DATE: Sunday, March 30, 1997                TAG: 9703300103

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A10  EDITION: FINAL 

DATELINE: CINCINNATI                        LENGTH:   72 lines

NO SURPRISE HERE: ODU LEGEND STILL BLEEDS ROYAL BLUE AND WHITE

The newspaper headlines here Saturday morning screamed surprise.

``Stanford Stunned.''

``ODU stuns Stanford.''

When Nancy Lieberman-Cline saw the papers, her lip curled up the way it used to just before she would take a defender off the dribble.

In the headlines, she detected disrespect for her beloved Lady Monarchs.

``Old Dominion's the No. 2 team in the country,'' she said. ``Why shouldn't they win? Stunning? I don't think so. The media's just being emotional.''

Funny, Nancy saying that about the media, seeing as how she is one of them. During tonight's national championship game between ODU and Tennessee, she'll resume her role as sideline reporter for ESPN.

It is, she acknowledges, an emotional assignment.

``It was hard for me,'' she said of Friday's semifinal game, won by ODU 83-82 in overtime. ``I was nervous. But you don't want to flinch when somebody on ODU makes a bad play. I know I'm sitting near the Stanford area. I know people are watching me for a reaction.''

If people had been watching Lieberman-Cline Saturday afternoon, they'd have seen the former Lady Monarch All-American and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame dressed in jeans and an ODU T-shirt.

With the cameras off, this was her time to step from behind the TV facade. To advertise her affection for ODU basketball.

How, somebody wondered, does she remain objective on the air?

``I'm a professional,'' she said matter-of-factly.

The professional analyst says ODU ``has the best defensive team in the nation. Old Dominion is an NBA East team. They'll physically beat you.

``That's twice now,'' she added, ``that Stanford's not known what hit them.''

Twice now this season, ODU has beaten Stanford. Tonight, the Lady Monarchs will attempt the same feat against defending national champion Tennessee. ODU beat the Lady Vols 83-72 in January.

``It's going to be a war,'' Lieberman-Cline said. ``It will be the survival of the fittest. Not only the physical, but the mental aspect.''

Old Dominion and Tennessee have shared a rivalry going back more than 20 years, to the infancy of women's college basketball. In the 1980 final, Lieberman's Lady Monarchs beat Tennessee to win ODU's second national title.

ODU's return to center stage, says Lieberman-Cline, gives this Final Four a ``sentimental'' feel.

``I don't think anybody really doesn't like Old Dominion,'' she said. ``We gave the sport vision. Tennessee saw what we had and said, `We can bring this to Knoxville.' ''

Pat Summitt, Tennessee's legendary coach, saw what ODU had and improved on it. For the Lady Vols, Final Four appearances are almost routine. And Summitt's four national championships put her in a class by herself.

``Old Dominion has a chance to win a national championship,'' said Lieberman-Cline. ``But I never bet against Pat. She's the ultimate competitor. If you beat Pat, it says something. If ODU beats Tennessee twice this year, it will be an unbelievable statement.''

Once again, though, Lieberman-Cline dismisses suggestions that ODU is the underdog.

``Everybody thought ODU was going to be here,'' she pointed out. ``Nobody, in January, thought Tennessee was going to be here.''

So, then, where will Lieberman-Cline be late Sunday night? With ODU coach and good friend Wendy Larry, no doubt.

``If ODU wins, I'll do my job,'' she said. ``I'll interview Wendy.''

But, then, her professional obligations discharged, she will give Larry a big hug and join in the fun.

``Wendy promised me a piece of the net,'' Lieberman-Cline said. ``If Old Dominion wins, I'll go up there and cut down a piece of the net.''

It should not stun anyone if this is just what happens. ILLUSTRATION: HUY NGUYEN/File photo

Former ODU All-American Nancy Lieberman-Cline, now playing for

Athletes in Action, says tonight's NCAA women's championship game

between ODU and Tennessee will be ``a war.''

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