In much the same way that foul trouble ruined the much-hyped battle between Ohio State’s Greg Oden and Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert, foul trouble has thus far ruined the showdown between two of the premier players in women’s basketball, Tennessee’s Candace Parker and North Carolina’s Ivory Latta. Latta picked up three quick fouls and spent most of the half on the bench, while Parker got a quick two and also spent much of the half bench-warming.

Asked during a live halftime interview about her team’s offensive struggles (the Lady Vols lead 22-21 in an absolutely ugly game so far) and what they need to do to improve, Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said they need to “get Candace Parker back on the floor” and stated that the early fouls were “hurting both teams.” She added pointedly, “In a game like this, the whole country wants to see the best players on the floor.” So yeah, I think it’s safe to say that Coach Summitt is not overwhelmingly happy with the officiating at the moment.

In a related story, Ivory Latta has really, really big eyes. They kinda scare me.

Oh, and in the night’s earlier semifinal, Rutgers overwhelmed LSU, 59-35. You read that right, 35. (Will anyone in the women’s Final Four reach 60 points?) Anyway, the Scarlet Knights are in the title game as a #4 seed… which is the same number as the combined seeds of both men’s NCAA finalists and both men’s NIT finalists. Women’s basketball: it’s where the drama is! … The Rutgers win eliminated Daniel Port and Brian Dupuis from any chance of winning the Living Room Times women’s basketball pool. Still alive: Jennifer Elam, Scott Fort, Rick Boeckler and Josh Krause. If Tennessee wins, it’ll be Fort vs. Krause; if UNC wins, it’ll be Elam vs. Boeckler.

UPDATE: Another North Carolina collapse? Tennessee is on a 15-2 run since trailing 48-36 with 8:17 left. The Vols now lead 51-50 with 1:01 go, and they have the ball.

UPDATE 2: Wow. Tennessee finishes on a 20-2 run and wins, 56-50. Amazing comeback for the Vols. On the other side, it sucks to be a North Carolina fan this year. That’s two massive choke jobs in the course of a week.

I had a pool update all set for the North Carolina victory, with the headline “Defending champ Boeckler one win from third women’s pool title.” Instead, Boeckler and Elam are eliminated, Fort and Krause are still alive, and I have to write a new update.