Tigers trounce No. 3 Duke

CLEMSON, S.C. - For freshman Alana Beard, it was the first time she lost a game since her sophomore year of high school. For Clemson, it was a warning to the rest of the ACC that the Tigers cannot be taken for granted. For ninth-year coach Gail Goestenkors, it was a setback for what is still her most talented team yet at Duke.

Yesterday at Littlejohn Coliseum, the third-ranked women's basketball team (9-1, 0-1 in the ACC) dropped a 93-75 game to conference rival Clemson (5-2, 1-0). Outscored in both halves, Duke watched as Clemson took the upper hand in a lopsided 52-38 second half.

"I just give Clemson a lot of credit," said Goestenkors, who led Duke to its first ACC tournament championship last season. "They outplayed us in every facet of the game, they were ready to play. They played hard, they played smart, they played together, focused, intense-every intangible you want to use, they had. They really played to win. They were physically and mentally much tougher than we were today."

Clemson jumped out to an early lead, moving ahead for good when Tigers center Erin Batth scored to give her team a 10-9 advantage. Clemson pulled further and further away as Batth hit an eight-foot jumper that put the Tigers up 37-27 with 2:54 left in the period.

With only two minutes remaining, Duke had sunk to a 12-point deficit before Sheana Mosch drove underneath for a layup, which was followed by a Rometra Craig steal and fast break for another basket. After an ugly fight for control of the ball on the other side of the court, Beard emerged from the pack for a third straight Duke layup. On the next possession, freshman center Iciss Tillis made an impressive spin move against her defender and tossed up a mid-range jumper to put the Blue Devils within four at the half, 41-37.

"I think we lost our patience late in the first half," Clemson coach Jim Davis said. "They started trapping a little bit, we kind of panicked, lost our patience, didn't rely on ball reversal the way we should have. I thought we started playing a little one-on-one basketball, a lot of dribbling, not the kind of passing that we want. They had the momentum going into the locker room."

Yet, when the Blue Devils returned from the locker room, they faced a 13-2 Clemson run in the first four minutes that effectively ended the game.

No one told Krista Gingrich that, though, as she came out for her most productive game of the season thus far. With the Blue Devils down 57-43, the junior entered the game with 15 minutes remaining and dropped two three-pointers in her first minute, bringing Duke within striking distance once again. But Duke never got the right shots and never regained the momentum in a game riddled with whistles and remained disjointed by the Tigers' defense.

Goestenkors was hopeful her team would take the drubbing as a lesson.

"I hope we learn a great deal about physical and mental toughness," she said. "I think that was the key. They were very physical with us and we didn't respond well. To play great teams and within this conference, you have to be focused and mentally and physically ready to play for 40 minutes of war."

Notes: Beard, who had won 67 consecutive games playing for her high school, USA junior national team and Duke before Saturday's loss, recorded the first double-double of her career with 18 points and 10 rebounds.... Georgia Schweitzer scored 12 points to move to eighth on Duke's scoring list with a total of 1,252 for her career.