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Game commentary
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Women's hoops earns significant victory**
CHAPEL HILL--The No. 12 women's basketball team has taken many steps over the past few years to try to establish itself as a national power. One of those first steps was a last-second victory over then-No.3 North Carolina last January 25. Later in the 1995 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, the Blue Devils knocked off first-seeded Virginia in overtime.
This year, Duke has earned its highest ranking in head coach Gail Goestenkors' era, with an impressive 16-3 record. Still, going into Wednesday night's game against the Tar Heels in Carmichael Auditorium, the feeling was Duke had to win to prove that it was for real. Never mind that UNC was unranked and only 10-5. The Tar Heels were second in the ACC and were surprising everyone with their young talent and aggressive style.
To make matters worse, looming in the minds of the Blue Devils were two pf Duke's three games against UNC in 1995, which were blowouts. To senior Jennifer Scanlon, the second of those two losses--a 25-point massacre in the ACC tournament final--was the low point of the season.
"I remember we beat them the first time," Scanlon said. "The next two times we were tied with them at halftime and ended getting blown out in the second half. It was kind of embarrassing to play them so well and then get blown out in the second half."
So even with a near top-10 national ranking, two last-second losses to nationally-ranked Virginia and N.C. State meant that Duke had to beat North Carolina on the road to prove that it was for real. The pressure didn't really show in the rankings. Even the Daily Tar Heel picked the Blue Devils to come away with a win.
Listening to North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell in the post-game press conference, Duke should have won. If it wouldn't have, then there would be a big story to write about.
"You got to look at them," Hatchell said. "They're more experienced than us. They're bigger. We're outmatched in every category."
Everything Hatchell commented on after the game was well known beforehand. Still, there were reasons to be pessimistic. First, everyone knows when the contestants in any sporting event are Duke and UNC, records, standings and everything else is thrown out the window. Look at UNC forward Tracy Sadler as proof. The scouting report said she wasn't an outside threat. So of course Wednesday she goes out and scores 21 points in the first half, on 4-of-5 shooting from the behind three-point line.
Even Duke's final shot was unconventional. No one--particularly UNC--expected Hilary Howard, the only freshman on the court for the Blue Devils, to take the final shot. But the freshman drove the length of the court, spinning at half court around a Tar Heel defender, and then floated a 10-foot jumper over Tonya Jackson to win the game.
"At the end, we knew they were going to try to go to [junior Kira Orr] and she was going to try to go coast to coast," Hatchell said. "So we put Tonya Cooper on her and [Cooper] did a good job not letting her get the ball. Then Hilary took it down, and it was like last year over at Duke."
Entering the game, there was one statistic many UNC fans clung to like a security blanket--the Blue Devils were 1-16 in Carmichael Auditorium, having never won a game at Chapel Hill while Hatchell was head coach of UNC. Goestenkors now can scratch the seemingly haunted arena off of her list of places where she has not won as Duke's head coach.
Wednesday's night's game also proved the Blue Devils are not a team with one or two strong players and a bunch of followers. Duke used seven players, and each of them contributed to the win. Four players scored in double figures. Two others were one point away from double-digit scoring. And last, but not least, there was Howard, who Goestenkors pointed out "obviously hit some clutch shots."
Duke's offense was all Hatchell could talk about. For the first few minutes of her postgame press conference, she didn't even mention Howard or the final play.
"We just got buzzed by an offensive machine," Hatchell said. "They are so offensive, it's just unbelievable."
Duke travels to Tallahassee, Fla., this Saturday to take on a Florida State team it has already beaten this season in a 62-point massacre on Dec. 6, 1995. A win at FSU may boost the Blue Devils into the top 10. Their highest ranking ever occurred Jan. 5, 1988, when they were ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll and No. 8 by USA Today. If they continue their current success, they may eclipse that record.
Sadly enough, the Blue Devils are still lacking some respect from their conference counterparts. Hatchell noted after the game she believed her team could win the ACC Championship. This with the knowledge that to do so, UNC will most likely meet Duke in the ACC tourney.
But Goestenkors isn't complaining. She ended her comments to the press with an observation no one in the room would doubt: "This one feels pretty nice."
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