WBB: Duke 71, Maryland 59

[wandalee]

Duke-Maryland today at Cameron. Gametime is 1:00 and will be shown on FSS.

[CameronBornAndBred]

On TV at 1 (Fox Sports), it's in Cameron. CIS gets double duty today, I hope this means the women's game will have a great crowd.

[jjasper0729]

Duke up by 3 at the half 36-33...

got out to a bit of a lead early then the offense went stagnant and maryland staged a rally.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Great game..some very impressive shooting early by the Blue Devils, although the defense was lacking a bit. (How's that for a switch?) Awesome last 20 seconds to close the half, to come back from being down to go up by 3.

[Rudy]

Deleted

[jjasper0729]

Duke is up 1 (48-47) a the under 8 minute time out in the second half and JT is 2-12 from the field.

[arnie]

Duke is up 1 (48-47) a the under 8 minute time out in the second half and JT is 2-12 from the field.

And from my limited time watching the 2nd half, her shooting percentage must lead the team.

[jjasper0729]

And from my limited time watching the 2nd half, her shooting percentage must lead the team.

i don't have the specific numbers on that, but I'd wager you're not far off in that assessment. soooooooo many airballs and bricks and short-armed shots.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Getting blown out on rebounds...great to see us find other ways to stay on top. GO DUKE!!

[jjasper0729]

up 8 with 2 mins to go... 61-53... vernery just heaved up an ill-advised hook shot... maryland to the line.

Christmas and KT have been our bright spots today... JT has had some great defensive plays to make up for her lack of offensive output.

maryland can't hit freethrows.

[CameronBornAndBred]

KC is having a great game...loved the rebound and shot, plus a trip to the line. Duke is waking up at the right time, especially after a quick turnaround from a tough road trip. Way to go ladies! GO DUKE!!

[DukeBlueNikeShox]

This was a great win for the ladies! They played hard and gutted out the win. Their strength in the paint made the difference. Hopefully, they can keep it up.

However, I want to call out the Crazies. The tv showed them outside and in line waiting for the men's game. Why didn't the line monitors make them go watch the game?! It looked bad on tv, because the student section was not full....but all of the students were outside in line!

[NYC Duke Fan]

I think that the women are having a terrific season to date and kudos to Coach McCallie and her staff.

I do not remember another basketball season where one team is so far superior to the rest as UConn is to the rest of the teams. The only other time, I guess was UNLV when they won the championship. I don't think that they were undefeated that year and they did not play and blow out the number 2 and 3 teams and all comers.

If UConn loses in the tournament, it could go down as the biggest sports upset after the US Hockey team's win against Russia in the Winter Olympics.

I was trying to think of others that might compare but couldn't come up with any. I was thinking about the Jets win over the Colts in The Super Bowl , or The Giants win over the Patriots, The Mets win over the Orioles in The World Series in 1969, but I don't think they would be considered as great an upset if UConn would lose this year in the tournament.

Any thoughts?

[DukeBlueNikeShox]

The 2002 UConn team was way better than this team. That team had Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Swin Cash, Asjia Jones, and Tamika Williams. The four seniors (TASSK Force) went in the top 6 in the WNBA Draft; Taurasi went #1 in 2004. All five became WNBA All-Stars, and three won a WNBA Championship. Also, three starters won a gold medal in the Olympics.

On paper, the 2009 and 2010 teams have better stats...

I'd definitely bet that the 2002 UConn team and the 1998 Tennessee team would wipe the floor with the 2010 UConn team. The 2001 UConn probably could beat them as well. That team went to the Final Four, without Shea Ralph and Sveta Abrosimova, both of whom were 1st Team All-Americans. Had they not gotten injured, they would have won the 2001 title. They had the TASSK Force, Taurasi and 1st Team All-Americans Sveta Abrosimova and Shea Ralph.

[CameronBornAndBred]

but I don't think they would be considered as great an upset if UConn would lose this year in the tournament.

Any thoughts?
IF it happens, it will be huge, and even Fred, your watercooler buddy who hates sports, will know abut it.

[NYC Duke Fan]

The 2002 UConn team was way better than this team. That team had Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Swin Cash, Asjia Jones, and Tamika Williams. The four seniors (TASSK Force) went in the top 6 in the WNBA Draft; Taurasi went #1 in 2004. All five became WNBA All-Stars, and three won a WNBA Championship. Also, three starters won a gold medal in the Olympics.

On paper, the 2009 and 2010 teams have better stats...

I'd definitely bet that the 2002 UConn team and the 1998 Tennessee team would wipe the floor with the 2010 UConn team. The 2001 UConn probably could beat them as well. That team went to the Final Four, without Shea Ralph and Sveta Abrosimova, both of whom were 1st Team All-Americans. Had they not gotten injured, they would have won the 2001 title. They had the TASSK Force, Taurasi and 1st Team All-Americans Sveta Abrosimova and Shea Ralph.

You obviously know your women's basketball much better than I do. My point was this year there seems to be such a disparity in talent between UConn and the rest of the women's teams than I can remember.

I did not say that this was the best women's team of all time...you are probably correct in your post. Was the 2002 team and the rest of the teams you cited, that much better than everyone else as it seems that this year's team is ?

[DU82]

KC is having a great game...loved the rebound and shot, plus a trip to the line. Duke is waking up at the right time, especially after a quick turnaround from a tough road trip. Way to go ladies! GO DUKE!!

The more I watch this team, the more I'm convinced that the shooting down the stretch is because they are able to get better shots. Why can they do that later in the game? Because our defense wears out the other team, and they are much more tired than we are late in the game. Look at Bjork. She looked like she was dragging a swan around her neck in the last few minutes (sorry, obscure Oscar reference), and missed badly on 3s. That allows Jasmine and (especially today) Karmina to drive to the basket. With about five minutes to go, I said we'd win by 12, because we had worn them down.

