How the mighty have fallen.
No. 7 Duke continued its spiral out of control following the losses of starting guards Chelsea Gray and Alexis Jones to injury for the season. The Blue Devils fell in their final regular season contest against No. 14 North Carolina 64-60 and now face the toughest slate in recent memory should they hope to repeat as ACC tournament champions. Duke may find itself outside of the top-10 in women's college basketball for the first time since December of 2009. After starting the regular season as one of the top three teams in the nation, Duke's injuries and losses have dropped the Blue Devils out of the Final Four conversation, let alone the national championship discussion. Looking around the nation it was an eventful week heading into conference tournaments.
No. 1 Connecticut has not been tested at all during conference play due to a now crippled American Athletic Conference and has glided to yet another undefeated season. The Huskies are playing great basketball with multiple offensive threats, player of the year candidates, and an active defense. No. 2 Notre Dame faced the Tar Heels Thursday and emerged with a thunderous 100-75 victory thanks to an impressive scoring night for Kayla McBride, who had 28 points in the game. The Fighting Irish look poised to make a run for a national championship having gone undefeated in the regular season. The discussion now is really between Connecticut and Notre Dame at the top and all the other teams below them.
As for the rest of the pack, Duke's fellow ranked ACC teams, including No. 9 Maryland and No. 13 N.C. State, have both been playing at a high level, leaving the Blue Devils with no easy games if they want to make an ACC title defense. The Wolfpack were defeated by Notre Dame in their regular season finale. No. 3 Louisville suffered no defeats this week, holding their ranking heading into conference championships, while No. 4 South Carolina fell to No. 10 Tennessee Sunday, ending a 10-game winning streak. No. 5 Stanford seems fixed at the top of the Pac-10 with victories all week. Looking forward, Monday will be the most pivotal game to close the season with Connecticut taking on Louisville for a share of the AAC regular season title. As the regular season wraps up, this game will be a great predictor of the competition yet to come in the NCAA tournament in March. Duke has little stake unlike earlier this season in these games, but anything is possible for the Blue Devils to make a run and face one of the top opponents late in the tournament.
Game to watch: No. 1 Connecticut vs. No. 3 Louisville. Monday, 7 p.m.
Upset alert: No. 1 Connecticut vs. No. 3 Louisville. Monday, 7 p.m.
Key ACC Matchup: The ACC tournament begins Thursday at Greensboro Coliseum. Duke will play as the No. 2 seed starting Friday at 6 p.m. With five ranked teams in the tournament, it looks to be an exciting slate of games.
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