I can readily admit that I am not a big women’s college basketball fan. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I treat women’s basketball the way Tiger Woods’ fans treat a tournament he has not entered into. I may casually glance to see who won here and there, but I cannot say I am passionate about seeing who won.

I watch the University of Maryland women play every now and then because they are the team closest to where I live. Thanks to the reckless mouth of Don Imus, I now watch a quarter or two of Vivian Stringer and her Rutgers women as well. And of course, since she is currently the biggest star in women’s college basketball, I make it a point to check out Candace Parker in the box scores to see what kind of numbers she has put up on any given night.

Never in my life, have I ever sat down to watch an entire women’s basketball game until tonight, when I sat down and watched Parker and the Tennessee Volunteers win their second NCAA title in a row, and eighth overall, 64-48 over the Stanford Cardinals.

This game was billed as a showdown between Ace and Ice: Candace Parker of Tennessee and Candice Wiggins of Stanford. Wiggins, who was named the women’s player of the year on Sunday, came into the game having scored 40+ points in this tournament twice. And Candace Parker, despite the fact that she was playing with a separated shoulder, had led her team to victory against LSU, by assisting on the game winning basket. So the stage was definitely set for these two ladies to duel it out in the title game. When Wiggins started the game by hitting a wide open three-pointer, it certainly seemed like this match up would live up to the hype, but it never quite materialized in the first half.

Tennessee came out and played a stifling defense, which did not allow Stanford to develop any semblance of continuity. Wiggins had just 10 points and more importantly, five of Stanford’s 13 turnovers in the first half. If not for the low post play of Jayne Appel, Stanford surely would have been blown out. Tennessee was paced by the inside/outside combination of Nicky Anosike and Shannon Bobbitt. Anosike was an absolute ball hawk on the defensive end with five steals, and she seemed to hit most of the big shots by scoring 10 points on the other end. For every big shot she didn’t score, Bobbitt was right there to pick up the slack by scoring 13 points — nine of which came from three-point range.

Despite the disparity in play, Stanford was able hang around thanks to a Jillian Harmon jump shot at the buzzer, and the score at the half was Tennessee 37 and Stanford 29.

If there is one truism in college basketball, it is that the team that is trailing is guaranteed to make at least one run to make the game interesting, and Stanford certainly did their part during the first five minutes of the second half. Kayla Pedersen came out in the second half and scored four quick points which cut Tennessee’s lead to four points. Stanford seemed to feed off of Pedersen’s aggressive play and they picked up intensity on the defensive end.

Unfortunately for Stanford, this is when Candace Parker and Nicky Anosike also found their own second gear, and upped the lead. During a 13-7 run by Tennesee, Parker scored six points and grabbed three rebounds and had two steals and played crucial interior defense to push the lead back to a 10-point margin 50-40. Stanford would never truly threaten to take the lead after that.

Candice Wiggins (14 points) made shots here and there, but she was never able to approach the dominance she achieved in the three previous games. And Jayne Appel (16 points), despite her brilliance in the low post, shot a measly four for 10 from the free throw line and prevented Stanford from cutting into Tennesse’s substantial lead down the stretch. Thanks to the ball handling of Shannon Bobbitt, the defense of Nicky Anosike and the timely baskets by All-American Candace Parker, Tennessee was able to overcome their own sloppy play in the second half and win the game.

So what does this neophyte have to say about his first experience watching an entire women’s game?

I have to say that I expected much more from a championship game. Just the previous night I watched Kansas defeat Memphis in overtime 75-68, and that game was nothing short of brilliant. There were dazzling performances on the Kansas side (Mario Chalmers) and on the Memphis side (Derrick Rose); there were back and forth moments all throughout the second half, ending with Chalmers last minute shot to send the game to overtime; and finally, in overtime Kansas was able to pull away and it.

I expected to see this same type of brilliance in the women’s final, especially since all I heard leading up to the game was how great Candace Parker and Candice Wiggins were. Unfortunately I walked away from this game feeling bored and quite unfulfilled. The game had no drama, the star players played solid, but there were no game or life changing performances that you come to expect from a championship game. And in the second half of this title game, both Stanford and Tennessee played incredibly sloppy and I found myself frequently glancing at the clock, wondering when this madness would end.

I know its unfair to judge my entire women’s basketball experience on one game, but when this one game is the title game featuring megastars, much is to be expected and nothing much was delivered. Parker showed flashes of her talent during the game on several occasions when she would get a rebound, dribble with the precision of Jason Kidd or Dawn Staley, and then post up like Shaquille O’Neal or Lisa Leslie. I am fully aware that she was playing with a shoulder injury, but I didn’t see enough to impress me. And Wiggins, for all her All-American status, could barely get a shot off versus the Tennessee defense.

Perhaps Wiggins and and a 100% healthy Parker will deliver and live up to their hype in the WNBA, but on this night, this hoops addict was left bored and longing for much more.