Colleges

Double dribbles

Women's basketball

By GREG AUMAN
Published February 24, 2007

The next three days offer showdowns featuring the nation's top three ranked teams, each undefeated in conference play, and close rivals hoping to knock them off their pedestals. All three of the underdogs are capable of winning their conference tournaments, and that coup or an NCAA upset later could get its start in these matchups:

No. 4 UNC at No. 1 Duke, 4 p.m., Sunday, ESPN: The Blue Devils had lost five straight to the Tar Heels before a 64-53 win in Chapel Hill two weeks ago. Duke guard Lindsey Harding is a compelling choice for national player of the year, scoring a team-best 14.4 points per game. The Devils' best asset is their depth, with no player averaging even 30 minutes per game. UNC's Ivory Latta will be motivated to rebound from a 3-for-20 showing in the first game in which she missed all 11 of her 3-pointers.

No. 12 Vanderbilt at No. 2 Tennessee, 1 p.m., Sunday: The Vols are undefeated in the SEC, but three of Vandy's four losses are at Duke, at No. 11 Georgia and against the Vols in Nashville. The Commodores knocked off No. 7 LSU in their home finale Thursday, getting 23 points on 11-for-16 shooting from 6-foot-3 forward Carla Thomas. The Vols, whose only losses are to Duke and UNC, needed overtime Thursday to get past an Arkansas team that's 3-10 in SEC play.

No. 3 Connecticut at No. 21 Rutgers, 7 p.m., Monday: The Huskies seek a perfect run through the Big East, which the Scarlet Knights pulled off a year ago. This game features two of the nation's top freshmen, in 6-4 UConn center Tina Charles - who went for 34 points and 17 rebounds Tuesday against USF - and 5-9 Rutgers guard Epiphanny Prince, averaging a team-high 13.8 points and hitting 41 percent of her 3-pointers.

Blue states, orange states

ESPN.com's SportsNation page does more than just your typical online polls - it breaks down balloting by state, making this week's national player of the year debate an interesting one.

By Friday afternoon, Duke's Harding had 43 percent of 9,000-plus total votes, edging Tennessee's Candace Parker (38 percent). The only states not won by Harding or Parker? Oklahoma and Kansas, which went to local favorite Courtney Paris, who got 92 percent of votes in the Sooners state.

Parker, incidentally, has a slight edge over Harding in Florida.

By the numbers

Big numbers from Drexel's 98-90 five-overtime win against Northeastern on Thursday, the longest game in women's college basketball history:

7 Overtimes, the record for an NCAA men's game, set twice, in 1956 and 1981.

20 Points Drexel freshman Gabriela Marginean scored in the first four overtimes before fouling out.

22 Rebounds for Marginean, a career high.

37 Points from Northeastern guard Shaleyse Smallwood in a losing effort.

47 Points from Marginean, a school record.

63 Minutes played by Smallwood, surely an NCAA record.

Greg Auman can be reached at auman@sptimes.com and at (813) 226-3346.

[Last modified February 24, 2007, 01:26:56]