Destiny a Reason to Watch the Women’s NCAA Tournament

Lets be honest, if it weren't for Destiny Slocum, the Maryland freshman standout from Idaho,  there'd be no reason for local basketball fans to watch the 2017 NCAA women's basketball tournament! Let me take that a little further, Destiny Slocum might just be the one person who can add some intrigue to a tournament and a sport owned by the UCONN Huskies.

Connecticut has won four straight titles and they are riding a 108 game win streak. They have made the sport of women's collegiate basketball predictable to the point of boring. Enter Destiny Slocum from Mountain View High school, a two time 5A Player of the Year who burst onto the national scene December 29th 2016 in a nationally televised game against Connecticut. Slocum scored 23 points and Maryland almost pulled off the upset before losing 87-81. No one had come that close to beating the Huskies in their entire 108 win streak. After the game Slocum was the talk of women's college basketball.

How did UCONN let this one get away? Last week Slocum was the highlight of the week as everywhere you looked you saw her 70 foot two handed "soccer throw in" shot that beat the halftime buzzer in the Terps win against West Virginia. Now UCONN and Maryland are both one win from meeting again, this time in the NCAA Elite 8. Saturday Maryland faces Oregon while UCONN tangles with UCLA. Both games will be played in Bridgeport, Ct just 60 miles from the UCONN campus in Storrs.

How is that for set up? Maryland fans are already hoping upset because the venue seats fewer than 8,000 and has been sold out since March 9th. The tickets bought by UCONN faithful before Maryland fans knew what hit them. Maryland fans did get an allotment of a whopping 100 tickets, same for all schools. Squarely what women's college basketball needs is a shakeup, a monumental surprise that no one saw coming.

That's a challenge that fits Destiny Slocum to a tee. Full disclosure here, I was born and raised in Connecticut, even recruited by UCONN in football....Should Destiny and Maryland beat Oregon and collide with Gino's team again I'll be coming out of my shell to cheer Destiny and her Terrapins!