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Stanford’s Candice Wiggins has no problems with being the lesser-known player with her first name — which is likely to continue when she and Tennessee’s Candace Parker move on to the WNBA today.
“I understand what Candace Parker is to women’s basketball,” Wiggins said. “She’s a very prominent figure and face. I don’t expect any of that to change.
“I don’t really see myself as the other Candice, but I understand the kind of exposure she gives to women’s basketball, and I appreciate it. I think it’s important for women’s basketball to grow. People need to have someone they can identify.”
Off-court memories
Stanford guard Rosalyn Gold-Owunde liked watching the dance contest between LSU and Connecticut players on a boat trip.
Tennessee’s Nicky Anosike said team dinners were special for a team whose five starters all leave after Tuesday’s final.
Cold shoulder
Stanford’s 6-foot-4-inch Jayne Appel, “Bam Bam” to her teammates, was entertaining thoughts of going to Connecticut until her father slipped on ice and broke his ankle while taking his daughter from their home in California to a Connecticut-Tennessee game in Hartford. Joe Appel wound up spending three days in a hospital.
Country style
When Pat Summitt called home after coaching her first game at Tennessee 34 years ago, her father, Richard Head, asked, “Did you win?” to which she answered, “No, sir, we got beat.”
“By how much?” her father wanted to know.
“One point,” she said.
“Let me tell you just one thing, Trisha,” Joe Head concluded. “Don’t take donkeys to the Kentucky Derby.”
Meet me in St. Louis
The 2009 women’s Final Four takes place April 5 and 7 at the Scotttrade Center in St. Louis.
The tournament goes back to 16 first- and second-round sites after having eight the last four years, a reduction that was supposed to reduce home-court advantage but damaged attendance.
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