Between their days at Louisiana Tech and Baylor, Kim Mulkey and Leon Barmore have spent a lot of time together. Nineteen years, to be exact.
``Other than his wife and daughter, I am probably the next female in line that can keep him in line,'' said Mulkey, now in her 10th season as Baylor's head coach.
Mulkey and Barmore are part of one of only two women's coaching staffs that feature at least two Women's Basketball Hall of Fame members.
The other staff? The Tennessee staff, which the Baylor pair will face Saturday when the Lady Vols and Lady Bears meet in the NCAA tournament regional semifinals in Memphis. Tennessee's hall-of-fame coaches include Pat Summitt and assistants Holly Warlick and Daedra Charles-Furlow.
After four seasons coaching Mulkey as a Lady Techster, Barmore hired her as an assistant. A few years after Mulkey accepted the job at Baylor, she returned the favor.
Because the pair have spent so much time coaching together, they don't have to talk out their strategy too much.
``We use the same words and same terminology. You don't have staff meetings to sit down and discuss what you want (the assistants) to teach. That eliminates a lot of extra work in the office,'' Mulkey said.
She has to occasionally remind Barmore that he doesn't need to ask for permission to interject his opinion in the huddle or at practice.
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LATE-NIGHT CALLS: Several of Andy Landers' former Georgia players wound up playing in the WNBA way out West with the now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs - Lady Hardmon, La'Keshia Frett and Kedra Holland-Corn. He would often receive phone calls at 2 a.m. Eastern once their games were through or they were headed home from dinner.
This weekend, Landers has his fifth-seeded Lady Bulldogs in town to face top-seeded Stanford on Saturday night in the Sacramento Regional semifinals - in Arco Arena where the Monarchs used to play.
``Trust me, I'm aware there's a three-hour time difference because I get calls at 2 o'clock my time in the morning after a big game, because it was 11 o'clock here and they might have been leaving dinner or leaving the arena and had something to share with me,'' Landers recalled Friday.
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer hopes some of those former Monarchs fans will turn out for these games. The franchise folded in November.
``Sacramento, having lost the Monarchs team, this is I think a great opportunity for them to come out and support women's basketball,'' VanDerveer said. ``A lot of people are very disappointed the Monarchs are no longer playing, but come out and support women's basketball.''
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QUACKED-UP: Hall of famer. All-time winningest basketball coach in NCAA history. Now Tennessee's Pat Summitt can add a new accolade to her resume: Peabody Hotel duckmaster.
Summitt led the Memphis hotel's signature mallard ducks in their march from the lobby fountain to their quarters on the hotel roof on Friday afternoon.
``Gotta get my ducks in a row,'' Summitt joked after also receiving a cane resembling the one belonging to the real Peabody duckmaster, Jason Sensat.
Summitt isn't the first honorary duckmaster in the 77 years of the Peabody ducks. Oprah Winfrey, Paula Deen, Larry King and Kevin Bacon are among the other celebrities who have led the procession.
Summitt and Senast shared training tips on the elevator ride from the lobby to the roof, where the ducks spend each night. Sensat told her he can train a new duck in a matter of days.
``If only I could train my players that quickly,'' Summitt said.
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SEA LEVEL ADVANTAGE?: The city of Memphis is 254 feet above sea level, and that couldn't be better for the San Diego Aztecs. Coming from San Diego, they prefer the lower elevations where it's easier to run - and breathe.
Coach Beth Burns said her Aztecs never have problems on the road, not after the regular season challenge of playing in the Mountain West Conference.
``When we go on the road, you can't breathe. Wyoming is 8,200 feet, and Colorado State is 7,200 feet. If any of you are ever traveling, jump out and put your shoes on and go up and down a little bit and see how much it affects you,'' Burns said.
That might be part of the reason why the Aztecs beat Texas in Austin in the first round and then downed West Virginia in the second round to advance to Saturday's regional semifinal with Duke. The elevation in Austin? A measly 489 feet.
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FORGET LAST YEAR: So much has been made of Tennessee's opening-round loss in the NCAA tournament last year. Well, the Duke Blue Devils lost in the second round and weren't too happy about that either. Now that they are back in a regional semifinal for the first time since 2008, that 63-49 loss to Michigan State hasn't come up.
At least not for Jasmine Thomas.
``It actually hasn't even crossed my mind this year in the tournament. Early on, that's something we wanted to motivate us. I'm just ready, and I think this team is ready to keep moving on. We're ready to keep playing,'' she said.
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BURNS' QUOTATIONS: San Diego State coach Beth Burns is always saying something to send messages to her Aztecs.
``Hard work beats talent when talent won't work hard'' or ``Hope is not a strategy.'' It's helped her build a program, and she has so many that senior guard Jene Morris has a hard time remembering them all.
``I call her the human quote book because she has so many,'' Morris said.
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AP Sports Writers Janie McCauley in Sacramento, Calif., and Teresa M. Walker in Memphis contributed to this report.
