Three of the best point guards in women’s college basketball offered some insight into their roles Saturday on the eve of the NCAA tournament semifinals matching Michigan State vs. Tennessee and LSU vs. Baylor.
Michigan State’s do-everything star Kristin Haynie said that more than anything else she enjoys “passing the ball to my teammates and making them look good.”
Loree Moore of Tennessee said she prefers playing defense and mentoring her freshman teammate Alexis Hornbuckle.
“I tell her not to worry when coach (Pat Summitt) yells at her, because she always yells at her point guards,” Moore said.
LSU’s 5-foot-3-inch All-American Temeka Johnson said the most important requirement for her position never shows up in a box score.
“It’s leadership,” Johnson said. “She should lead her team the best way she knows how. But she has to know her players and treat each one differently. Some don’t like to be screamed at. Some need a pat on the back.”
It’s no accident that this Final Four contains three superior point guards and one who’s pretty good and improving, Baylor’s Chelsea Whitaker. From the time the NCAA began this tourney in 1982, good guard play has been a necessity .
In addition to 5-8 Haynie, 5-9 Moore, 5-11 Hornbuckle, 5-9 Whitaker and Johnson, other stellar guards in this field include: 5-7 Lindsay Bowen of Michigan State, 5-10 Shanna Zolman of Tennessee and LSU’s 6-1 player of the year Seimone Augustus, who splits time among backcourt, forward and post play.
Spartans coach Joanne McCallie didn’t have to stretch her recruiting budget to enroll her star guards. Bowen, MSU’s all-time leader with 220 three-point baskets, lives in Dansville, Mich. Haynie, who set a record with 108 steals this season, lives 15 minutes away in Mason, Mich., and says, “I’ve always been a true Spartan. I’ve always loved MSU.”
“The first song she learned to sing was the MSU fight song,” said her mother, Debbie Haynie. “Her grandmother taught her the words when she was 2.”
Early in her college career, Haynie had her large intestine removed. To combat fatigue, a dietitian instructed her to double her daily calorie intake from 2,000 to 4,000.
“I eat three or four meals a day and take energy drinks that have 320 calories in 12 ounces,” Haynie said. “I love big breakfasts.”
The 4,000 calorie diet agreed with Haynie. She averaged 10.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists this season and had a triple-double of 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the tournament victory over Vanderbilt.
Bowen averaged 13.5 points.
Moore, who has overcome knee surgery, tonsillitis and a broken nose, is another do-everything point player. Besides playing excellent defense, she rebounds, passes, scores and serves as a close friend and confident to rookie Hornbuckle.
Moore and Hornbuckle have become so close, Moore said, “that we find ourselves finishing one another’s sentences. And I never met her until she enrolled at Tennessee.”
LSU’s guards have reaped their share of honors. On Saturday, Augustus was named Associated Press national player of the year and also received the Wade Trophy as the nation’s top player. Johnson previously was named first team All-American by basketball writers.
Baylor coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, an ex- point guard, described the two Tigers stars this way: “Seimone is the best player in the country; Temeka is her team’s most valuable player.”
Baylor does not appear to be as strong in the backcourt as the other three teams in the Final Four. The Bears rely on 33.5 points per game from their inside tandem: 6-1 Sophia Young (18.1) and 6-2 Steffanie Blackmon (15.4)
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wjauss@tribune.com
