She led her team to three state championships. She was the national high school player of the year as a senior. But that was then and this was Tennessee at Duke, No. 1 vs. No. 2, in a battle of unbeatens on national television Monday night.
“Oh my gosh, it was so much fun,” said Abby Waner, the freshman guard from ThunderRidge High School who knocked down a couple of big 3-pointers in the Blue Devils’ stunning 75-53 victory. “I’ve never played in a game like that before. Great coaches, great programs. I don’t think I’ve ever had a better feeling walking off a basketball floor.
“Growing up being a girls basketball player, I always wanted to play against the best, and Tennessee, Pat Summitt, those orange uniforms, that was always the school that set the standard before UConn. The atmosphere was just unbelievable.”
A starter in the first 16 games, Waner came off the bench against Tennessee, having lost her spot to last year’s starter, sophomore Wanisha Smith, after a couple of shaky games against Holy Cross and North Carolina State. But her role might change right back.
“I think she’s playing her best basketball right now,” Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said before last Thursday’s game at Clemson. “We talk all the time that it doesn’t really matter who starts. Wanisha has been playing really well, so we wanted to reward her and maybe take some pressure off Abby because she was putting too much pressure on herself. But those spots are always open.”
Waner said whether she starts isn’t important.
“Whatever role they want me to play, I’ll do that,” she said. “That’s really the key to our success. We have 13 very, very talented players. We could make a starting five out of our bench and probably win as many games.
“When you have that much talent, you could have internal problems. But luckily, we have players who are willing to put the good of the team ahead of themselves. Our only goal is to win the national championship.”
Footnotes
Please stop calling Baylor the defending national champions. Coach Kim Mulkey- Robertson doesn’t like it. The Bears are 14-3 and ranked ninth in the nation. “We’re not defending a national championship,” she said. “That belongs to us forever and ever. We’re a new team, and we’re just trying to grow as a team.”…Duke has Waner and UConn has Ann Strother of Highlands Ranch, but the most productive former Colorado prep player in an out-of-state program is senior forward Ambrosia Anderson of Doherty High in Colorado Springs. The BYU standout leads the MWC in scoring (20.4). She had 24 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday as BYU beat TCU. The Cougars host Colorado State on Saturday.
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
