It's that time of year again. March Madness. Tournament time.
And we sometimes forget that many of our favorite WNBA players shined for the first time on the college stage.
We recently asked several WNBA stars what today's college players are thinking as they prepare for the NCAA Tournament. Are they taking it one game at a time? Are they focused on winning six straight? And are they as nervous as we fans are watching the games?
These were their responses:
| Lindsey
Harding, Minnesota Lynx (Duke '07) "To win the title, we had to win three two-game mini-championships. It was that perfect medium area between thinking we needed to win six games total, which can be overwhelming, and taking it totally one game at a time. I feel like that helped a lot. "Another part of it is that only four teams make it to the Final Four, obviously. Two of those teams, most years, are going to be among the big favorites. For the other 62, there are only two spots left, so it's life or death. I think that feeling never really goes away." |
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Janel
McCarville, New York Liberty (Minnesota '05) "I think most of them are just taking it one game at a time. The year my team went to the Final Four, we played the 1, 2 and 3 seed and we weren't supposed to win any of those games. But we didn't look ahead at any point. We took each team one at a time and we went from there. If you look at it as a whole, it's probably much more daunting, but if you break it down, it's definitely doable." |
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Sheryl
Swoopes, Seattle Storm "They're also thinking about what they have to do as individuals or as a team, so there are a lot of nerves and butterflies and excitement and uncertainty." |
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Seimone
Augustus, Minnesota Lynx (LSU '06) "You always want to get a cakewalk into the Final Four. But that doesn't happen too much. And even if you do, you know you're gonna get Tennessee or someone else when you get there. "And I know you're not supposed to say this, but there were times we kind of looked ahead to the teams we might get matched up with later on. Like, 'Oh my goodness. We might have to deal with Tennessee in the quarterfinals?!' "But at the same time, the teams these days are so well prepared for whoever they're going to meet up with. Lots of times, they'll have already played some of the top teams they end up seeing in the tournament, too." |
| Sidney
Spencer, Los Angeles Sparks (Tennessee '07) "As a senior, it's always important to NOT look ahead. You have to take the tournament one game at a time. I would hope they're not looking forward to the future just yet. Playing in the tournament is a special time, a special opportunity, and every team in the tournament has the chance to make a great run. I'd hope they focus on that. "The seniors are just trying to play their game. I never thought about that stuff when I was out there last year. I was just trying to enjoy the college ride, enjoying being a part of my team and everything that comes with being an NCAA athlete." |
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