Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Friday, January 26, 2007, Washington Post

Creating a Big-Time Rivalry

Sold out.

Sports fans don't hear those words very often for a women's basketball game. But Sunday night's game between the defending national champion University of Maryland Terps and the No. 2-ranked University of North Carolina Tar Heels is sold out. It's the same story with Maryland's Feb. 18 game with the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils. Every seat in the Comcast Center is already taken.

The Maryland, Duke and North Carolina women's basketball teams are developing rivalries that are as red-hot as those of the ACC men's teams. When the Maryland women lost to the Dookies, 81-62, two weeks ago, Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium was filled to the rafters with rabid basketball fans.

The new rivalries are great for women's basketball. Rivalries, with their big games and big crowds, make any sport more fun.

Men's sports have always had plenty of rivalries. What Redskins fan would miss a game against the Dallas Cowboys? And what Red Sox rooter would ever wear a New York Yankees hat?

Women's sports have not had as many memorable rivalries, but there have been some.

A few years ago, Tennessee and Connecticut were the big names in women's college basketball. The two schools were always near the top of the national rankings. They had Hall of Fame coaches -- Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma -- and loads of star players, including Sue Bird, Chamique Holdsclaw and Diana Taurasi.

There are some good rivalries in international women's soccer. The U.S. women's team had to play its best against China and Norway. Now, since Germany shocked the USA, 3-0, in the semifinals of the 2003 World Cup, the Americans will be looking for revenge against their new rivals in this year's World Cup.

Individual women's sports also have had some famous rivalries. One of the greatest in any sport pitted Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert against each other. They were the top women's tennis players for much of the 1970s and '80s. Over 16 years they played each other 80 times, including 60 tournament finals. Navratilova won 43 times, Evert 37.

Women's professional golf has so many terrific young players, including Michelle Wie (age 17), Lorena Ochoa (25), Paula Creamer (20) and Natalie Gulbis (24), that the sport should develop plenty of rivalries to match the big one in the men's game -- Tiger Woods against Phil Mickelson.

So enjoy the Maryland-North Carolina game Sunday. If you don't have tickets, you can see it at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. Become a fan of women's college hoops. Get some tickets for when the Terps play Boston College (Feb. 4) or Virginia Tech (Feb. 8). Or go see the 11th-ranked George Washington University women's team in one of its final four home games.

None of those games is sold out. Yet.