Nikki Caldwell and NC State's Kellie Harper Know Each Other Very Well

by Achilles on Mar 16, 2010 8:40 AM PDT

In case you needed more intrigue for the women's basketball opener against NC State, know this:

Wolfpack coach Kellie Harper (formerly Kellie Jolly) played at Tennessee, just like Nikki Caldwell. They never played together, but according to Harper, they know each other "very well."

Caldwell, who played from 1991-94 at Tennessee, was a graduate assistant when Harper arrived as freshman in 1996.

"I never played with her, but we know each other very well," Harper said after the pairing was announced. "That makes the game even more interesting."

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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What does that even mean?

by Centric on Mar 16, 2010 5:31 PM PDT reply actions

Obama

said no to the ladies in the second round.

by LA Bruin on Mar 17, 2010 7:51 PM PDT reply actions

That's the thing, though.

We’ve been underrated all season up to and including seeding for the tourney— it’s just how we roll. I don’t mind; it gets us more publicity when we win.

I’m hoping for a close upset in the second round, and I think Nikki can do it. First of all, Nebraska is very good, but they’re not Stanford. Second, we have time to prepare, and if she’s really serious about winning, Coach Nikki will use some of that time to prep for Nebraska (as opposed to cramming Saturday night & Sunday). Finally, I’m hoping that the abysmal officiating that went down at the Pac10 tournament is an aberration, so Nebraska’s (and NC State’s) bigs don’t get free reign to bully our smaller(-ish) lineup.

Obviously we’ll need to hold up our end of the bargain, because while I do think the terrible officiating made the Stanford game more lopsided than it should have been, I’m not sure I’d say that proper officiating would have made it a sure (or even probable) win with the effort we put out at that point. How much of that lack of effort was frustration (I know I was feeling pretty damn frustrated, and I was only watching), the players in foul trouble that really shouldn’t have been (Jasmine Dixon and Rebekah Gardner come to mind immediately), and fatigue from the tough win over SUC, I’m not sure. But the fact remains that we didn’t put forth the effort required to beat Stanford. I hope the removal of all (or most) of these factors makes for a better matchup against NCState & Nebraska.

I actually think being underrated works for this team. (Please note that I’m not disrespecting NCState by assuming we’ll make it to the second round. That’s far from absolutely certain, especially in this ridiculous March, but the post I’m replying to specifically references the second round.)

by b d on Mar 19, 2010 1:03 AM PDT up reply actions