With the women's basketball team halfway through the ACC schedule, The Chronicle looks back at the important moments of the first half of the season.
The Highlights
1/22/99 NC-17 beating
The women's basketball team's first meeting with North Carolina this season was to rivalry games what U.S.A.-Iraq was to wars. The Blue Devils raced out to a 30-8 lead and cruised to a 101-58 win.
The 43-point margin marked the most lopsided win ever for Duke against North Carolina in the more than two decades they've played, and the Tar Heels' worst defeat in nearly a decade.
11/10/99 G! What a class!
While its Final Four appearance may have signaled Duke's entrance into the national elite, the recruiting class this season pushed coach Gail Goestenkors and the Blue Devils to front and center on the national stage.
Goestenkors hauled in a five-member class ranked among the top three in the country. Guards Vicki Krapohl and Rometra Craig, forwards Alana Beard, Iciss Tillis and Crystal White all committed to Duke.
All five recruits are ranked among the best in the country and the Blue Devils just missed on several other top-notch recruits.
11/28/99 Lion-taming
Traditionally, Duke has devoured its opponents in the Ronald McDonald Classic like a cheeseburger Happy Meal.
But Penn State, this year's opponent in the Classic's championship game, was more like a raw 32-oz steak.
The then-No. 8 Nittany Lions presented the Blue Devils their first stiff challenge of the season and they responded with fire. A late second-half run propelled the Blue Devils to a 63-49 win and their eighth straight title.
12/6/99 Hokie-pokey
Last season, Virginia Tech stunned Duke in Cameron in an early-season contest. With one of the largest crowd ever packed into Cassell Coliseum clamoring for a repeat, the Blue Devils made sure there would be no sequel.
Georgia Schweitzer lit up the Hokies for 27 points and led Duke to a 70-61 win. Although Duke raced out to a huge first-half lead, it took a momentum-changing three-pointer by Krista Gingrich with less than five minutes left to secure the win for Duke.
All year Role player to star
With Michele VanGorp and Nicole Erickson leaving, the search began for a go-to player in a game's waning moments. Schweitzer made sure that search ended quickly.
In the season's two exhibition games, Schweitzer clearly took over the role as the team's primary scoring threat. And by the time conference season had rolled around, Schweitzer had established herself as a primary contender for ACC player of the year honors.
The Lowlights
1/27/00 Midseason Browne-out
While Duke's rise back into national prominence after losing six players took 10 months, its fall from national contention this season may have taken only a split second.
With just 11 minutes left in the rout against North Carolina, Peppi Browne took one awkward step on the fast break, tearing her ACL and some of the heart out of this year's squad.
Although Browne has stated her intention to come back this season, her effectiveness will probably diminish due to the severity of the injury.
1/30/00 Snowed under
In a highly anticipated battle for league supremacy between two 7-1 teams, the Cavaliers staged their own blitzkrieg against the Blue Devils. Capitalizing on a slew of Duke mistakes early, Virginia steamrolled to a 61-49 win and claimed the top spot in the ACC.
In its worst performance in three years, Duke turned the ball over on six of its first eight possessions and failed to score for nearly nine minutes to open the game.
1/20/99 D'oh! Simpson sinks Duke
It was a game that featured two of the top 10 teams in the country and some of the most explosive players in the ACC.
Thus it only made sense that the difference-maker was an unheralded freshman.
Amy Simpson erupted for 25 points and drilled a crucial three-pointer late in the game to lead N.C. State to an 80-75 overtime win, handing Duke its first ACC loss of the season.
The last 4 years Knee injuries 4, Duke 0
The opponent Duke has had the most trouble against doesn't have an explosive offense or a stifling defense.
It connects the lower leg to the thigh.
In addition to Peppi Browne, knee injuries have affected the careers of three other current Blue Devils. A bad knee has changed Jen Forte's role from an occasional starter freshman year to a student coaching assistant. Missy West's career was derailed by a serious knee injury three years ago, although she's regained the form of freshman year in recent games. And a torn ACL suffered last spring has greatly diminished the impact of perhaps Duke's most highly regarded freshman, Olga Gvozdenovic.
- Compiled by Victor Zhao
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