By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – As she accepted a berth in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament on Sunday, University of Washington coach June Daugherty blasted the NCAA selection committee because she said it arbitrarily changes the rules.
Her team snubbed from participating in the 64-team NCAA Tournament, Daugherty said the Huskies should use the 32-team WNIT as the foundation for next season.
“We deserve to be in (the NCAAs),” Daugherty said. “We played well enough to be in. This is a good team. I thought these kids were very deserving.”
Washington, which finished the regular season 17-11, plays North Texas at 7 p.m. Thursday at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in the WNIT’s first round. The possibility remains that the Huskies would play host to a second- and third-round game, but not the semifinals or finals because Hec Edmundson Pavilion is scheduled to be used then by another event.
Daugherty said she was puzzled that the NCAA selection committee put little weight on Washington’s best victories – a win against Indiana, which won the Big Ten tournament, and Arizona State, an NCAA Tournament participant. Washington finished tied for second with ASU in the conference, but ASU won the Pac-10 Tournament, while UW was ousted in the first round by Oregon.
“The message came back that, ‘Well, the win against Indiana probably helped you, but the wins in conference probably didn’t do much for you,’ ” Daugherty said. “They give you this criteria every year, but every year, the emphasis seems to change.”
That the Pacific-10 Conference got just Stanford and Arizona State appears to indicate that the committee placed much importance on the Ratings Percentage Index for a given team and a conference. The RPI weighs strength of schedules for a given team and its opponents, along with Division I winning percentage.
Washington was ranked No. 86 in RPI; the Pac-10 was ranked No. 9.
“We’re not happy about this,” Daugherty said. “It’s very disappointing.”
Both RPI rankings hurt Stanford and ASU. The Cardinal, the conference’s regular-season champion, finished 30-2 and was ranked second in the major polls much of the season, yet was seeded second in the West Region.
Arizona State, despite having beaten Stanford in the finals of the Pac-10 Tournament, was given just a No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region.
“I really hope that Stanford and Arizona State go in there and make a hell of a lot of noise,” Daugherty said. “If they can do that, I think that the perception that’s out there with the basketball committee, that the Pac-10 is not strong enough to send more than two teams, will be over and done.
“I wouldn’t put it past a Pac-10 team to win it all.”
Washington returns all but one player next season, senior forward Heather Reichmann, and figures to contend for the Pac-10 title.
“I’m definitely looking forward to next year,” UW center Andrea Lalum said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll make the NCAAs next year. We’ll do our best in the NIT this year and next year, we’ll make an appearance in the NCAAs.”
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