TAMPA, Fla. -- It's Ace: 2, Ice: 1. But who will come away with the Big One?
Candace Parker, Tennessee's do-everything guard/forward/center, was named Naismith Player of the Year on Monday at the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, putting her one season's-end award ahead of the Stanford senior guard with whom she shares a name but not a spelling. Candice Wiggins, the four-time WBCA All-American, won the Heisman of women's basketball, the Wade Trophy, on Saturday. Parker had won the AP Player of the Year award the same day.
But either player would say she'd rather have the national title than an armful of individual awards any day. One of them -- Ace or Ice -- will leave Tampa with the championship after Tuesday's NCAA Final between seven-time champ Tennessee and two-time champ Stanford. Parker last year led her team to its first title since 1998. Wiggins led hers to its first Final Four since 1996; the Cardinal last won the title in 1992.
In accepting the Naismith, Parker gave props to her fellow finalists -- Wiggins, LSU's Sylvia Fowles and Oklahoma's Courtney Paris -- and talked about living up to and continuing the legacy of the great players who came before and the current ones who make her and the game better.
"I just want to say how happy I am to be a part of women's basketball at this time," she said, before hastily leaving the ballroom to prepare for the final.
And we, too, should be happy that she and Wiggins are a part of women's basketball. They're making the game better practically every time they play.
Parker has revolutionized the game since high school, when she became the first female to win the McDonald's All-America slam dunk contest. She's a 6-4 player with the grace of a guard, the power of a post and the wingspan of a condor. Yes, I think she can fly.
No less than Pat Summitt has called her the best ever. Sure, Summitt might be biased toward her player, but she's seen enough great players in her 33 seasons at Tennessee to know -- she's coached 12 Olympians and 19 Kodak All-Americans.
Wiggins is pretty good too -- she scored 44 points and 41 points in consecutive games in the tournament's earlier rounds, the first player to do so -- she hits threes with deadly accuracy and makes plays whenever her team needs them on offense or defense. As many a Stanford T-shirt in Tampa advertises, "Where there's a Wiggins, there's a way."
She had a way into America's hearts when she uttered, "I'm sorry, America," as emotions overwhelmed her during a post-game interview on ESPN after she and the Cardinal took down Maryland to reach their first Final Four in 11 years.
Ice and Ace match up fairly evenly -- Wiggins averages 20.3 ppg, Parker 21.4 -- but Wiggins might have two advantages. Parker's still suffering the effects of dislocating her left (non-shooting) shoulder twice in the Regional Final, and Stanford gave Tennessee one of its two losses this season, in overtime, 73-69.
Whatever the Final outcome -- I predict a Stanford win -- Candace and Candice will be remembered among the best in women's college basketball. And they'll be the same in the WNBA, where they'll continue the basketball revolution.