A future Hall of Fame wrestler, the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, often says, "To be the man, you gotta beat the man." Well, this weekend, the Duke women's basketball team destroyed "the man." Whoo!
The Blue Devils (14-5, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated a pair of ranked teams this weekend at Cameron Indoor Stadium by dismantling No. 11 Virginia 93-66 on Friday, and then upsetting No. 19 Clemson on Sunday 78-59 to move into a tie for first place in the ACC.
"I think we're playing our best basketball," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We're getting better and better all the time, and as a coach, that's what you're looking for."
Duke has had a memorable seven days, starting with an upset victory in Raleigh over seventh-ranked N.C. State. Duke never trailed in any of the three wins and will likely move up several spots in this week's polls.
"This has been a tremendous week for us," Goestenkors said. "We're playing outstanding defense, and I think that is setting the tone for our offense."
After its big win over Virginia, Duke knew it would move into a tie atop the conference standings with a win over the Tigers on Sunday. The Blue Devils, who lost to Clemson earlier in the season 72-61, did not take long to break the confidence of the Tigers, jumping out to an 8-0 lead two minutes into the game.
From this point on, Duke never looked back, with Clemson (15-4, 7-2 in ACC) only pulling within six one time after its early deficit. Duke remained solid throughout the first half and held a 43-28 lead at intermission.
An early surge by the Tigers could have brought them back into contention, but the Blue Devils would not allow them to take control of the game. Duke's lead slowly increased and grew to 19 with 15:38 left in the game when junior Nicole Erickson faked her defender out of her shoes and drove to the baseline for an easy lay-up.
Two consecutive three-pointers by Erickson, who ended the game with 21 points on 5-for-7 shooting from behind the arc, gave the Blue Devils a 70-47 lead with seven minutes to play. Junior Michele VanGorp, who tallied 16 points and five rebounds, converted an inside basket on an assist from junior Hilary Howard to give Duke its largest lead of the game at 74-49 with 4:37 left to play.
Clemson coach Jim Davis, who said that this team was by far the best Duke team he had seen in his 11 years in the conference, wished he had not witnessed the Tigers' 19-point loss.
"That was U-G-L-Y," Davis said. "And Duke made it U-G-L-Y. They're playing so very well."
Friday night's game against 11th-ranked Virginia (13-4, 4-4 in ACC) was very similar to the win over Clemson. The Blue Devils opened up with a 15-2 lead six minutes into the game and never gave the Cavaliers an opportunity to get close.
Like Davis, Virginia coach Debbie Ryan was not at all happy about the way her team played.
"We just got our butts kicked, period," she said. "We were struggling from the beginning, and a lot of that has to do with Duke."
Howard got "jiggy with it" in the first half and almost single-handedly put away the Cavs, recording 17 points, three rebounds and three assists. The Blue Devils, who had not defeated UVa at home since 1990, shut down the opponents' big guns throughout the game.
Duke held the Cavaliers' leading scorer, senior Mimi McKinney, scoreless until the 12:57 mark of the second half and stifled center DeMya Walker, keeping her 14 points below her season average. Lisa Hosac led the Wahoos with eight points in the first half, but in the second half she tallied, as the "Crazies" might say, four fouls and no points.
Peppi Browne played a solid game for the Blue Devils. She not only scored 12 points, but also pulled down five rebounds, made two steals and seemed to have her hands on every loose ball. Freshman Rochelle Parent added some aggressive play off the bench with eight points and four rebounds.
The Blue Devils' 27-point margin of victory was their largest win over the Cavs ever, exacting revenge for the 30-point loss the Cavs handed Duke last year when they met in Durham. Goestenkors said that this win was her team's best regular-season performance, offensively and defensively for 40 minutes, in her six years as Duke's coach.
"I was very, very proud of the way the players focused," Goestenkors said. "I think we really believe in ourselves a lot more than we did in the past."
The Blue Devils exhibited near-flawless execution in both games this weekend. Duke shot over 50 percent from the field in both games and out rebounded its two rivals by a combined 85-58. Even when the Blue Devils missed, they crashed the offensive boards and recorded 39 second-chance points.
"They're shooting the basketball so well; their decisions are really, really good; and they're doing a great job defensively," Davis said. "I think that right now they're the very best team in this league."
Similar to Ric Flair's patented figure-four leg lock which forces opponents into submission, the Blue Devils struck early and never let up. Unlike the beginning of the season when Duke often allowed teams to get back into games, this weekend it kept the pressure on its opponents the entire game.
"I think right now we're just playing really smart basketball," Howard said. "We've maintained our intensity for 40 minutes even though we've been up by 20 points."
The Duke team that has won four straight games is certainly a different team than the one earlier this season.
"I think what this segment here has proven to our team is that we can play with anyone in the country on a consistent basis," Goestenkors said.
The Blue Devils likely had the most successful week of any team in the ACC this year, defeating three ranked teams by an average of 20 points.
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