The biggest game of this week certainly did not disappoint.
In Sunday's rematch of one of last year's Final Four games, the No. 1 Tennessee Lady Volunteers used 25 points from Alexis Hornbuckle and 21 points and 16 rebounds from Candace Parker to sneak past the fourth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, 83-79.
Over the final seven minutes, the Vols saw their 13-point lead evaporate as the Heels went on a 17-5 run to cut the lead to 79-78. They got no closer, however, falling by four.
Pacing North Carolina were Erlana Larkins and Rashanda McCants with 22 and 19 points, respectively. Larkins added 16 boards in the losing effort.
Though it is still very early, it's a fairly safe assumption to say that Sunday's contest could very well be a matchup of future No. 1 seeds come March Madness. And with the No. 15 Duke Blue Devils floundering, having lost three straight including an embarrassing blowout to the Connecticut Huskies and a last-second loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions, it seems the ACC title hunt will come down to two teams - the Heels and Maryland Terrapins.
The Blue Devils have been plagued by injuries, having lost guards Abby Waner to a high ankle sprain and Wanisha Smith to a fractured hand. But it appears that even at full strength, Duke does not match up favorably with either conference foe. Look for the Tar Heels or Terps to prevail in Greensboro come March.
One reason Maryland looks dangerous is that center Crystal Langhorne, who missed the first seven games of the season, is finally at full strength. And with four wins over teams currently ranked in the AP's Top 25, the Terrapins were playing arguably the most impressive basketball in the country even without Langhorne.
They were, that is, until they traveled to New Brunswick, N.J. to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
On the national stage, in the Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic, the two top-tier teams met for the only top-25 matchup of the evening. At the end of the first half the Knights appeared doomed, down 33-23 to a team with a high-octane offensive attack.
But the Knights scored an impressive 45 points in the second half, using their trademark stifling defense to hold Maryland to 27 and winning the game 68-60.
As a team averaging under 60 points per game, Rutgers cannot expect to win games if it allows the other team's offense to click. Monday's game, however, was different. In postgame interviews, the players cited their transition defense as the reason for the victory, but far more promising was the Knights' ability to score 45 points in a half against such an elite program. Everyone knows that C. Vivian Stringer's squad can play defense. But if it can also score, it can possibly pose a real threat to stalwarts UConn and Tennessee come tournament time.
The answer on Monday was sophomore guard Epiphanny Prince, a New York City product who once scored 113 points in a high school game. With both guard Matee Ajavon and center Kia Vaughn sidelined with foul trouble, Prince scored 15 second-half points, including sinking back-to-back threes to give the Knights their first lead at 46-45. Rutgers never looked back.
Maryland players surpassed two milestones in the losing effort. Junior Kristi Toliver became the third player in Terrapins history to score 1,000 career points, while Langhorne broke the school's all-time rebounding record.
The win propelled Rutgers to No. 3 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 4 in the AP Top 25, while Maryland dropped to sixth in the ESPN/USA Today but remained third in the AP.
