ACC champion Duke (27-5) is going to be one of the 64 teams on the board when the NCAA Women’s Tournament field is announced tonight at 7 on ESPN.
N.C. State (20-13) and UNC (19-11) think they’re in, but won’t be sure until they see their names on the board tonight.
The Wolfpack and Tar Heels are two of about eight ACC teams who will be waiting with baited breath, first to make sure they’re in the field and then to see where they’re headed.
Duke and Florida State (26-5) are both hosting first- and second-round games, so it’s a certainty the Seminoles are also going to get an invitation. It would also shock the women’s basketball world if Georgia Tech (23-9) or Virginia (21-9) doesn’t get the thumbs-up.
The Wolfpack, under their first-year coach Kellie Harper, and the Tar Heels, under veteran Sylvia Hatchell, likely sealed their invitations with recent wins.
State had to avenge a regular-season loss by beating Clemson in the first round of the ACC Tournament, and the Wolfpack got that done and added two more wins to boot.
The Tar Heels’ signature victory was over Duke at Carmichael Auditorium on Senior Day - UNC’s final game before the ACC Tournament - but they had to beat N.C. Central on Sunday to avoid seeing the bid slip through their fingers, and they got that done. Continue reading »
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.
Duke junior guard Jasmine Thomas has received the annual Kay Yow Award as the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Thomas is currently averaging 15.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.8 steals. She was earlier named a third-team Academic All-American by ESPN The Magazine.
Thomas is one of four Blue Devils on the squad, which includes grad student Keturah Jackson, senior Bridgette Mitchell and freshman Allison Vernerey.
N.C. State placed two players in senior Brittany Strachan and freshman Marissa Kastanek.
Others named are Boston College senior Ayla Brown and grad student Brittanny Johnson; Maryland freshmen Tianna Hawkins and Diandra Tchatchouang; Virginia Tech senior Lindsay Biggs and freshman Alyssa Fenyn; Florida State junior Christian Hunnicutt; Georgia Tech junior Deja Foster; and Miami freshman Morgan Stroman.
CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM/DURHAM If you look at the ACC women’s basketball season as a whole, it’s hard not to say Duke is a solid favorite to win the conference tournament that starts this morning at Greensboro Coliseum.
The No. 1 seed Blue Devils are ranked No. 6 nationally and finished three games ahead of anybody except Florida State, a team they destroyed 73-43 during the regular season.
But the problem for the Blue Devils is their bracket.
Joanne P. McCallie’s club has a bye today, then will play on Friday at 3 against the winner of today’s 3 p.m. first-round game between UNC and Maryland, the two teams that probably love to beat Duke the most and the two that have combined to win the last five tournaments in Greensboro.
In fact, whichever team that comes out of that group and into the semifinals will be the only team that has ever won the event during its 10-year run in the Gate City.
“That’s OK,” McCallie (pictured) said during a semi-regular press luncheon on Wednesday in the press room at Cameron. “It’s a little bit strange to see both Maryland and North Carolina in an 8-9 game. If you look at the numbers it’s weird. Why are they in an 8-9 game? Obviously they’re very good teams. But from our standpoint it’s anybody, anyplace, anywhere. So we just get ready to go, kind of thing. Continue reading »
N.C. State guard Marissa Kastanek has been named ACC women’s basketball freshman of the year, leading the five-player ACC all-rookie team chosen by the Blue Ribbon Panel that also includes the league’s coaches.
Duke center Allison Vernerey, who did most of her work coming off the bench, was also selected to the team along with Wake Forest’s Sandra Garcia, Maryland’s Diandra Tchatchouang and Florida State’s Chasity Clayton.
Kastanek started 28 of 29 games for the Wolfpack - all except the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech on Senior Day - and averaged 10.7 points per game. She also hit 35.3 percent of her 3-point attempts.
Vernerey averages 7.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Duke junior guard Jasmine Thomas is the only Triangle player named to the first unit of the All-ACC women’s basketball team announced by commissioner John Swofford.
UNC’s Italee Lucas was named to the second team and teammate Cetera DeGraffenreid the third, while the Blue Devils’ Joy Cheek was also selected to the third team.
N.C. State sophomore Bonae Holston received honorable mention as did Virginia Tech’s Utahya Drye, who played her high school ball at Northern Durham.
Joining Thomas (pictured) on the first team are Virginia senior Monica Wright - who has received a post-season honor from the conference all four seasons - along with Boston College’s Carolyn Swords, Florida State’s Jacinta Monroe and Miami’s Shenise Johnson.
The ACC also announced its sixth player of the year named by the coaches. It is Georgia Tech’s Alex Montgomery, who was also third-team all-conference.
The conference also announced its weekly honorees, with Florida State’s Courtney Ward - who was second-team all-conference - player of the week and Maryland’s Diandra Tchatchouang rookie of the week. Continue reading »
Seedings and pairings are out for the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament and one thing is for sure.
There will be three teams in the semifinals that have never won the tournament during its 10-year run in Greensboro.
Maryland is the defending champion, UNC won four in a row before that and Duke five in a row before that.
And they’re all in the same group of three, only one of which can advance to Saturday’s semifinals this time.
The top-seeded Blue Devils (24-5), who have lost in the finals each of the last two seasons, will play in the quarterfinals on Friday at 3 p.m. The opponent will be the winner of Thursday’s 3 p.m. contest between No. 8 seed UNC (18-10) and No. 9 seed Maryland (18-11).
The matchup between the Tar Heels and Terps will be the second of four games on Thursday.
The tournament tips off at 11 a.m., with No. 5 seed Wake Forest (17-12) taking on No. 12 seed Miami (17-12), with that winner advancing to Friday’s 11 a.m. quarterfinal against No. 4 seed Georgia Tech (22-8).
Thursday’s 6 p.m. contest will have No. 7 seed Boston College (15-14) taking on No. 10 seed Virginia Tech (15-14), with that winner taking on No. 2 seed Florida State (26-4) in the same time slot on Friday.
The nightcappers on Thursday at 8 are No. 6 seed N.C. State (17-12) and No. 11 seed Clemson (13-17), with the winner advancing to Friday’s 8 p.m. nightcap against No. 3 seed Virginia (21-8).
The semifinals are at 1 and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, with the title game on Sunday at 1.
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 »
Duke junior guard Jasmine Thomas been named to the third unit of ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-America women’s basketball team.
A vote of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) determined the team.
Thomas (pictured), a John R. Wooden Award and State Farm Wade Trophy National Player of the Year candidate, averages 15.7 points and 4.1 assists for the Blue Devils, who are 23-4 and ranked No. 6 nationally. The sociology major has a 3.37 GPA.
First-team players include Connecticut’s Maya Moore, Indiana State’s Kelsey Luna, Tennessee’s Angie Bjorklund, West Virginia’s Liz Repella and Army’s Erin Anthony.
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 »
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.
ACC champion Duke (27-5) is going to be one of the 64 teams on the board when the NCAA Women’s Tournament field is announced tonight at 7 on ESPN.
