After Tennessee train wreck, some good news for Bruno

At least this week wasn't a total loss for DePaul women's basketball coach Doug Bruno.

Just two days after his No. 15 Blue Demons got hammered on their own court by third-ranked Tennessee 102-68, Bruno got some welcomed good news.

He and Duke's Joanne McCallie were selected as USA Basketball's 2007 Co-Developmental Coaches of the Year. They each led USA women's teams to perfect records and gold medals at their respective FIBA World Championships last summer.

McCallie went 8-0 with the Under-21 team in Moscow while Bruno led his Under-19 team to a 9-0 record and a gold medal in Slovakia. His team won by an average of 34.6 points per game.

"Doug Bruno is a coach who challenges his players to be excellent, which brought out the best in my game," said Connecticut freshman sensation Maya Moore, who is averaging a team-best 15.7 points per game for the No. 1 Huskies. "I love how he gave us the freedom to run the floor and just be the basketball players that we are. The part of his personality I admire the most is how he truly cares about his players' lives, not just their basketball performance."

Ironically, Tennessee freshmen Angie Bjorklund and Vicki Baugh, who each had 8 points Wednesday against DePaul, were also on Bruno's USA team last summer.

"(Playing on the team) was definitely a little intro to college basketball, and I'm a better player because of it," Bjorklund said. "It was a good experience for me."

Coaching for USA Basketball always seems to be a good experience for Bruno. This is the second time he has won such an award. In 2006, he was also named a co-developmental coach of the year.

"Any and all coach of the year awards are team awards," said the ever-humble Bruno, who is the award's only two-time winner. "(The award) is a tribute to my staff and players. You don't ever get a coach-of-the-year award without great players. They were a joy to be around.

"They're great young women, they were great to coach, great to be with on the road through the travails of traveling. I can't say enough about the leadership and maturity of these 19-year-olds this summer."

The team also included Northwestern freshman center Amy Jaeschke.

Bruno, who also recently collected his 400th career win at DePaul, was assisted last summer by Northern Illinois coach Carol Owens and Prairie View A&M coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, who led the Houston Comets to four WNBA titles in the late 1990s.

Show time: Want to get to know new Illinois women's basketball coach Jolette Law better?

Tune into the Big Ten Network each week for her show, which will feature team highlights, in-depth player interviews and segments that will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the program.

The show, which will first air Tuesday at 1 p.m. and then every Tuesday thereafter through March 4, will look back at the team's 10-4 start and introduce the new coaching staff.

Bowled over: Diandra Asbaty capped off a great season of bowling in a most deserved way this week.

Asbaty, who lives in Chicago, was named the 2007 World Bowling Writers Female Bowler of the Year. She became the first woman to receive the award in consecutive years.

"To be the only woman to ever win this award in back-to-back years is very special to me," Asbaty said.

A 10-time Team USA member, Asbaty won titles in four countries this season, including a gold medal in doubles at the Pan American Games in Brazil.

Hello, goodbye: There were some interesting comings and goings from the tennis world this week.

While former world No. 1 Martina Hingis was slapped with a two-year suspension from the International Tennis Federation for a doping violation that involved cocaine use, Lindsay Davenport was announcing her plans to get back into the saddle again.

The three-time Grand Slam and Olympic gold medalist says she is preparing to make a comeback this season that will include at least three Grand Slams and possibly the Olympic Games.

Davenport took about 11 months off to give birth to her son Jagger. She then played in a smattering of events last summer, and the fact that she won two of three singles events likely gave her the confidence to dip her toe even further into the water this season.

Last word: Just some final thoughts on Candace Parker's return to Chicago this week.

I was impressed with Parker's poise and demeanor against DePaul. The former Naperville Central star was cool and confident even though she had every reason to be nervous and on edge.

She was, after all, playing her first game back in her hometown and the hype was substantial. More than 60 of her closest friends and relatives were also in the stands.

Meanwhile, word quickly made its way through the stadium that she was being forced to work off a punishment in the first half for missing curfew on New Year's Eve. The 6-foot-4 Parker didn't even play in the first half because of that.

Yet, in the second half, instead of pressing to impress or overcompensating for her embarrassment, Parker calmly found her groove and wound up with rather impressive statistics.

She scored 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, pulled down 5 rebounds and had 5 steals and 3 assists.

Not bad for 19 minutes of work under spotlight's hot glare.