Duke celebrates its first ACC women's basketball title since 2004. (Photo by Rob Rowe)
GREENSBORO COLISEUM It’s finals day at the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, and for the ninth time in its 11 seasons in Greensboro there are two North Carolina teams in the championship game.
One of two very different stories is going to be written today.
The most likely one is “Third Time’s the Charm!” That means Duke, which is ranked No. 9 nationally and the tournament’s top seed, beats N.C. State and wins for the first time in Joanne P. McCallie’s three straight trips to the final.
The other is “The Glass Slipper fits!” That means first-year Wolfpack coach Kellie Harper takes her outsized, scrappy sixth-seeded team shakes off its 70-39 loss on Feb. 11 at Cameron Indoor Stadium and pulls off a big upset.
Duke gets McCallie her sixth conference tournament title, including one in the Big Ten at Michigan State and four others at Maine, with a 70-60 victory in front of 9,432 fans.
GREENSBORO COLISEUM Here at the semifinals of the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, this is the side of the bracket that has gone according to form.
Top-seeded Duke is actually supposed to be here, as is No. 4 seed Georgia Tech. Both of these teams are certainly going to the NCAA Tournament no matter what goes down before sunset tomorrow.
The ninth-ranked Blue Devils got through the expected war with Maryland in the quarterfinals, while almost-ranked Georgia Tech came back to take out morning crowd favorite Wake Forest.
The Blue Devils won the regular-season meeting 64-50 on Feb. 19 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, with the Jackets putting on a respectable performance. Duke has won a ridiculous 30 straight games in the series.
And the streak continues, as the Blue Devils pull away over the past 10 minutes for a 67-55 victory.
There are seven lead changes and four ties in the first half, as the Blue Devils lead 29-25 at the break. Neither team leads by more than five points over the first 33 ½ minutes.
Joy Cheek finally puts the Blue Devils up by seven, at 55-48 on a layup with 6:19 to go.
Sasha Goodlett cuts it to 55-50 on a layup from Metra Walthour at 5:43 left before the Blue Devils pull away.
Duke scores the next eight points - on Jasmine Thomas’ layup from Shay Selby followed by Thomas steal and layup, a jumper from Cheek and another from Keturah Jackson at 2:47 for a 13-point lead.
Tech never again cuts the margin to single digits, and Duke is going to the final for the third straight season. The Blue Devils’ last championship was in 2004.
Karima Christmas (pictured) leads Duke with 15 points including 10-for-13 from the free-throw line, followed by Cheek and Jasmine Thomas with 10 apiece, all of Thomas’ in the second half. Continue reading »
GREENSBORO COLISEUM This is the kind of matchup that more frequently occurs in the championship game of the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, or at least in the semifinals.
Not this year.
Defending conference champion Maryland is the No. 9 seed and has already eliminated preseason conference favorite UNC in women’s basketball’s version of a “Group of Death.”
Today’s opponent is top-seeded No. 9 Duke, which has played in the last two finals and looks for its first title in six seasons and the first under Joanne P. McCallie.
Duke won both regular-season meetings - 58-57 in College Park on Jan. 24 and 71-59 at Cameron on Feb. 21, and that old adage about how tough it is to beat the same team three times in a season is at work.
It does prove to be tough, but Duke survives in the final minute to advance 66-64 and set up a semifinal meeting with Georgia Tech on Saturday.
As the final score shows, it wasn’t easy from the outset.
As was the case against the Tar Heels a day earlier, the Terps come out hot.
Maryland’s biggest lead is 11, at 24-13 on a jumper from Anjale Barrett with 13:24 left in the first half.
Duke responds to the adversity with a 10-2 run, tying it at 26-26 on a Bridgette Mitchell layup with 6:21 left in the half.
