They're in the back of the bus singing and calling out each one of them so each one has to sing in the spotlight."

HELP WANTED: Coaches have scratched their heads all year trying to develop an effective defense against Oklahoma freshman phenom Courtney Paris. Now, Pepperdine's Julie Rousseau is begging for help. "Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop Courtney Paris?" Rousseau asked, tongue-in-cheek, from Denver. "I'm certainly open for ideas." Pepperdine (14-16), the No. 15 seed, will play second-seeded Oklahoma (29-4) today in the opening game of the NCAA tournament's San Antonio regional. Paris, a 6-foot-4 center who leads the nation in rebounding (15.1), has 30 double-doubles and led the Sooners to 17 straight victories en route to the Big 12 championship. She needs just three rebounds to become the first player in NCAA history to score 700 points, grab 500 boards and block 100 shots in a season.

BRING IT ON: The days of the Baylor Bears women's team surprising opponents are long gone. Seeded third in the Albuquerque Regional and ranked 10th nationally, Baylor (24-6) opens its NCAA title defense today against Northern Arizona. "It was very difficult to win a national championship," said Bears forward Sophia Young, the Big 12 player of the year. "It's even more difficult to win it two years in a row. Everybody has you as their target on their schedule. That's what we've taken all year, everybody's best shot."

[Last modified March 18, 2006, 02:30:29]