We played with a lot of guts and heart. I like the way my team is playing right now because they are winning the tough games, and obviously that is what you want to see this time of year.

Personally, I don't put a ton of stock in seedlings. My feeling is that Saint Basil is the best team. But is there a huge difference between the No. 1 and No. 2? Probably not. As the tournament plays out, we'll see who the best AAA team is.

Now everything in Villa Nation is good.

She does yeoman work all the time. The kid?s 5-foot-8 but she plays 6-foot-something girls every day.

That?s pretty much what we try to do -- we try to be balanced so we?re a little harder to stop. You can?t key on Julia, because then Lindsay Corcoran?s hitting jump shots.

The first game is always scary. You never know what?s gonna happen.