CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The bus carrying Duke's women's basketball team safely navigated the four-hour drive amidst ice-covered roads and occasional hail Saturday on its way from Durham to Charlottesville, but as soon as the Blue Devils stepped onto the floor of University Hall yesterday, the journey quickly derailed.
No. 25 Virginia (16-5, 8-1 in the ACC) capitalized on one of the worst 20-minute performances in recent memory by a Duke squad to take over sole possession of first place in the conference and avenge its only ACC defeat of the year with a 61-49 victory on its home court yesterday afternoon.
The ninth-ranked Blue Devils (18-3, 7-2) posted season lows in both points and field goal percentage (30.8 percent), while they turned the ball over a season-high 25 times. Schuye LaRue and Lisa Hosac combined for 21 points and 21 rebounds for the Cavaliers, while the only Blue Devil to post double digits was reserve Michele Matyasovsky.
Duke was limited to only 12 first-half points as Virginia opened with a dominating 18-0 run that kept the Blue Devils scoreless beyond the second TV timeout.
"I thought we were [ready], but obviously we weren't," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I thought they did a great job of getting up in our passing lanes. We had five turnovers in our first seven possessions. UVA's defense was excellent and they got us back on our heels."
Yet, despite outscoring Duke 17-0 on points off turnovers in the first half, Virginia led only by 16 heading into halftime. With her team trailing 28-12 at the break, Goestenkors reminded her players that it was less than a year ago that they had overcome an 18-point deficit with under 13 minutes remaining against the Cavaliers in Charlottesville.
"At the very end [of halftime] I said, 'Last year we were down 18 and we won, so go out and compete,'" the coach said. "Just so they understood it was possible."
With the 'Hoos up 18 yesterday and less than 16 minutes remaining, the stage was set for another Duke comeback attempt.
Missy West drove to the basket and missed hard off the glass, but forward Rochelle Parent was waiting underneath the hoop to clean up West's miss, draw a foul and convert Duke's first three-point play of the game. Parent's putback prompted a one-minute run in which Duke reeled off seven unanswered points to trim the Cavaliers' lead to only 11.
As the 2,521 fans in attendance began to shift in their seats, Virginia coach Debbie Ryan remained calm and let her team play, stopping the clock with a timeout only when Duke's press trapped the Cavaliers at halfcourt.
"We never talked about what we're not doing," Ryan said. "This is not a team that does well with things like threats that [the other team] is going to come back. I wasn't hard on them, nor did I talk about let-downs or things like that. I just reminded them to keep their intensity up and play as hard as they could."
Virginia responded to its coach's display of confidence as it weathered the storm for the next four minutes and managed to extend its lead to 43-30 midway through the second half.
The Blue Devils had one final run as Krista Gingrich and Matyasovsky sandwiched a Georgia Schweitzer three-pointer with two points each to get to within 44-37, but Duke would never get closer. Within a minute, the Wahoos pushed their lead back to double digits.
Guard Renee Robinson, who led all scorers with 15 points, provided the dagger when she sliced to the basket along the baseline for three the old-fashioned way to put her team up 15 with just over three minutes to play.
"I'm very disappointed with our effort in the first half, but I was proud of the way we came back in the second half and competed," Goestenkors said. "We didn't make a lot of our shots, but at least I thought we competed in the second half."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.