The Blue Devils take their biggest lead of the period at 37-31 on a pair of free throws from Joy Cheek (pictured) at the 1:42 mark. Continue reading »
CARMICHAEL ARENA/CHAPEL HILL It’s yet another edition of the “Battle of the Blues” between archrivals UNC and Duke, and the Blue Devils will come into the Tar Heels’ refurbished arena as strong favorites.
No. 6 Duke (24-4, 12-1) has already clinched the ACC regular-season championship and will have the No. 1 seed for the tournament in Greensboro beginning on Thursday, while the Tar Heels’ season has bordered on a nightmare.
UNC (17-10, 5-8) was the preseason favorite to win the ACC - at least before it was determined that star forward Jessica Breland would not be able to play as she recovers from Hodgkin’s lymphoma - but comes into the matchup having lost seven of its last eight games and desperately needing to do something to impress the NCAA Selection Committee.
It’s a day of dedication for the arena, even though the first game was played here back on Jan. 6, and Gov. Bev Perdue is among those on hand for a halftime ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Duke had embarrassed the Tar Heels on Feb. 8 in Durham, rolling to a 79-51 victory. But today UNC gets some payback in a 64-54 shocker, and Coach Sylvia Hatchell has a very happy 58th birthday.
The win does not come easily for the home team.
The Tar Heels, who start Trinity Bursey and Martina Wood on Senior Day, get out to an 11-5 advantage on a Krista Gross 3-pointer with 16:16 left in the first half and never trail before the break, taking a 30-26 advantage into the locker room.
Duke shoots 26.8 percent from the floor before the break to UNC’s 39.3, and the Blue Devils really never find the hoop all day.
The Blue Devils make a run and then get a big break leading 42-39 with 13:12 to play, when the elbow of UNC freshman Cierra Robertson-Warren’s connects with the neck of Duke winger Karima Christmas and Robertson-Warren is ejected. It’s the first ejection call in ACC women’s basketball this season.
But the Blue Devils’ performance at the free-throw line foreshadows the conclusion. Before Duke gets the ball back Jasmine Thomas misses two on the ejection, then Christmas misses three, then Keturah Jackson misses the front of a one-and-one.
UNC takes the lead for good on a steal and layup from Cetera DeGraffenreid (pictured) with 10:21 to go, and it seems that she takes over the game from that point. The Tar Heels have to endure the mine field of having their two biggest players foul out - Chay Shegog at 5:02 and Waltiea Rolle at 4:20. Continue reading »
CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM/DURHAM Duke comes into a televised home game in great shape in the ACC women’s basketball race, needing just two wins to clinch the top seed in the conference tournament.
But today’s opponent is a team that’s playing well and just doesn’t like the Blue Devils very much.
Maryland (18-8) has won three straight road games, and lost to Duke only 58-57 at home on Jan. 24 in a game when the Blue Devils obviously had to fight to the end.
There’s a big crowd in the house including a couple of hundred Terp fans behind the Maryland bench.
Today the Terps put up a great fight, but Duke pulls away over the final four minutes to win 71-59.
It’s obvious the teams don’t like each other from the start, as Maryland players bump Duke players as they attempt to line up for the National Anthem. Continue reading »
Jasmine Thomas led the way as No. 8 Duke continued its mastery of Georgia Tech in ACC women’s basketball.
Thomas (pictured) scored 20 points, giving her 999 for her career, as the Blue Devils topped the homestanding No. 19 Yellow Jackets 64-50 for their 30th straight win in the series.
Krystal Thomas and Karima Christmas added 10 points each for the Blue Devils (22-4, 10-1 ACC), who moved one step closer to the conference regular-season crown with three games left in the season.
Deja Foster had 15 points and Brigitte Ardossi 14 for Georgia Tech (20-7, 6-5), which is trying to hold onto its fourth-place spot in the conference standings and its prospective bye in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
Jasmine Thomas (pictured) reassumed her leading scorer role for Duke, pouring in 22 points to lead the Blue Devils to a hard-fought 65-53 win at Virginia Tech.