[DukeBlueNikeShox]

You obviously know your women's basketball much better than I do. My point was this year there seems to be such a disparity in talent between UConn and the rest of the women's teams than I can remember.

I did not say that this was the best women's team of all time...you are probably correct in your post. Was the 2002 team and the rest of the teams you cited, that much better than everyone else as it seems that this year's team is ?

A lot of people thought Tennessee could beat this team. It came down to a January showdown in Knox Vegas, in which a NCAA record 24,611 fans saw #1 UConn play #2 Tennessee. Taurasi scored 32 points and the Huskies blew out the Lady Vols. After that game, people realized that nobody would be beating this team.

You're talking about some of the best players to play the game (Taurasi and Bird). Plus, the TASSK Force were seniors, and they were hungry after coming off that Final Four loss to Notre Dame in 2001. In that game, Taurasi had the worst shooting performance of her life (1-15 from the floor). So everybody had motivation to crush the rest the country. Plus, nobody in the country had the horses to compete with them. Four seniors who went in the top 6 in the WNBA draft and another future #1 pick?! It was ridiculous.

The 1998 Tennessee team, I don't remember. I do know that Tamika Catchings, Semeka Randall, Ace Clement, and Teresa Geter were freshman, and they were (at that time) considered the best freshmen class in basketball history. Throw in Chamique Holdsclaw, who was the second coming of Cheryl Miller.

The 2010 UConn team has holes and on a perfect night, can be beat. However, a LOT of things would have to go right for the other team and a LOT of things would have to go wrong for UConn - and it would have to happen on the same night. If Tina gets in foul trouble early and has to sit a large part of the game (or even fouls out), that could be trouble for UConn. They aren't a deep team. You'd also would have to have an elite coach, who could match Xs and Os with Geno. I think Stanford, on a neutral court, could do this, because Tara is a great coach, and they have the post play to match UConn. They lost in Hartford because they didn't have the quickness in the backcourt to keep up with UConn in transition. But again, it'd have to be a perfect night...

[Kedsy]

I do not remember another basketball season where one team is so far superior to the rest as UConn is to the rest of the teams. The only other time, I guess was UNLV when they won the championship. I don't think that they were undefeated that year and they did not play and blow out the number 2 and 3 teams and all comers.

Actually, the year where UNLV was unbeatable was the year after their championship (1990-91). They had everyone back from the team that had won the 1990 NCAA championship (with the biggest winning margin ever for a championship game) and also added a pretty decent junior college transfer big man. Going into the 1991 Final Four they were undefeated and won practically all their games by double figures.

Of course we all know how that ended up for the Runnin' Rebels, but until the Final Four they were pretty much the men's equivalent of this year's UConn team.

[roywhite]

Form seems to prevail more in the women's game than the men's. Top seeds make it through to the championship more often, and the really good teams do go undefeated.

So, I think the UConn women are even more of a "lock" than just about any favorite we can think of in men's sports. The best comparison is probably to some of the other great UConn and Tennessee teams that marched through an entire season without a loss.

But, hey, tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of the most shocking upset I've seen in sports---the USA hockey team over the USSR in Lake Placid. Best to see how the games play out before we make "all-time" proclamations.

[uh_no]

The 2002 UConn team was way better than this team. That team had Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Swin Cash, Asjia Jones, and Tamika Williams. The four seniors (TASSK Force) went in the top 6 in the WNBA Draft; Taurasi went #1 in 2004. All five became WNBA All-Stars, and three won a WNBA Championship. Also, three starters won a gold medal in the Olympics.

On paper, the 2009 and 2010 teams have better stats...

I'd definitely bet that the 2002 UConn team and the 1998 Tennessee team would wipe the floor with the 2010 UConn team. The 2001 UConn probably could beat them as well. That team went to the Final Four, without Shea Ralph and Sveta Abrosimova, both of whom were 1st Team All-Americans. Had they not gotten injured, they would have won the 2001 title. They had the TASSK Force, Taurasi and 1st Team All-Americans Sveta Abrosimova and Shea Ralph.

can we imagine how good this team would have been had elena della donne stayed?

for those of you who don't know, she committed to uconn and then left the program....and happens to be leading the country in scoring

[NYC Duke Fan]

can we imagine how good this team would have been had elena della donne stayed?

for those of you who don't know, she committed to uconn and then left the program....and happens to be leading the country in scoring

Maybe if her brother had stayed at Duke she might have come.

[Duvall]

Any thoughts?

Yes. I think if you want to talk about UConn, you should start a thread about UConn. Or start posting on a UConn message board.

[BlueDevilCorvette!]

Great job by the Lady Devils! I'm a fan of Shay Shelby and look forward to her growth on the team. She brings a lot of energy and passion when she's on the floor. Also, I recently tore my ACL and I like the brace she plays with. Did she have an injury to her knee? The brace doesn't seem to bother her at all. Hopefully I can find one similar to hers after my surgery. Keep up the good work Lady Devils!

[Lid]

Definitely a great, gutty job by the Devils to win, especially with JT not having her typical game. It was beyond lovely to see Karima step up. (Too bad very few students saw her performance -- we got to the game about 5 minutes before tip-off and had our choice of front-row seats. I wish this team had more support, because they are lots of fun to watch in between turnovers.)

Chelsea Hopkins appeared to be in street clothes -- is she all right? Did I miss an injury?

[NYC Duke Fan]

Yes. I think if you want to talk about UConn, you should start a thread about UConn. Or start posting on a UConn message board.

I was just answering a previous post about Ellena Della Donne

[jimsumner]

Hopkins has some knee soreness. Day-to-day.