Penn State coach Rene Portland made lots of sense when she proposed that the Big Ten give a day off to its two finalists the day before the championship game of the conference tournament.
Portland wasn’t whining because her Lady Lions lost to Purdue 59-49 in Monday’s tournament final in Indianapolis.
Her point was that Penn State, playing its fourth game in four days, was physically and emotionally drained. So was Purdue, playing its third game in three days.
Thus, when the Big Ten was trying to showcase its best display of women’s basketball before 4,930 fans in the RCA Dome and a national TV audience, they sent out two teams that fought fatigue and played as though they had laced up combat boots instead of sneakers.
“There were a lot of turnovers and slapping and reaching,” said Purdue star Stephanie White, citing sure signs of fatigue. “Everyone was a step late at both ends of the floor. It was sloppy at times due to fatigue.”
Portland pointed to the teams’ shooting averages, .373 and .383, and the final scores as examples of subpar, fatigue-induced play.
Wisconsin coach Jane Albright-Dieterle says she agrees that a day off would help. She felt it could have lifted the level of Monday’s final to that of Sunday’s semifinals.
In the semis, Purdue rallied behind guards Ukari Figgs and White from 11 points behind with eight minutes to play and won 61-60 over No. 1 seed and conference champ Iowa, clearly the most talented team with the most talented player, 6-foot-4-inch Tangela Smith.
Penn State, after upsetting No. 2 seed Illinois 74-71, battled through overtime to upend No. 3 Michigan 87-81 to reach the final.
Illinois coach Theresa Grentz doesn’t think the Big Ten will change the format.
“In a perfect world, yes, there would be a day off before the final,” Grentz said. “But there are so many other factors. Like missed class time. The Big Ten has tried to figure this out. They’ve worked hard and found no answer.”
Sunday afternoon, White was knocked from the game dizzy, unintentionally elbowed by Tangela Smith in an incident that triggered the Boilers’ remarkable rally to victory. Less than 24 hours later, White played 39 minutes in the title game she called “sloppy, due to fatigue.”
A gritty show. But was it really necessary to schedule all 10 games in four days?
Some people in amateur sport seem to value stamina more than style. Why else are high school basketball players in the Illinois state finals asked to play three times in two days? Why, until common sense finally occurred, were Illinois high school football players required to endure three playoff games in 11 days?
Portland might ask other questions of the Big Ten. Such as:
If this is the entertainment business, why not showcase the best product? The NCAA in its multimillion-dollar “March Madness” bonanza is careful to schedule off days for the performers.
Players miss class time as it is. Would missing one more day hurt so much?
And, quoting Portland, “Why do the players who lose have to go home? Why can’t they stay and remain part of the tournament?”
Also deserving: The all-tournament team deserved the honor: White, Figgs, Smith, Michigan’s Molly Murray and MVP Angela Garner of Penn State. But at least three others deserved at least a call.
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Kristina Divjak of Northwestern and Illinois’ Ashley Berggren each played only one game. But Divjak tied the tourney record with 35 points. And Berggren carried the struggling Illini.
And Purdue’s defensive whiz Michelle Duhart played super defense against both Smith and Garner and set a tournament record with eight steals in the title game.
The gate game: Because Purdue, from nearby West Lafayette, Ind., reached the final, the tournament set an attendance record of 25,874 fans for five sessions in the RCA Dome.
The Big Ten might draw more fans by playing the tournament on a campus. Four schools had higher average home attendance than the conference tournament: Wisconsin (10,455), Purdue (8,046), Penn State (5,424) and Iowa (5,213).
However, the tournament is likely to remain in Indianapolis because the Big Ten likes the city and the RCA Dome is a neutral court.