VanDerveer, Staley prepare for rematch

SAN ANTONIO » Dawn Staley remembers talking to her Olympic coach Tara VanDerveer before she took the job at Temple two decades ago. The longtime Stanford coach actually suggested that Staley not become the head coach at the Philadelphia school because she was still playing in the WNBA and wouldn’t have the time to do both well. Twenty-one years later and Staley admits she still has a bit of a chip on her shoulder about that conversation and has used it as motivation both at Temple and now South Carolina. “I don’t look down on her because she put that chip on my shoulder,” Staley said. “I just needed that, the past 21 years. I thank her for making the chip a little bit bigger.” The two friends meet April 2 in the Final Four when VanDerveer land Stanford takes on Staley’s Gamecocks. VanDerveer said she has the utmost respect for her former Olympic point guard. “As a player, she saw the game so well she really has great instincts, a great understanding of the game,” VanDerveer said. “She’s a great leader of her team.” VanDerveer knew when she was coaching Staley in the 1996 Atlanta Games that she would be successful in whatever occupation she chose. Staley is “someone who is super competitive, whatever Dawn decided to go into she was going to be at the top of whatever career she decided,” VanDerveer said. “In law, politics, she has it, she’s a very special person. I cheer for her every game except for the game tomorrow.” This isn’t the first meeting between the two on the big stage. They played in the 2017 Final Four and South Carolina rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to win en route to the NCAA championship.

UConn vs. Arizona

One is a freshman who stepped into the job of leading the most successful program in women’s basketball. The other is a senior who accepted the call to build one of the worst into one of this season’s best. Together, UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Arizona’s Aari McDonald are two of the most dynamic scorers in the country heading into their April 2 clash in the women’s NCAA Tournament Final Four. UConn won the River Walk region and rides into its 13th consecutive Final Four as Bueckers this week became the first freshman to win The Associated Press national player of the year award. The challenge for Bueckers this season was learning how to lead a program that had already produced some of the game’s greatest players.

MORRY GASH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Stanford celebrates after beating Louisville in the Elite Eight on March 30 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.