Georgia Tech prepared for its first NCAA postseason appearance by waltzing to the championship of last year’s women’s National Invitation Tournament.
But coach Agnus Berenato knows that Wednesday’s opening-night performance against Northwestern is held on a much larger stage. The moves may be the same, but emotions could go haywire.
“It’s like comparing the prom to the White House inaugural ball,” said Berenato. “The NCAA is big-time. Every school has a prom, and every school has tournaments. The `Big Dance’ is a lot different.”
Northwestern (19-8), after getting the cold shoulder last year, received its third bid in the last four years and nabbed the home-court advantage for Wednesday’s 7:30 p.m. game at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Neither De Paul nor Northern Illinois were as fortunate.
De Paul (20-8), which received an at-large bid, must travel to No. 13 Louisiana Tech (23-5), a perennial power.
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No. 25 Northern Illinois (24-5), in its third NCAA tournament in four years, received an automatic bid when it won the Mid-Continent Conference. The Huskies, led by Young High School graduates E.C. Hill and Cindy Conner, will head to Georgetown (21-6).
“Just those four letters (NCAA) mean so much to people who are fans,” said Northwestern coach Don Perrelli. “Whether it’s the women’s or men’s, it’s considered to be March Madness. Now that we’re at the dance, we don’t want to go home early.”
Neither does Georgia Tech, even though its theme this season has been “There’s No Place Like Home.” The Lady Yellow Jackets host April’s NCAA Final Four at the Omni, a 16,510-seat facilty in Atlanta that Berenato calls “Emerald City.”
The front of the media guide shows the seven Georgia Tech seniors standing on a yellow brick road. There’s another bit of Oz in the picture: Starter Devony Caldwell wears a red shoe. In her sneakers, she averages 14 points a game.
Georgia Tech had its most successful season ever at 16-9 and qualified for its first NCAA tournament in much the same way as Northwestern. Both teams finished fourth in very competitive conferences and waited nervously for at-large bids.
Both invitations came. Georgia Tech joined Atlantic Coast Conference rivals No. 9 Virginia, No. 11 Maryland, Clemson and North Carolina in the tournament. Northwestern, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Iowa and No. 8 Penn State are the Big 10 representatives.
Georgia Tech starts five seniors, including All-American candidate Joyce Pierce, whom Perrelli coached in 1990 on the Olympic Festival South team.
Pierce, a 6-foot senior, averages 19.1 points and 8.9 rebounds, but she has been playing with severe tendinitis since January. Aimee Weiss (12 points a game) broke her nose three days ago in practice and Selena Baldwin (14 ppg) has a torn Achilles’ tendon, but all three will be able to play.
Northwestern has only one senior starter, Nancy Kennelly, but she is among the nation’s best point guards and ranks fourth on the all-time women’s basketball assist list with 871.
Her sister Moira (12 ppg, 40 threes), a junior, and sophomores Maureen Holohan (17 ppg, 34 three-pointers) and Kellie Cook (8 ppg) give the Wildcats a dangerous perimeter game, while 6-2 junior Patricia Babcock (13 ppg, seven rebounds) has boosted the team’s inside play.
Donna Groh, a 6-1 senior from Hanover Park, comes off the bench to net double figures (11 ppg), and Maine West graduate Heather Ertel, a senior, is another key reserve.
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Coach Doug Bruno and his De Paul team might think they’re looking into mirrors when they play Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La.
As Bruno studied videotape of the Lady Techsters, he noted, “They’re very much like we are. We both play tough woman-to-woman defense. They hold opponents’ shooters to 35 percent. We hold them to 38.”
Techster coach Leon Barmore frequently employs two 6-4 players, LaShawn Brown and Racquel Spurlock, in the same lineup. Thus, Bruno is likely to match up with Tech by using his twin towers of 6-5 Cathy Pezdirtz and 6-4 Keri Lorenzen.
Another similarity: Tech has a smallish point guard, 5-3 Pam Thomas, who, like De Paul’s 5-6 Tammy Williams, is an unflappable ballhandler and passer.
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Northern Illinois has held its opponents to shooting percentages of .419, .391, .349, .304, .327, .302 and .359 while closing the season with a seven-game winning streak, the last five on the road.
“While shooting has come and gone at times, there’s no home-court advantage against good defense,” NIU coach Jane Albright-Dieterle said.
Sparking the defense is guard E.C. Hill, who has 98 steals this season. The junior also leads the Huskies with 17.3 points a game. Cindy Conner, a 6-foot-1-inch guard/forward, averages 17.2.
Sophomore guard Leslie Pottinger heads a strong bench brigade, averaging 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds. Junior Caryn Alexander, a 6-2 junior, came alive in the Mid-Continent tourney.
Northern will enjoy a size advantage at every position against Georgetown, but it will have its hands full with 5-7 Kris Witfill (19.7 ppg), the Big East’s Player of the Year; and 5-10 Leni Wilson (15.6 ppg, 10.6 rpg).
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