Boo Escapes - Twice

By Glenn Nelson
HoopGurlz Publisher
Posted Sat, 07/28/2007 - 17:48 The pre-tournament favorites are navigating pool play with a huge target on their backs - and nearly pay the price.

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STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. - They call her "Sugar" because her shot's so sweet, and Boo Williams Summer League needed every syrupy three from Ta'Shauna Rodgers to escape a sour end to its Saturday evening.

Rodgers' third three-pointer of the second half wrested the lead for good from the upset-minded Cy-Fair Shock 90, and the Boo crew hung on for its second tight victory, 49-45, on the first day of Nike Nationals. Earlier, they overcame a 20-5 deficit to North Tartan to prevail 49-43 in overtime.

Such is the existence of what many consider the pre-tournament favorites. BWSL is coming off a win at the U.S. Junior Nationals and claimed the AAU Nationals earlier this month.

"Teams are going to play their best against us - it's their big game of the year," coach and namesake Boo Williams said. "Our kids are going to have to rise to the occasion every night."

On this occasion it was Rodgers, a rising junior out of Portsmouth, Va., who is playing on the club circuit for the first time in her career. Her trey with 4:41 to play gave her team the lead as well as pulled Cy-Fair out of a zone that had shut down Boo's powerful penetration and inside attack. "She lights it up for us," teammate Lynetta Kizer said.

With Cy-Fair back to a man defense, BWSL was able to ride the one-on-one skills of its 2009 star, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, to victory.

"I'm used to coaching great players," Williams said. "The ones that deliver night in and night out - that separates the great from the good."

Because All-Ohio Black was upset by the GA/Liner 76ers 56-53, Boo Williams is the only team in its pool that is a perfect 2-0, demonstrating how thin a margin actually separates the great from the good.

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Glenn Nelson is the publisher and founder of HoopGurlz.com. He also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams. Glenn previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work also has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here. He can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.

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Related Players

Tierra Ruffin-Pratt

Lynetta Kizer

Related Schools

Maryland