A year ago this weekend, the women's basketball team stood in the face of history and seemingly insurmountable odds.
The Virginia women's basketball team had finished the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season with an unblemished 16-0 record. The Cavaliers were ranked No. 6 in the nation when time for the ACC Tournament rolled around. Virginia brought a 24-3 record into Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, S.C.
The Blue Devils had never advanced past the semifinals of the league tournament. In fact, since the inception of the tournament in 1978, Duke has won its first-round game only twice.
A 40-20 halftime deficit made the situation seem even worse. The Blue Devils seemed destined to fall to the hands of the all-powerful Virginia.
But Duke focused itself during halftime and engineered what had to be one of the most dramatic comebacks in ACC Tournament history. Point guard Kira Orr launched a 25-footer at the buzzer to tie the game at the end of regulation, taking the Cavs into overtime. As if that wasn't enough, Orr swished a 15-footer as the buzzer sounded at the end of overtime to give the Blue Devils an 83-82 upset victory over Virginia.
"I thought Virginia was absolutely phenomenal [against Duke in the first half last year]," Georgia Tech head coach Agnus Beranto said. "I've never seen a more beautiful half of basketball. Then [Virginia] came out and lost the game."
Duke conquered those seemingly insurmountable odds in the second half against UVa, and established itself as a force to be contended with both in the ACC and in the nation. Despite a 25-point loss in the tournament final to North Carolina, the Blue Devils broke open a league that could have previously been dubbed as Virginia and the eight dwarfs.
"Last year, for example, Virginia was obviously the favorite," Clemson head coach Jim Davis said. "Duke came out of nowhere, and North Carolina wound up winning the tournament."
Numerous records fell in Rock Hill during last season's tournament. With a first-round win over Clemson, Duke stopped a late-season slide and then likely clinched only its second-ever NCAA bid.
The conference race which ensued this season has been highly competitive-even Virginia picked up three losses during the course of the season. The major difference this year is that there are no overwhelming favorites.
Since the ACC Tournament is again being held in Rock Hill, the players are sure to be reminded of last year's success in Winthrop Coliseum. Yet this year's Blue Devils have made some history of their own in 1995-96. Their current 23-5 record has already eclipsed last year's school-record 22 wins. Duke finished in second place in the regular-season standings, its highest ever finish. The 12 conference wins which achieved that feat also mark a school record.
But the Blue Devils intend to break some additional school records this year.
"It would be nice to win it all [this weekend]," Orr said. "We went last year [to the championship] and fell short so we're really hungry this year."
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