Duke fans remember well. . . Davis to Laettner to beat Connecticut in 1990. Hill to Laettner to beat Kentucky in 1992.
And now: Scanlon to Day to beat North Carolina in 1995.
Junior center Alison Day's buzzer-beating 10-foot jump shot may not have come in an NCAA Tournament game. But it did provide the Duke women's basketball program with one of its biggest wins ever.
Day's shot, which bounced off the rim three times before descending through the net, came off an inbounds pass from junior guard Jennifer Scanlon. The shot enabled the 21st-ranked Blue Devils to pull off a 74-72 upset of No. 3 North Carolina, the defending national champion and winner of 32 straight games.
There is no question that Day's basket was clutch. But unlike Christian Laettner, Day is not accustomed to hitting last-second shots.
"I don't think I've ever made a game-winning shot before," Day said. "All my games in high school were blowouts."
Actually, the final play of the Blue Devils' victory over the Tar Heels was designed for sophomore forward Tyish Hall. Hall set a screen for sophomore guard Kira Orr and then headed for the basket. But Scanlon was unable to find Orr over UNC's 6-7 Gwendolyn Gillingham. Fortunately for Duke, Scanlon was able to find Day.
"I got a little nervous when I saw Gwendolyn come out on me," Scanlon said. "She has, you know, a height advantage. I couldn't really see Tye, but I saw Ali pop out to the baseline, and she was one-on-one. We all have confidence in Ali. It's a pretty good chance she's going to score on a one-on-one.
"We got the ball into her, and it hit the rim. I knew it was going to go in when it hit the rim. In practice, all of Ali's shots [go in]. We always laugh about it. She get's every bounce."
For Day, hitting the shot was a dream come true.
"I knew it was going in all the way," Day said jokingly.
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