Duke looks to ACC tournament

With 14 minutes left in the game, Lindsey Harding looks ahead to Alana Beard, driving hard at half court. With N.C. State (11-16, 6-10 in the ACC) defenders struggling to recover, Beard cut hard toward the center into Amy Simpson and crashed to the floor--seconds before the ball slid through the net, seconds before her third three-point-play of the game.

Out-run, out-scored, and out-matched, the Wolfpack was shut down by Duke, 86-60, as the Blue Devils (28-1, 16-0) slammed the door on the ACC. With all 10 players scoring by the end of the game, Duke finished its regular season with the league title and an undefeated record for the second consecutive season.

"Overall I thought it was a great team effort," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We had four players score in double figures, which shows how hard our team was working. That is something that we will need for next weekend and beyond. I am really happy with the game and looking forward to the ACC tournament."

The Blue Devils opened the game with an early 7-0 lead thanks to series of fastbreaks and aggressive inside-defense. Within the first five minutes of the game, the combined defense efforts of Beard, Iciss Tillis and Michele Matyasovsky had blocked four of the seven shots the Wolfpack had taken.

"We didn't win any battles in the first half," Wolfpack head coach Kay Yow said.

Duke also developed a solid rhythm in the first half, based primarily on its dominance in speed. Harding, whose great quickness and agility has contributed tremendously to the starting line-up, continually bolted past her defender in hard drives down the lane or on fastbreaks in which she would leave both teams behind.

On the other end of the age spectrum, Matyasovsky and fellow senior Sheana Mosch ended their final ACC regular seasons in one of the strongest combined performances they have put forth this year. Both finished in double digits--Mosch with 14 and Matyasovsky with 13--and worked powerfully as a duet. With 7:40 left in the second half, Matyasovsky held the ball in the middle of the paint and passed the ball behind her back to Mosch, cutting to the baseline and scoring the layup. Two minutes later, Matyasovsky lobbed the ball directly between two Wolfpack defenders where a driving Mosch was waiting to intercept it and ease in another layup.

"I am very proud of them," Goestenkors said of the two seniors. "They have always had great attitudes. No matter what was asked of them, they have always done it. They have always remained positive. I can't say that about all the teams in the country. It is really special to have players willing to do whatever it takes to help their team to be successful."