CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-The magnitude of the women's basketball team's 72-69 victory over Virginia at University Hall is hard to explain by statistics alone, even though the statistics are a good place to start describing just how important that win was for the Blue Devils.
Before the loss to Duke, the Cavaliers had built up a 92-4 record in the 1990s at home, including winning 65 of their last 66 contests. UVa holds an impressive 87.8 all-time winning percentage in Charlottesville.
Despite these numbers, the Blue Devils put up some impressive numbers of their own during the game. Duke outrebounded the Cavaliers 40-27 Saturday evening, while also bettering the Wahoos on the charity stripe, sinking 18-of-25 free throws, compared to UVa's 7-of-18 from the line.
Yet the most important statistic of the night was the three-point margin when the final buzzer sounded. Although the No. 14 Blue Devils did not seem to pull off much of an upset of the ninth-ranked Cavaliers, the rankings do not give a true indication of the significance of Duke's 20th win of the season.
Virginia has won the last five regular season Atlantic Coast Conference titles, and eight of the last 10. And until recent years, Duke could never quite achieve the level of success that UVa enjoyed.
Last season, the Blue Devils broke into the top 25 for the first time since 1989. And despite an upset victory over North Carolina in the regular season and a shocking win over Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC tournament, no one was ready to put Duke in the list of their top 10 for this season. The Blue Devils still hadn't quite stepped up to the level of the Virginias, North Carolinas or N.C. States.
The victory at UVa allowed the Blue Devils to climb another rung up the ladder of success. Only four other teams had beaten the Cavaliers in Charlottesville in this decade.
In addition, the outcome of Saturday night's game solidified the change that the Duke-Virginia series has taken. Instead of the 20- to 40-point blowouts that the Cavaliers would administer to the Blue Devils, the last few contests have resulted in down-to-the-wire battles.
"Every time we come here, it's going to be a battle," junior forward Tyish Hall said. "No matter who's predicted to win, whoever's favored, it's always a battle between these two schools so I always look forward to coming here."
If any Duke player had tried to make that assertion a few years ago, she might have been laughed out of University Hall. This time, though, Hall's assertion was backed by the teams last three meetings, all of which were decided by three points or less.
Even Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan admitted that playing Duke had turned into "a very good series." After losing to the Blue Devils and dropping another game to Clemson at University Hall, one reporter asked Ryan whether she was concerned about losing at home since the East regionals of the NCAA Tournament were being held at UVa this season.
"I'm worried about getting to the regionals," Ryan said. "I don't ever like to lose at home; I don't think you should lose at home. It's just something that we don't normally do."
What? Did Debbie Ryan actually admit she was worried about getting to the regionals? The Cavaliers have been to the regionals every year since 1986. While Ryan's concerns are most likely unfounded, they do show the strength that women's basketball has achieved in the ACC.
UVa still holds first place in the conference by a game or a game and a half over four other teams, thanks to an upset of Clemson by Maryland Saturday. But the lead is not nearly guaranteed. Last season, the Cavs were not challenged as they finished the regular season with a 16-0 conference mark. The loss to Duke is Virginia's third conference loss this year, and it has little time to recover, since the Cavaliers face off with North Carolina tonight in Chapel Hill.
"It just feels good to know we're in good company," Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors said following Saturday's win. "We've come a long way; we've still got a long ways to go, but it feels good to be able to beat a team like Virginia on their home floor."
While Virginia did not give Duke much credit for the win-the Cavaliers instead chose to chalk it up to a lack of defense in the second half-the Blue Devils have sent a message to the conference. This team isn't about to give up anything, to anyone.
"Our backs were really against the wall, having lost two games in a row," Goestenkors said of the team's feelings after losing to N.C. State and Maryland recently. "We were very much primed for Wake Forest [on Feb. 8]. We took the attitude that our backs were against the wall and we were going to come out fighting."
Duke has indeed come out fighting, and despite a back injury to starting forward Windsor Coggeshall, the team has come together to produce some of its best basketball of the season. And hopefully the rest of the ACC will take this message to heart: The Blue Devils aren't ready to lie down and give up on this season-not yet.
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