Bracketology heats up as tournament nears

How do the names Rutgers, Stanford, Oklahoma and Duke sound?

That’s one forecast for the top four seeds in the Spokane bracket of the women’s NCAA tournament.

Of course, two things have to happen between now and the Sweet 16 tip-offs at the Arena March 29 – the NCAA has to seed those teams in the bracket and then they have to win their first two games.

It’s a long shot for sure, but nonetheless enticing.

The good news is there are still tickets available for the March 29-31 regional.

It may seem odd to some that there are tickets when fans that purchased tickets for last year’s men’s tournament at the Arena had to buy women’s tickets.

However, John David Wicker, associate athletic director at Washington State, the tournament host, said more tickets are taken by the NCAA for the men’s tournament, which leaves tickets available for the women.

The cost for the three games is $45 and can be purchased at the Arena, TicketsWest Web site or by calling 1-800-325-SEAT.

“Last year we got a few complaints, but overall people were excited about getting tickets to both tournaments,” Wicker said. “The one thing I’ll say about Spokane, and we feel very fortunate about this, Spokane really enjoys these big events … and they show up for them. The teams that get selected will have some bearing on what happens with what’s left with the tickets.”

The NCAA women’s selections are made on March 17, a day after the men’s tournament is announced.

“In a perfect world, Tennessee gets slated out west,” Wicker said. “It’s going to be great basketball no matter who we get. Women’s basketball has grown leaps and bounds since I got into college athletics about 15 years ago. It’s funny, now the SEC (Southeastern Conference) is probably the fourth best, (and it) used to be the best. Around the country people have really picked up the ball and run with it.”

Bracketology

In the conference power rankings, with projected berths, the big six are Big 12 (nine), Big East (eight), ACC (six), SEC (six), Big Ten (five), Pac-10 (three). … The WCC is ranked in the eight-to-10 range, the Big Sky and WAC from 17-20. … Gonzaga is continually projected as the West Coast Conference champion and a 13 seed. The Bulldogs have been plugged into opening-round games at West Lafayette, Ind.; Des Moines, Iowa; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Stanford, Calif. Possible opponents have included Kansas State, Ohio State, George Washington, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

Tip-ins

Gonzaga is one win or a Santa Clara loss from clinching a share of its fourth straight title. SCU had a streak of four straight through 1994. … GU’s next conference win will also be the 100th for coach Kelly Graves, fifth on the all-time list. … Saint Mary’s freshman Louella Tomlinson had 11 blocks against LMU. She is tied for the school career record of 134 and is three shy of matching the WCC career record. She leads the nation at 5.2 per game … Freshman Tara Cronin (Gonzaga Prep) was in the starting lineup and scored nine points when Portland coach Jim Sollars picked up his 300th career win, a last-second decision over San Francisco. Sophomore Heidi Heintz (Central Valley) had 13 points for the Dons. Cronin matched her career high of 13 points in a loss to San Diego.

•Freshman Kelli Valentine (Mead) had a career high 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting, but it wasn’t enough as Portland State fell 76-71 in overtime at Weber State. Sophomore

Tonya Schnibbe

(University High) had nine points and six assists for WSU. She also had six assists and 12 points in a win over EWU two days earlier. … Claire Faucher, a PSU sophomore from Yakima, set a Big Sky record with 19 assists in an 81-63 win at Idaho State. She is the national leader at 8.8. Freshman Lexi Bishop (Shadle Park) had 11 points off the bench and Valentine had 10 points in just 14 minutes. … Idaho State leads the nation in free-throw shooting at 82.8 percent. Bengals star Natalie Doma is third in scoring (24.4) and rebounding (11.9). She is 58 points shy of breaking the Big Sky record of 2,172 and 19 short of breaking the rebounding record of 1,098.

•Stanford star Candice Wiggins is 50 points shy of breaking the Pac-10 scoring record of 2,414 points. … Cal’s 14 conference wins are a school record. … Freshman Angie Bjorklund (U-Hi) moved into ninth place on Tennessee’s single-season list for 3-pointers with 55. … Utah senior Leilani Mitchell, who played her first three seasons at Idaho, is one of nine finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the nation’s top point guard. The Kennewick native, the Mountain West Player of the Week five times, is averaging more than 17 points and seven assists.