SZVETITZ COLUMN: Fortner not tipping her hand

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Nell Fortner wouldn’t budge.

You’d have a better chance soliciting her pin number than a word about Auburn’s gameplan against Rutgers.

That’s how big tonight’s second-round Oklahoma City Regional game is.

Sure, it’s not like Fortner goes around passing out playbooks to the media for regular-season games. She’s always played it close to the vest.

But today’s game is different.

It’s bigger. A lot bigger.

“For us, it’s the biggest and best game we’ve played all year long,” Fortner said.

And it should be.

Tonight’s game could be the Tigers’ last. It could be the final time Auburn’s superstar seniors — DeWanna Bonner, Whitney Boddie, Trevesha Jackson and Sherell Hobbs — take the floor wearing orange and blue. The road could end in front of a hostile Rutgers crowd on the Scarlet Knights’ home floor. (Stop us if you’ve heard that one before.)

It could.

Or, it could be the next step in Auburn’s quest for a national championship. It could be the launching pad into another tough two-game stretch that could conceivably see the Tigers playing perennial powerhouses North Carolina and Oklahoma.

It could be the push they need to do something no hoops team from the Plains has ever done.

It could.

That’s why it’s so big. And so important Fortner keep it to herself and her team.

And who can blame her? Certainly not this reporter who asked several different ways and got the same answer every time.

“It’s going to be a great ballgame,” Fortner said … a couple of times.

Yes it will.

Rutgers is the seventh-seed in the Oklahoma City Regional. Auburn is the No. 2 seed.

But don’t let the discrepancy in the rankings fool you. Rutgers is better than No. 7.

“For them to be a seventh seed — they’re one of the toughest seventh seeds out there,” Hobbs said.

“Rutgers is a great team,” Fortner added. “I can’t believe they are a seventh seed. That’s one of the biggest surprises in the bracket.”

And Auburn? Well, they were considered a top seed by a lot of people. The Tigers are 30-3, you know.

One more reason for the coach to keep secrets.

But maybe it’s not because she doesn’t want the gameplan to get out. Maybe Fortner’s not really worried about some newspaperman Twittering Xs and Os or diagramming plays on his blog.

Maybe, it’s because she doesn’t really have to say anything. Maybe it’s because the gameplan is so simple, you wouldn’t believe it.

Maybe.

“The thing is, we’re in a good place right now,” Fortner said. “They believe in themselves — they’re ready, they’re focused, they’re hungry. There’s not much more I can do other than help them with some Xs and Os, because they’ve got to get out on that floor and play.”

And that’s today. Against Rutgers. In Rutgers. Loser goes home. Winner moves on to the Sweet 16.

Big game.

Huge game.

That’s no secret.

MIKE SZVETITZ is sports editor of the Opelika-Auburn News. He maybe reached at mszvetitz@oanow.com or 737-2513.

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