No Chance?

[xu_fan]

The word on ESPN.com and every message board I can find except for this one thinks Gonzaga wins this game going away. Charlie Cream, Mechelle Voepel, and Graham Hays all picked Gonzaga to win. Most posters on chat boards around the country are picking Gonzaga as well. It seems to me Xavier will have to prove all of them wrong AGAIN. They all picked Vandy.

If our guards are making shots I don't see how we dont win! Katie, Special, and Moss are gonna be huge in this game.

[cinskyline]

This isn't really a shock.

First of all, they beat us last year (pretty handily in fact), and they bring back pretty much the same players. Last year, our guards were absolutely horrid -- especially Jerri. We couldn't hit the side of a barn for most of the game, while Vandersloot, Frieson, and Bowman pretty much did what they wanted to do. Now I think that it will be a little tougher for them this time around since they'll have to deal with both Ta' Shia and and Amber. We must be the aggressors this time -- we have to jump on them early and play hard for the whole 40 minutes.

But you are correct about the guards, they are the key-- if they play well, we will win. If they have a repeat of last year's 5-30 performance, we are done.

[X-band '01]

They'll have to get off to a quicker start than they did against Vandy - Xavier had spent all game trying to dig out of a hole instead of trying to really dictate the pace of the game. It's the same story as Vandy in one respect - Gonzaga can't really match up with Amber or Ta'Shia inside, but Xavier HAS to defend the 3-ball knowing that the Bulldogs won't always look to go inside.

It's also compelling that neither team has lost since December; Gonzaga swept the WCC regular season and tournament as did Xavier. If they do go down, they'll go down swinging for the fences.

[xu_fan]

This isn't really a shock.

It's not really that I think it is a shock but rather the fact that winning 20 games in a row means nothing. No team wins that much without having something special.

[HomerCecil]

I think it's because, frankly, we haven't looked very good in winning in a while. And Gonzaga looked very good in beating a No. 2 seed, while we struggled with a 6 seed. I don't really blame anyone for picking against us, and I don't think it really matters. I'd rather be the "underdog."

Yes, winning 20 games is impressive. But Gonzaga has done it, too.

[XU-PA]

I don't thing the "pundits" are looking close enough to see that the ladies have been winning kind of ugly in the last two weeks.
I think if they really did that they'd be impressed by the guts that Xavier has shown, like coming from behind.
I think the producers in general feed the "talent" info to make matchups between little private schools like X and the Zags sound interesting.
It was just a week ago that Carolyn Peck was placing XU as a sleeper to pick up a final four spot. Just depends on what the promo folks want to put out there.
All in all, in womens college hoops right now, conventional wisdom says the favorites will win, I'm not saying all the favorites will win, but if you may only get 2 upsets in the 8 games this weekend, so they want to make it sounds as interesting as possible, upsets help drive the audience.

just my jaded opinion of the media in general. I am glad they are talking about it though, the more coverage the better.

[X-band '01]

I did look up Gonzaga's schedule - that was actually a rematch from earlier in the year when they lost to Texas A&M in a holiday tournament in Vegas. They've already gotten their revenge game from earlier this year; now it's Xavier's turn to seize such an opportunity.

All 3 of their other losses were to NCAA Tournament teams as well (Baylor, Stanford, and South Dakota State).

[X-band '01]

All in all, in womens college hoops right now, conventional wisdom says the favorites will win, I'm not saying all the favorites will win, but if you may only get 2 upsets in the 8 games this weekend, so they want to make it sounds as interesting as possible, upsets help drive the audience.


Xavier may be the favorite by cirtue of seeding, but I would imagine that neither team is clearly favored over the other. Yes, Xavier finished #5, but Gonzaga was #14 in the final poll this year. They are not your garden variety 7 seed.

[JAPER]

prove the neysayers wrong!