How to: Beat PhilC to the punch (Baylor Lady Bears)

[Gobbla2001]

Way to go, Lady Bears...

BEST FINAL FOUR WE'VE EVER HAD!!!

[Bulldog_12]

Congrats to them! Im glad to see another Texas team win a championship.

[pirate44]

Congrats to all the Baylor fans on here. your women did great.

[Phil C]

Originally posted by Gobbla2001
Way to go, Lady Bears...

BEST FINAL FOUR WE'VE EVER HAD!!!

Gobbla is a young man and probably doesn't remember the 1986 Final Four! As good as this one was that one was even better at the time. The final four that year consisted of Texas, USC, Tennessee, and Georgia. These were considered great power houses at that time.

USC had won two national championships in 1983 and 1984 with Cheryl Miller who was the Diana Taurisi and Lisa Leslie of her generation. She had a great career at USC through the 1985-86 year. She had been on the winning Olymphics team in 1984 and on several USA women's world championship team. Unfortunately a knee injury in the late 1980s ended her basketball career plus there was no WNBA so she wasn't able to really show what she would have done unlike the opportunity Lisa Leslie and Diana Taurisi have today.


Georgia had a great team also and had just barely lost the 1985 National Championship game to Old Dominion.

Tennessee had a great team and had done well the year before. Tennessee was to later really dominate this sport for several years.

Texas had a great team also and had the great freshman Claurissa Davis who was terrific. Unfortunately after this year injuries ruined what looked like a bright future career in basketball for her.

There was much anticipation on the final four games. Remember women's basketball was still new as far as national interest but these final four teams really started the interest.

In the semis Texas defeated Georgia 83 to 65 and USC defeated Tennessee 83 to 59 which set up a great anticipated showdown between Texas and USC. Texas won the National Championship game 97 to 81 and ended the season with a perfect 34 - 0 record which was the first time that had ever happened in women's college basketball at the time. Even though Texas has had great teams afterward they have never reached the National Championship game again since then.

This was a great final four and rivals this year's one or any year for that matter especially when one considers the circumstances. But at the time these four were considered the top teams and expected to reach the final four which they did.

[sahen]

phil....in this final 4 there was a 15 point comeback (Baylor/LSU) and a 16 point comeback (Michigan State/ Tennessee)....these tied the 2 biggest comebacks in NCAA Women's Tourney history and BOTH schools that cameback were underdogs...Then Baylor dominated the championship game against MSU and Baylor was the underdogs in that game too...It looks as if none of the games in your final 4 were close....however, I think it depends on what school your a fan of....For Baylor fans this was the best final 4 ever and for Texas fans that was...however im willing to concede both were great final 4's....Texas' for what it did to help promote women's bball and Baylor's because of the comeback games, underdog theory, and getting the national title to a new school...of course i go to school there, too ;)

[Phil C]

The irony is that Louisiana Tech could have had the Baylor coach because that is where she went to college and was an assistant coach there. When the Louisiana Tech coach retired the job was offered to her but it was just a one year contract instead of the five year contract she wanted. Baylor wisely offered her a five year contract which she accepted and the rest is history. Louisiana Tech pulled a big blunder on that one.