Tonight, when they visit Xavier, the women’s basketball team enters its stretch run towards a regular season A-10 championship and an NCAA berth. Even loftier goals, yet to be achieved, are within sight: an A-10 tournament championship, a top-16 seed in the NCAA’s (and thus, the chance to host two rounds of the NCAA tourney), and a Sweet 16 appearance.

Somehow, some way, the women have managed to put together a perfect 18-0 season at this point. They have done it on guts and guile, with depth, superior coaching, and great fan support. In a day when an undefeated 12-0 season in football is almost impossible (for any team, not just the Hokies), an 18-0 record in any sport is almost unfathomable. I wouldn’t believe it, if I wasn’t seeing it with my own eyes.

Sometimes, these Hokies do it by surgically carving up the opposition, as they did against Virginia, and at other times, they do it when a player steps up to rescue a team that is otherwise in a funk, as Katie O’Conner did against St. Joe’s recently and Michelle Houseright did against Temple two days later.

With just one month and 8 games to go in the regular season, we can now ask ourselves the question: can this team go undefeated? Not all the way, mind you, but what about the regular season?

The answer, of course, is yes. The caveat is, it’s going to take more skill, hard work, great coaching, and more than a dash of luck, as well.

Never mind talent and coaching. Maintaining the focus and intensity that are required to go undefeated is a phenomenal task. Frank Beamer, as good a coach as he is, still hasn’t found a way to avoid yearly bouts with the Temples, Miami (OH)’s, and Cincinnatis of the world. Once a year, the Hokie football team shows up unfocused and gives away a game it should win, perhaps even dominate.

So as you look down the women’s hoops schedule and say to yourself, "Hmm - only three more tough games, two with Xavier, and one with GW," be careful. As Temple showed last Sunday, they’re all tough from here on out.

Not only do the Hokies have to deal with the likes of Xavier and GW, who are talented enough to beat them, they have to look out for ambushes from the "easy" games in between.

In addition to the talent and coaching, the Hokies have needed some luck to remain undefeated. On any given night, you can flip a coin for each player, and that coin will either come up "hot" or "cold." For Amy Wetzel, it came up "hot" against Virginia and GW, and "cold" against St. Joe’s. For Michelle Houseright, it came up "hot" against Temple and "cold" so many other times that Nicole Jones earned a starting spot in the lineup and gets more minutes than Houseright does now.

The question is this: what if you flip the coins one night, and they all come up "cold?" What happens then? Or what if the opposition flips their coins one night, and they all come up "hot?" Those nights are when losses occur.

For this team, as they negotiate the mine field of the last eight games of the regular season, they have to keep working hard and playing smart, and hope that their luck doesn’t run out.

Their biggest ace up the sleeve is probably Lisa Witherspoon, because it’s hard for a team to go stone cold when their point guard is setting them up for easy lay-ups, like Spoon does routinely. And after watching the team for the entire year, I can report that Tere Williams almost never goes cold, either. So on any given night, the Hokies can count on at least two hot players, and as long as not too many of the opposition’s players come up hot, we’ve got a good chance of winning.

I think the only true Achilles heel this team has is its three-point shooting. I watched St. Joe’s pack themselves into a zone last Friday night, and the Hokies struggled mightily with it. St. Joe’s dared the Hokies to shoot the three, and for the most part, Tech chickened out of it, although they did hit enough well-placed threes to help carry them to the win.

But it was shaky for a while. As St. Joe’s filled the paint with defenders, Amy Wetzel continued to try to drive, with no success, and Spoon continued to pass down into the crowded lane, where Hokie players caught the passes in good position but had trouble finishing their shots. It finally took a hot streak from Katie O’Conner and a timely three from Spoon for the Hokies to pull away.

But the Hawks almost pulled it off. They got close. Darn close.

Can the Hokies keep coming up with what it takes to win? If anyone can, this team and this coach can. I know one thing - if they can come back from this weekend’s Xavier-Dayton trip with a 20-0 record, some very large, very fired-up Hokie crowds for the remaining home games with Xavier, LaSalle, and GW are going to make it nearly impossible for any of those teams to escape Blacksburg with a win.

(As a side bar, if we want the NCAA selection committee to consider seeding the Hokies as hosts for a sub-regional, it is imperative that we pack the Cassell for the remaining games. We have to show the committee that women’s basketball is alive and well in Blacksburg, and worthy of hosting some NCAA tournament games.)

So go get ‘em, ladies. Bring home two more W’s over the weekend, and we’ll help carry you the rest of the way. .

I've been pelted with the following two questions lately, and now that I have answers, I have put those answers on the HokieCentral home page:

1.)  When is the Spring Game?  Answer:  April 17th, 2:00 p.m.  And yes, barring anything unforeseen, I'll be having an informal HokieCentral tailgate that day.

2.)  What's the 1999 Football Schedule?  Released Thursday, the 1999 schedule isn't too bad.  I have copied it to the HokieCentral home page.   Here it is:

• Sept. 4 - James Madison
• Sept. 11 - Alabama-Birmingham
• Sept. 18 - open
• Sept. 23 (Thur.) - Clemson (ESPN)
• Oct. 2 - at Virginia
• Oct. 9 - at Rutgers
• Oct. 16 - Syracuse
• Oct. 23 - open
• Oct. 30 - at Pittsburgh;
• Nov. 6 - at West Virginia
• Nov. 13 - Miami
• Nov. 20 - at Temple
• Nov. 26 (Fri.) - Boston College (CBS)

Yeah, I know - when I saw that CBS was actually going to show one of our games, I just about dropped my teeth, too.  I notice that they haven't spoken for the Miami game, though.  Idiots.  They've probably got a killer Navy/Notre Dame clash that day.

I like the schedule, because it doesn't group a bunch of hard games together in a row, although the trip to WVU the week before we host Miami is a little unsettling. And (shades of 1995) we have one home game - one - between September 23rd and November 13th, due to the front-end loading of three home games.  The crowds at the Syracuse (10/13) and Miami (11/13) games are going to be insane.

Other than that, I have no complaints, except for UVa being on October 2nd, but that's UVa's doing, not the Big East's doing.  Hey, Hoos, notice that ESPN didn't pick our game up yet?

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