NCAA matches Alabama State against Lady Vols
NCAA matches Alabama State against Lady Vols
By Josh Moon
Montgomery Advertiser
On Saturday the Alabama State women won the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament.
Sunday, they got their reward -- a No. 16 seed and a matchup with No. 1-seeded Tennessee this Saturday on the Lady Vols home floor in the Mideast Regional in Knoxville, Tenn.
Some reward.
The Lady Volunteers are 28-4 overall, ranked fourth in the country in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and have won 19 of their last 20 games.
Still, when the matchup was announced on the ESPN selection show, a cheer went up from the ASU players, coaches and fans that were gathered in a luxury suite at Joe Reed Acadome.
"It doesn't matter to us who we play," ASU head coach Freda Freeman-Jackson said. "It's an honor for us to be in. It's remarkable for a team on our level to be playing a team the caliber of Tennessee. We know they'll be tough, but we played LSU earlier in the year and played and beat Alabama last year. We know what to expect."
While the Lady Hornets (20-10) may know what to expect, that doesn't mean they won't be nervous. It is, after all, their first trip to the Big Dance.
"There's no way we won't be nervous about it," said senior forward Shameka Jackson. "I mean, it's the NCAA Tournament. But I don't think we'll be overly nervous. Before any big game there's always nerves. We're used to that."
Freeman-Jackson said it would be up to the ASU coaches and seniors to keep the nerves in check.
"We've had great senior leadership all year and that will be a big help to us in keeping everybody calm," she said. "One of our main jobs as coaches in this game will be to keep everybody's heads on straight and not let the nerves get out of control. We expect them to be a little nervous, but we can't let that get out of control."
For Jackson, who is ASU's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, the 2003 SWAC Player of the Year and the 2003 SWAC tournament MVP, it's the perfect cap to a stellar college career.
"I just couldn't have imagined this when I started out," said Jackson. "To be going to the NCAA Tournament means so much to me. It might not have meant as much as it does if we had done it earlier in my time here. But to be playing in the tournament as my final games here, means more than anything to me."
And neither Jackson nor Freeman-Jackson is ready to concede the game to the Lady Vols.
"They call this March Madness for a reason," said Freeman-Jackson. "We're gonna try and pull off the upset."
Jackson said the pressure is on Tennessee.
"We're going in with no expectations," she said. "No one is expecting us to win, everyone is expecting Tennessee to win. The pressure is all on them. We just have to go out and play our game and not worry about things too much. They're gonna put five girls on the floor just like us."
Freeman-Jackson is hoping to catch the Lady Vols off guard.
"I think we can surprise some people with the amount of talent we have on this team," she said. "We haven't played up to our capabilities yet this season. I think we could really catch some people by surprise if we were to put it all together for this game.
"Wouldn't that be something?"
But no matter what happens this Saturday, this year will be a huge success for the Lady Hornets as far as Freeman-Jackson is concerned.
"This is what we've worked for since I've been here," said Freeman-Jackson. "I've been promising these girls that we would be at this point for four years. We're feeling pretty good about what we've accomplished this year."
