GREENSBORO - She's been called the greatest collegiate women's basketball player of all time. Magazines and television programs have labeled her the female answer to Michael Jordan.
Her 3,025 points are the most in Tennessee history and third-best in NCAA history. She's never ended a season without winning a championship, with four state titles in high school followed by three national championships before her senior season.
But for one night at least, Chamique Holdsclaw was human.
After many memorable nights in NCAA tournament play, yesterday's game quickly became one to forget for Holdsclaw. The Lady Vols' star missed every shot she took in the first half, going a stunning 0-for-10 from the floor. The same pull-up jumper she used so effectively two nights earlier against Virginia Tech just could not find the net.
"I had some great looks, they just didn't go in," she said. "As an offensive player who's had a lot of success, I just tried to stay confident that it would go in. It wasn't bad misses, so I just tried to keep at it."
Holdsclaw looked like she might regain her confidence on Tennessee's first possession of the second half. She hit a five-foot jumper and drew a foul from Duke's Michele VanGorp, converting the free throw for a three-point play.
Any momentum she got from that play did not hold up. Holdsclaw made just one of her last seven attempts from the floor, often settling for long jumpers instead of her vast array of moves off the dribble.
While the drought was truly surprising, it was not completely unprecedented. Duke held Holdsclaw to just 12 points when the teams squared off in Florida in December, thanks mostly to the defense of Georgia Schweitzer.
This time around, Schweitzer drew a fair share of the work shutting Holdsclaw down. But she had help from Rochelle Parent and a variety of defensive schemes.
"We started out in a triangle and two," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "The two people were on Tamika [Catchings] and Chamique. We did that on missed baskets. On made baskets, we played straight man-to-man, which is when Georgia covered her."
Schweitzer and Parent focused on denying Holdsclaw the ball. When she did get a pass and headed for the paint, the player guarding Sameka Randall-whose outside shot drew little respect from Duke defenders-was supposed to step up to help.
As Summitt consoled a sobbing Holdsclaw with a long hug on the sideline, she had to be telling her it wasn't her fault.
"I think Chamique had to work very hard against a lot of denial pressure and a lot of bumping," Summitt said. "She still got a lot of open looks, it just wouldn't fall for her. That's going to happen. My disappointment there is that we didn't have the second and third opportunities we normally have."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.