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Danbury
Coverage of the women's Final Four
Posted March 14, 2000
By Mark Simon
D3hoops.com
Scranton women's basketball coach Mike Strong went into practice about 10 days ago determined to lighten the mood a little bit.
"What are we doing here?" he asked his team. This was a different approach for Strong and it worked.
Unlike last season when the team put a tremendous amount of pressure on itself with high expectations, this time Strong decided his team should enjoy its path through the NCAA Tournament.
So the 26-3 Lady Royals find themselves in the same position as last season -- taking on an unbeaten Washington University squad in the national semifinals. The approach is much different.
"I like the team's attitude a lot better this year," said Strong. "We know that Washington is the best team in the country. We just want to give them a better game than we did last year. Our players understand that. We are definitely the underdog here."
Last season the team looked nervous and played nervous in a nine-point defeat. Afterwards there were plenty of tears to go around in the postgame interview session.
"Instead of feeling the pressure, we should feel good about having the opportunity to play," Strong said. "I'm much calmer this year. I think the kids pick up vibes from their coach and it's made them more relaxed and more positive."
The attitude change helped a lot in a 49-45 win against King's in the third-round matchup. Strong said he definitely noticed his kids were much more poised than their opponent in the final three minutes of the game.
"The difference (from our previous losses to King's) was that we finished the game," Strong said. "I think the pressure definitely got to King's. You could sense the confidence in us that we didn't have in our first couple of games. I chalk that up to experience."
Scranton gets its points from senior guard Kelly Halpin, sophomore forward Gillian McGovern and freshman forward Anne Marie Russo. Senior center Shannon Milder will have the responsibility of guarding Washington's two-time player of the year Alia Fischer, while Russo will guard No. 2 scorer Tasha Rodgers. Strong says man-to-man defense is his team's forte but Scranton's limited success in the semifinals came when it utilized a zone trap.
Traditionally, Scranton is at its best when it can run its fast break.
As for what his team will do, Strong prefers to keep that a secret. The only thing he is sure of is that his team will try to have more fun this time around.
"We hope that our matchups will be better than they were last year," Strong said. "It's not a matter of us stopping them. We know we won't stop them. I just want us to get some better offensive looks. Washington has been tested up, down and sideways. They don't have any weaknesses."
Anyone going to be scared this time around?
"No one," Strong said. "Except for me."
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