While the Cowgirls must find an answer to slowing SEC Player of the Year Sylvia Fowles inside, the game could be decided further out on the floor when LSU's Erica White pairs up with OSU's Andrea Riley. Riley is the nation's No. 5 scorer; White is considered one of the country's top defenders.
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"Riley's a special player,” said LSU coach Van Chancellor. "She drives to the basket, she can shoot the 3-ball, she can hit the mid-range jumper, she's quick. And she has the greatest asset to be a scorer: She doesn't have a conscious.
"We're hoping to use Erica's speed to keep her from getting to the basket. If you let her get to the basket, you have real major league problems.”
•Matchup underway: The battle between White and Riley started early, with the OSU guard unknowingly starting something during Friday's press conference and White pointedly responding.
It all began when Riley downplayed experience as any sort of major plus at this stage. LSU has been to four straight Final Fours.
"I think experience is overrated, because it's just a matter of who comes out and plays the hardest and wants the game the baddest,” Riley said. "Any team can get beat on any night. We're not going out there overconfident because we just made the Sweet 16. We'rejust gong to go out there with a lot of confidence. This is just another team we're playing. They're great. I'm not doubting that. But you can't go out there being intimidated by the name.”
Said White: "Experience is overrated? I think experience is the best teacher. I'd like that player to try to get to the Final Four a couple times herself and come back and tell me if experience is overrated. I don't think you can speak on it unless you've been there.”
Told it was Riley, perhaps trying to strike a confident pose for her program, White said:
"I think that's something she should say. They're an up and coming program. They're just trying to build momentum any way they can. I think she's saying the right things for her program, for the situation she's in.
"On the other hand, I'm at a great program. We've had success. I don't necessarily have to say those things. My teammates and I, we speak on the floor. And we get it done, so I don't necessarily have to say things in the media to pump my fans up or pump my teammates up.”
•Cordero ailing: OSU center Maria Cordero, coming off strong games in each of the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, has been sick the past few days. Cowgirls coach Kurt Budke said Friday he was concerned, with Cordero feeling only marginally better, although she got through the team's light practice at New Orleans Arena.
•Moment of clarity: The Cowgirls are in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1991. None of OSU's current players had even been in the NCAA Tournament before this season.
For Taylor Hardeman, a "Welcome to the Sweet 16” moment came Thursday when the team arrived in New Orleans.
"We got off the plane, and they gave us a police escort all the way to our hotel,” Hardeman said. "That was cool. We don't get to do all that. They were stopping people left and right. It was exciting.”
•Unfriendly confines: LSU is expected to have a homecourt advantage, but how many fans will be in the New Orleans Arena? LSU played at home in Baton Rouge last week and drew crowds of 4,513 and 4,912.
"It's going to be a hostile environment,” said Riley. "But at the same time, there was a sold out arena at A&M, and a sold out arena at Baylor, and we came out all right.”
•Big women on campus: As the lone team from Oklahoma still alive in either NCAA Tournament, the Cowgirls are becoming better known around their own campus.
"A lot of people have been coming up to me, saying, ‘Good job,'” said OSU junior Shaunte' Smith. "A lot more people are into Cowgirl basketball. Two years ago, it wasn't like that.”
•Recruiting Riley: Riley said LSU recruited her out of Dallas' Lincoln High School, but she gave an honest reason why she didn't sign with the Tigers: "They had a lot of guards.”
•Budke's vow: Budke told the Cowgirls earlier in the season that if they made the regional finals, he would let them spike his hair. "I doubt he lets us do it,” Riley said.
But assistant coach Jim Littell already has paid off a vow, doing a funky dance after the Cowgirls made the Sweet 16.
"He held up to his part of the bargain,” Riley said.
By John Helsley and Berry Tramel
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