Coaches say Parker’s dunks will start trend in women’s basketball

“When you’re out there in the summer in the AAUs and the circuits, we’re seeing it more and more believe it or not,” Washington coach June Daugherty said Sunday. “It’s interesting to see the kids have become that athletic and that good with the basketball above the rim.”

Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb would encourage any player she gets to dunk if she can. She credits girls receiving the same weight training as boys with improving skill levels at much younger ages these days.

“When I played, we weren’t allowed to be in the weight room. That was for the guys,” she said.

LSU coach Pokey Chatman, whose playing career ended in 1991, doubts she could play today. She said she would be lucky to be a walk-on, writing letters talking about her heart and her strong will, because she’s seen surprising dunks from high school players.

“I remember watching a 5-8 kid dunk with power, and she’s a 10th grader,” Chatman said.

Asked if she was recruiting the girl, Chatman had a quick answer.

“Can’t comment on recruiting,” she said.

Memorial Gym, site of second-round tournament games Monday night, was the site of a dunk Jan. 23, 2001, by Michelle Snow of Tennessee against Vanderbilt. That angered fans of the Commodores who called it classless.

On Sunday, Vanderbilt junior Caroline Williams had only complements for Parker’s dunks.

“You have to give it to her. She’s a great player … and the second one I thought was pretty nice on a backdoor cut. Give it to her. Two dunks in a basketball game? That’s awesome … That’s all I’ve got to say,” she said.

North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said she arranged the second dunk in the women’s game. She had been talking to coaches in 1994, trying to help set up Charlotte Smith’s playing career beyond college and was told that she would be paid more if she dunked while still at North Carolina.

“So we set it up. Two days later, she dunked in a game. I set it up on purpose because I was trying to market my player,” Hatchell said.

“Again, it’s marketing our sport. Anything that can bring attention to the game, I’m all for. I think you’re going to see more and more of it as athletes become stronger, faster and more skilled so that’s great.”

There are players here that have the ability to dunk but haven’t in a game yet. The LSU Tigers regularly enjoy three variety of rim-shaking dunks by 6-foot-6 Sylvia Fowles, and senior Seimone Augustus calls them powerful dunks for a woman.

“When you see her come and do a reverse dunk from one side to the other and actually like hang off the rim, it’s amazing. And just to see her drop step and dunk, or catch it around the free throw line and one dribble, dunk and actually make the rim shake like a man, that’s amazing,” Augustus said.

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STUDYING GUARDS:@ North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell has gotten lots of attention for how she revamped her offensive and defensive schemes and injected her Tar Heels with an up-tempo style over the past couple seasons.

She wasn’t the only one studying.

Hatchell said Sunday that North Carolina great Phil Ford was gracious enough to share his knowledge with current Tar Heels point guard Ivory Latta when he was working at the university.

“When Ivory first came in, I would have Ivory go and sit with Phil and watch our men practice and Phil Ford would talk to her about being a point guard. In my book, he’s the best point guard there’s ever been,” Hatchell said.

The talks certainly rubbed off. Latta is the leading scorer for the Tar Heels and the guard who pushes them up and down the floor.

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LEARNING DORES:@ The Vanderbilt Commodores lost 87-67 on Dec. 20 in their previous meeting with North Carolina on a neutral court in Myrtle Beach. They promise they’re much smarter now than they were then.

“We’re a totally different team than we were when we played them first,” Vanderbilt guard Dee Davis said. “We’re just a lot smarter.”

Vanderbilt junior Caroline Williams pointed out they’re also getting lots of help from Jennifer Risper who has played 19 games since debuting this season against North Carolina in that game.

“Now we all know what our roles are now, each person. we’re all working together better,” Williams said.

Still, they better have grown a lot considering North Carolina now is the top-ranked and top-seeded team in the country.

“I don’t think it gets any better than this,” Williams said. “When we saw the brackets, you can’t help but see where you are and who you could be playing if you take care of business on the first day. It’s just an opportunity. We all want to take advantage to play the No. 1 team in the country.”

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LEARNING ON THE JOB:@ Washington came into this tournament with only three Huskies who had played in the NCAA tournament before this trip. Coach June Daugherty saw plenty that impressed her in how the Huskies handled a tight game before pulling out a first-round victory over Minnesota.

“We had a couple of timeouts we could’ve used. We didn’t need to,” Daugherty said.

She credited fifth-year senior Kristen O’Neill, whose 3-pointer provided the key basket late, with providing great leadership. She said she could tell exactly what O’Neill was thinking and telling her teammates.

“I like the fact that our guards in particular are good at time and score. Kristen, a fifth-year kid, is really savvy about that and at tournament time how many games come down to the last bucket or time and score situation?” Daugherty said.