From GoHuskies.com:

"Those who knew Mosiman best figured this would be where her career path took her. In many ways, Mosiman’s fledging career mirrors that of former letterwinner Elise (Niemela) Woodward, who hosts her own show on KJR-AM ("Elise at Night") and is the sideline reporter for UW football games.

Mosiman isn’t the only Husky this summer who has realized their post-college goals. Michelle Augustavo, who played for the Dawgs for two seasons, was recently named an assistant coach at Sacramento State University after she spent a year as an intern at Seattle University.

All this professional success reverberates positively around the coaching offices of Hec-Ed."

The University of Oregon women's basketball team has released its 2010-11 schedule. From a press release:

"As the chapter at Mac Court comes to a close, we are very pleased to welcome back former players that are now in the coaching ranks," Westhead said. "I think these games will provide some special moments for our players, the visiting teams and most importantly our fans."

FreeDarko.com is starting to delve deeper into the WNBA.

"Cappie Pondexter was never a threat to destroy America, so the cultural politics here aren't quite the same. But maybe this gives us a new perspective on Iverson's infamous look. As an athlete -- and yes, the WNBA does always come back to basketball -- Pondexter was far more striking, and apt, with last season's look. A brash scorer should look like a space-aged street urchin, not the girl next door. Am I equating being a bad-ass with a lack of femininity? Quite possibly. Did Cynthia Cooper never happen? Regardless, Cappie had her finest season, and got her widest exposure, with a certain image taking hold. I get it, she's pretty now, and I have no right to see her any different on the court -- especially when I know this is part of a larger life-goal. But just as most reasonable people prefer to remember Dr. J with his afro, or still see Brandon Jennings as "the kid with the high-top fade", Pondexter shouldn't underestimate what her on-court look means for her game."

I find the reference to Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper interesting -- if you look back at footage of Cooper from the perspective of a NBA fan, she stands out as the most dynamic one-on-one player of that WNBA era...without needing the edgey look.

But back to basketball -- and not necessarily the comparison Shoals made in his piece -- a question that came up in a recent conversation: is Cappie Pondexter the best one-on-one player since Cynthia Cooper? As a NBA fan looking back on that era and seeing footage now, the question makes sense...just not sure I can commit to answering in the affirmative.

From Twitter: "@JaydaEvans RT @tollick @JaydaEvans Always got impression LJ tries to be herself&doesn't give a crap about stereotypes. Defies easy definition~BING-Go!"

From another Twitter interaction: is she challenging "beauty rituals" or our notions of beauty standards?

"If you came into KeyArena last night for the first time, you're going to be impressed in terms of the fans and the intensity of play," said Agler after practice yesterday. "You know, we shot the ball well at times. But playoff games are going to be ugly -- you scout each other so much, you know each other's tendencies so well, that you sort of muddy up the waters for your opponents, make it difficult. So for somebody that liked watching us play early in the year, they're not going to see a lot of consistent just up and down smooth play. And in all honesty, we like our defensive end to be muddy -- we like to clutter things up down there. So the main thing is for us is to get stops and play a little bit out of transition and if we don't get that we have to execute."

I think watching the process of a team transitioning into Division I is quite fascinating. Being even newer to women's college basketball than I am the WNBA, I never realized how fascinating Seattle University coach Joan Bonvicini could make it.

After struggling to a 6-24 start last season, she has already brought in transfer Talisa Rhea from Oregon State University and now she just got a verbal commitment from Renee Dillard-Brown who ESPN has ranked as the fifth best 2011 prospect in the state of Washington. That's impressive considering that she's competing with more established Pac-10 programs, not to mention Portland State University and the University of Oregon (led by former Phoenix Mercury coach Paul Westhead) in the region.

In talking to her in passing at Seattle Storm games -- where she is a frequent attendee -- she is working hard to bring talent into the program which went through its first full season with a full Division I schedule last season.

We might have to wait until 2011 until we see significant results from the program (Rhea will be redshirting the 2010-11 season) but there's no doubt the program is moving forward.

The entire sports community in the Gulf Coast area is still seeing effects from Hurricane Katrina, with some still struggling mightily.

From the article:
"UNO, as a public university, has borne the twin burdens of Katrina and a state budget crunch that has forced $14.5 million in cuts on the school since January 2009 ... The squeeze notably extends to athletics.

Women's basketball coach Amy Champion, the school's interim athletics director, was one of those who made their way to Commander's Palace last week to reflect on the past five years. She's hoping to make it through one more, she says.

Her team has a single holdover player on scholarship and a roster of six less than two months before the start of practice. "We just have to hit up the rec center and see if there are some kids in free play who'd be interested in playing," Champion says."

From Bethlehem Shoals of AOL Fanhouse who was at the Storm's win last night:

"While the WNBA's best pivot isn't a perimeter player, Jackson certainly roams freely, working her way in and out of the lane to either find the right spot to post or fire away from long-range.

This same approach holds on defense, where she'll alter a shot down low, only to leap out to pick up a guard who has found some open space. Ever seen a center get beat after trying to make a help steal on a point guard at the top of the key? I have with Lauren Jackson. And the scary thing is, she usually pulls it off. Jackson, who entered the league from Australia at age 19, is exactly the kind of athlete Chad Ford thought he was discovering back at the beginning of the century."

More thoughts about this piece on SBN Seattle.

Celtics fans indeed have a special claim to the "BEAT-L-A!" chant that can never be taken away. But if the chant is heard in KeyArena during tonight's game against the Los Angeles Sparks, a lot of it will be a grounded rallying cry to implore the team to finally overcome consecutive years of first round losses against the Sparks.

From a press release:

"Non-conference matches with Notre Dame, Temple and LSU highlight the 2010-11 schedule for the UCLA women's basketball team. The Bruins host Temple on Nov. 28 and LSU on Dec. 28 in Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA starts out with a home exhibition game against Vanguard on Nov. 8 before officially kicking off the season with a Nov. 12 game at San Diego State. The Bruins' home opener is Sunday, Nov. 14 against UC Santa Barbara. UCLA has six scheduled games against teams that advanced to at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago (San Diego State, Notre Dame, Temple, LSU, Stanford)."

Full schedule available on UCLA's website.