Karima Christmas added 15 points for Duke (21-4, 9-1 ACC), which had won six straight games at Cassell Coliseum. Joy Cheek chipped in 10 points for the Blue Devils, while Krystal Thomas had 10 rebounds to go with her six points.
Shanel Harrison led Tech (13-12, 2-8) with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Lindsey Biggs had 13 points.
Duke’s next game will be at Georgia Tech on Friday night.
CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM/DURHAM It’s one more battle to see which blue-clad women’s basketball team is the best in the Triangle - at least for one night.
And both homestanding No. 8 Duke (18-4, 6-1 ACC) and visiting No. 18 UNC (16-5, 4-3) are in a bit of a bad mood.
The Blue Devils’ chances to run the table in the ACC ended on Thursday, when they got slapped in the face with a 61-57 loss at up-and-down Boston College.
Meanwhile the Tar Heels, who once upon a time were favored to win the conference’s regular-season title, have lost two straight including an 80-69 defeat on Thursday night at Miami that may have made the Hurricanes’ season. We’ll see.
It’s the first time they’ve played each other this millennium when both were coming off a loss.
Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie lost her first six meetings with UNC before the Blue Devils won 81-79 last March 1 on Senior Day at Cameron.
The cameras are in the house for ESPN2’s Big Monday. And Duke gives them a show, putting six players in double figures in a 79-51 rout. Continue reading »
CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM/DURHAM Duke is back in action following Monday night’s blowout loss to No. 1 Connecticut, and it’s a good chance to see how the Blue Devils recover.
Tonight’s opponent for the No. 6 Blue Devils is Virginia Tech, which was picked to finish last in the ACC but had one of its most impressive wins in recent memory a week ago when it shocked then No. 10 UNC 79-64 in Blacksburg.
The Hokies have a local connection in Northern Durham alumna Utahya Drye, and a Duke connection on the roster in Abby Redick, younger sister of Blue Devil legend J.J. Redick.
None of that matters much, as the Blue Devils recover from a slow start to win 69-38 and hold the Hokies to their lowest score ever in an ACC game. Continue reading »
UNC women’s basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell was right when she talked about it in preseason.
The ACC is pretty balanced this time from top to bottom.
Hatchell’s No. 10 Tar Heels were victims of a big upset Thursday night, falling to Virginia Tech 79-64 at Cassell Coliseum.
UNC (13-3, 1-1 ACC) had been picked to finish first in the conference’s regular-season standings, while the Hokies (11-5, 1-1) were picked 12th and last. It was the Tar Heels’ second straight loss.
In another ACC game matching a pair of ranked teams, No. 7 Duke to a 69-62 win at No. 25 Miami.
Lindsay Biggs’ 19 points led a balanced Virginia Tech offense as the Hokies beat the Tar Heels for the first time since 1984.
Brittany Gordon added 17 points for the Hokies while Northern Durham alumna Utahya Drye (pictured) added 16 and Alyssa Fenyn 10.
Chay Shegog came off the bench for 13 points to lead the Tar Heels, while She’la White added 12 points and Laura Broomfield 11 points with 14 rebounds. Continue reading »
Kyle on "UNC holds off pesky NCCU with big second half, awaits selection committee": Mike Potter does Triangle sports fans a wonderful service by providing a unique perspective of events that may not otherwise receive media coverage. Thanks Mike for all you have done and continue to do in your outstanding career as a journalist and an ambassador for the Triangle.
caniacgirl on "Peters and pipes pickpocket a peck of prickly Penguins": I absolutely love the headline! Games like this one definitely reignite the little bit of playoff hope I have left in me. It should be an interesting few weeks that's for sure.
Greg Nccu Student on "Miller leads NCCU to 11th victory": There are a lot of Rumors on Campus about Joanna Miller leaving NCCU next year. Please Coach Robinson, We need to keep this player from gong to another College.
