Uconn Women Hurt By Injury To Sales Tennessee Still Considered Favorite To Move Through Field

Nykesha Sales’ injury struck back at Connecticut again.

While Tennessee, Old Dominion, Stanford and Texas Tech celebrated No. 1 seeds in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, Connecticut found itself holding a No. 2.

The third-ranked Huskies had been in line for a No. 1 seed before Sales went down with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon in the next-to-last regular-season game.

And while the Huskies won the four games they played without Sales - including the Big East tournament championship - that wasn’t enough to put the Huskies at the top of a bracket. Old Dominion was given the No. 1 seed in the East in Sunday’s pairings, with UConn seeded second.

“We beat two No. 1s,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said, referring to the Huskies’ victories over Stanford and Old Dominion. “But I guess they thought without Nykesha, we’re not one of the top four teams in the country.”

Sales’ injury had a direct bearing on the selection committee’s deliberations. According to the NCAA bylaws, the committee had to look at how Connecticut would have done in those games against highly ranked teams if Sales had not been playing.

“It wasn’t a matter of us predicting into the future as it was a case of we had to determine if they would have the same record and standing without Nykesha, particularly when they played some early season non-conference games,” said Jean Lenti Ponsetto, who chairs the committee.

The conclusion was Connecticut might not have won those games.

Connecticut (31-2) lost only to Tennessee and Rutgers this season. The Huskies avenged the loss to Rutgers in the Big East tournament finals.

With Connecticut dropping to a No. 2 seed, the four No. 1s were no surprise. Only one, Old Dominion, would have to leave its state to earn a berth in the Final Four. Texas Tech wouldn’t even have to leave home.

Tech, the top seed in the Midwest, not only has the first two rounds of regional play on its home court - as do all the other top 16 seeds - but the regional semifinals and finals are in Lubbock as well. They open against Grambling.

Tennessee (33-0), a dominating team all season long with All-American Chamique Holdsclaw and a talented freshman class, was the top seed in the Mideast Regional. The third and fourth rounds of that regional are in Nashville.

Coach Pat Summitt’s team is trying to become the first to win three consecutive NCAA titles. Summitt has guided the Lady Vols to five national championships in all.

In an interesting first-round pairing, Tennessee will meet the only other team that went unbeaten this season: 16th-seeded Liberty of the Big South.

Stanford in the West wouldn’t have to leave its state either because the West Regional is just across the Bay in Oakland and the Cardinal would get their first two games at home. The Cardinal (21-5) meet Ivy League champion Harvard in the first round.

The East Regional, where an Old Dominion-Connecticut meeting is possible, is in Dayton, Ohio. Old Dominion meets St. Francis in the first round.

First- and second-round games are Friday and Sunday or Saturday and Monday. All of the regional games are March 21 and 23.

The national semifinals in Kansas City will pit the Mideast against the West and the East against the Midwest.

North Carolina, Alabama and Duke joined Connecticut as No. 2 seeds.

Among the surprises in the bracketing was Louisiana Tech, ranked in the top four all season, getting only a No. 3 seed. Although the Lady Techsters are 26-3, their power ranking suffers from playing in the Sun Belt Conference, which is ranked 18th out of 30.

Illinois of the Big Ten also received a No. 3 seed despite faltering down the stretch and losing in the quarterfinals of the league tournament. But the Illini got a boost from a schedule that included Stanford and Tennessee. Regular-season Big Ten champion Iowa and tournament champion Purdue both were No. 4 seeds.

Arizona and Florida were the other No. 3 seeds, while North Carolina State and Iowa State were the other No. 4s.

Iowa State got a place among the top 16 only one year after making its first NCAA appearance. The Cyclones finished second to Texas Tech in the regular season Big 12 race and reached the semifinals of the conference tournament, where a loss to Kansas was thought to have ended their hopes at a No. 4 seed.

Stanford came a long way to claim its No. 1 seed, winning 19 of its last 20 after a 2-4 start. But the Cardinal might be going into the tournament without Vanessa Nygaard, their No. 3 scorer and top outside shooter. Nygaard injured her left knee Saturday night and her status for NCAA play was uncertain.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SEE YOU IN KANSAS CITY? Top seeds in the NCAA women’s field: East: Old Dominion Mideast: Tennessee Midwest: Texas Tech West: Stanford