NCAA WOMEN Taurasi, Whalen key spot in semis

The stars for UConn and Minnesota lead their teams against each other.
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL STAR TRIBUNE
NEW ORLEANS -- Connecticut star and two-time collegiate national player of the year Diana Taurasi made a move to the basket at practice this week that, because of some injuries she has had, her coach hadn't seen in years.
"So I said to her, 'You're getting to where you're almost as good as Lindsay Whalen going to the basket,' " UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "She gave me a look like she was going to kill me."
Both Taurasi and Whalen are seniors. Both are, when things get tough, emotional and floor leaders for teams that will meet in today's national semifinal game. Both will be among the first players chosen in the WNBA draft in two weeks.
Play at another level
"They both play at a whole 'nother level than other players," Minnesota coach Pam Borton said.
Whalen, the spinning dervish most responsible for the Gophers' remarkable Final Four presence, might be more than three inches shorter, but both essentially are the same player inside.
"I see a lot of myself when I watch her," Taurasi said. "Just the way she carries herself on the court, knowing that any moment she can make a play to lift her team up. And her demeanor: That no expression, but you can tell when she's walking around there's a little bit of cockiness, which is good."
Taurasi can't remember ever playing against Whalen, but they did meet at Kodak All-America banquet last year. She calls Whalen "one of the most fun players there is to watch" and said she and some teammates could not contain themselves while they watched on television from Taurasi's campus apartment Tuesday as the Gophers beat Duke.
"Some of those moves she was making," Taurasi said, "we were jumping up and down."
Top WNBA draft pick
The WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, which owns the league draft's No. 1 pick, are salivating at the prospect of drafting Taurasi, who could become to the franchise what LeBron James has been to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Lynx draft seventh and they are trying to move up so they can select the home state star who would fill a chunk of thousands of empty Target Center seats.
"I'm hoping she plays for the Connecticut Sun," Auriemma said of his home team that owns the fourth pick. "If Minnesota wants her, they better move up. A lot. That kid's going to go pretty early. She's pretty damn good."
So good that Auriemma mentions Whalen nearly in the same breath with Taurasi, an oversized point guard who makes all her teammates better.
Awards
Duke's Alana Beard and Houston's Joe Curl won The Associated Press player and coach of the year awards in women's basketball on Saturday after leading their teams through championship seasons.
Beard, a 5-foot-11 senior, was the key figure in the best four-year run in Duke history. The Blue Devils earned their first No. 1 ranking when she was a junior, won the ACC regular-season and tournament championship in each of her four years and reached the Final Four twice.
Curl guided Houston to a school record for victories in a 28-4 season.