BIG

The biggest news of today, of course, was Baylor’s at-the-wire win over Texas A&M, 63-60, in front of 13,162 raucous fans. The Aggies slowed Baylor’s Brittney Griner, but they couldn’t do the same to Odyssey Sims. The freshman lead all scorers with 25 points, and tied her season high. Hoopfeed had excellent blow-by-blow tweeting of game action.

One AP writer wonders if Baylor is the next UConn.

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Meanwhile, one state over, Shekinna Stricklen lifted Tennessee over Arkansas in front of friends and family (she’s from that area). The junior forward matched her career high of 26 points, which included 18 first-half points and six three-point shots. Talk about motivation!

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In her first interview since news surfaced of her positive drug test in Europe, Diana Taurasi denied taking performance-enhancing drugs.

One source says Taurasi intends to play in the WNBA this summer.

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Pat Griffin sums up the issues around homophobia in college hoops better than anyone else so far:

Part of the problem is that “family” is a term that has been hijacked by the Christian Right. When groups like “Focus on the Family” talk about family, we all know they have a very narrow definition that excludes the majority of familial groups that love and care for each other. If a coach wants to separate him or herself from the exclusionary and discriminatory code that “family-oriented” has become, let’s hear him or her do it. If they don’t and then make the preposterous claim of discrimination on the basis of having a heterosexual family and staff, how are we to trust that coach’s intentions?

Lesbian coaches have families. Single coaches, whether gay or straight, can create a “family-oriented” and “wholesome” team environment. A coach doesn’t need to be heterosexual and married to do that successfully (and lots of heterosexual married coaches can’t do it worth a darn). The problem is that using your heterosexual married parental status as a recruiting tool in a culture where gay people and single people of any orientation are at a legal and social disadvantage is unfair. It is called heterosexual privilege. Claiming that being unable to use your heterosexual married status as a recruiting tool puts you at a disadvantage is insensitive at best and flat out homophobic at worst.

People who have degrees are my favorites.

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ESPN’s Chris Hansen profiles a high school player who didn’t let an ACL injury stop her. Very inspiring.

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Mel Greenburg has various interesting musings that include those on tomorrow’s UConn-Duke matchup.