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Game commentary

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Women's basketball is paced by outstanding post play**

One of the reasons the women's basketball team has developed into a national powerhouse over the past two years is that head coach Gail Goestenkors has most or all of her players stay in Durham during the summer to work on their games. Since NCAA rules prohibit coaches from having contact with their team in a practice setting during the off-season, most of the players' tutorial sessions come in pick-up games.

In 1994, those summer sessions on the court helped turn senior Alison Day into one of the Atlantic Coast Conference's best players. She was the team's leader and go-to player in the clutch. Her 37-point performance against Alabama in the NCAA Tournament was a sign to the nation that she was a serious force.

This past summer junior Tyish Hall stayed in town and worked on her game. She improved tremendously, but said she expected Day to be the team's main leader. Instead, with opposing defenses double-teaming Day, it is Hall who has become the main weapon.

Hall didn't have one of her best efforts Wednesday night, scoring only 10 points while grabbing six rebounds. But Clemson head coach Jim Davis considers Hall the front-runner for ACC player of the year.

Mangina called Day the key to the Blue Devil offense. She can post up, as most 6-3 players can. But she can also shoot the three. And she's a great passer, often seeing the open look as well as a guard. Mangina said Day's outside touch forces teams to extend their defense, opening holes on the inside for players like Hall.

"With Day sitting out at the three-point line, you really have to extend your defense," Mangina said. "We saw that as being a problem. We said, `How the heck are we going to play No. 52?' She makes the high-low really work. I think Day's development as a three-point shooter puts them at a different level."

Is Day jealous? Not one bit. Goestenkors called Day a tremendous leader whose primary goal is to have the team win. The only stat that matters to Day is the `W' in the win column. Goestenkors also said she has improved her rebounding and defense, making her a more complete player. Still, those other factors are often ignored when the point totals start to slide.

The Blue Devils' superb front line doesn't stop with Day and Hall. Coming off the bench is freshman Payton Black, who scored 13 points Wednesday night, nine of them in just six second-half minutes. In response to her effort, Davis said, "Payton Black--she's going to be a player."

To some, she already is one. Black--who is averaging just under 10 points per game-- says she's learned a lot playing with, and against, two of the nation's best frontcourt players in Day and Hall. That duo helped ease the transition into college ball, one the 6-foot-4 Pennsylvanian seems to have handled quite smoothly.

Day, Hall and Black form a threesome of talented inside players. In fact, Goestenkors thinks her trio is one of the best in the conference, if not the nation.

"We have three post players that are outstanding," she said. "Name three post players that are better than these three as a combination. Nobody. They are three of the best in the conference, and as a tandem they are very difficult to stop."