Alexis Hornbuckle had missed every shot she’d taken in the game, but on her eighth try, she sent the Tennessee Lady Vols to the national championship game. Hornbuckle scored with less than a second remaining in the game to give the No. 1 Lady Volsa 47-46 victory over No. 2 LSU. From the AP:

“I couldn’t make a shot all night, but honestly, that was the only one that mattered,” Hornbuckle said. “I just wanted to stay positive and I crashed the boards and looked up and I said I didn’t want to pull this down, with my luck I might as well try to tip it in. And luckily it went in.”

I didn’t get to watch this game live and I still haven’t seen the final shot (I did listen to the game on Sirius), so if you have a video link, I’d love to check it out. Comment and let me know where.

Confirmed by the story from what I heard, it seems as though Candace Parker is not up to snuff (but her injury-best is still decently good), but it looks as though the Lady Vols will need either a better Parker or more efficient shooting all around if they’re going to beat Stanford on Tuesday.

Post from: EveryJoe

Hornbuckle gets redemption, sends Lady Vols to championship game

“I don’t think the shoulder will be a problem,” (Los Angeles Sparks coach Michael) Cooper said. “But even if it is, she’ll still be a No. 1 pick because she can definitely play basketball.”

Yeah, she’s going to LA. But the question now falls to the roster-challenged and emotionally-depleted Chicago Sky. Who are they going to draft at No. 2? Sylvia Fowles, Courtney Paris? Anyway, get your filling of the Final Four tonight, work on your draft board tomorrow, watch the championship on Tuesday and watch the draft on Wednesday.

Post from: EveryJoe

Another Candace Parker feature

She’s good to go, said Tennessee team doctors Thursday.

After suffering a pair of shoulder separations in Tuesday’s regional final game against Texas A&M, Candace Parker has been cleared to play for the Lady Vols in their Final Four matchup against LSU.

“It’s ugly to look at,” team trainer (Jenny) Moshak told The Tennessean on Wednesday. “Basically, she had a bone sticking out.”

While watching SportsCenter tonight, there was a question posed to Parker about whether she was relieved to have medical clearance to play. Her response: Not really, she was always going to play.

On a personal note, I saw a lot of people in my newsroom gain a ton of respect for her to keep playing as she did that night. On a internet note, the same seems to have happened online and in the media. The Sparks will have themselves one hell of a player in two weeks.

Post from: EveryJoe

Candace Parker cleared for Final Four