WBB: (2) Notre Dame 88, (3) Duke 67

[Dukehky]

I'm not just talking about this season.

I understand and unfortunately agree. We have done well to hold off Maryland and UNC in the P regime, but ND is a different beast currently.

That zone that we play just gets picked apart by good teams. That was tough to watch. We couldn't make a lay-up, Alexis' injury clearly affected her, but she had to play so many minutes bc Chloe is hurt. It is just brutal to see Chelsea on the sidelines cheering so hard and not really being able to do anything about it.

[buddy]

Right now this is not a good team. Notre Dame was quicker, shot better, and had more poise. If we have an offensive pattern, it is difficult to discern. I know we are short handed but it seems we played better than this without Chelsea last year. Other than BC, we have not had a good game since Chelsea was hurt. The team needs to come together.

[GGLC]

Same old same old against top teams.

[miramar]

Same old same old against top teams.

Another blowout against a sure #1 seed.

At least Miami beat UNC.

[uh_no]

Same old same old against top teams.

lets be honest...this result was heavily affected by duke's injury troubles...couldn't have happened in a worse year for duke, as I thought this was a year they'd hit the final 4...

ND is a really good team, and you can't go into them not being close to full strength and hope to win...even uconn, last year's national champion, only beat them once in four tries last year.


without injuries, this is a close game, so we can only lament what could have been. THis team might get a favorable draw and luck into a final four...but with key pieces riding the bench due to bad luck, I think we all know it's probably not going to happen...and that sucks for the guys on the team...since they deserve better...

it's just unfortunate that the year that duke finally has the depth and talent (IMO) they bet burned by injuries and end up not having the depth....sigh.

[Duvall]

It's almost incomprehensible that this Sr. Class may close out their college careers w/o a regional championship to their credit. But before the criticism begins to cascade down on P we should remember the Beard-Tillis-Kraypohl class departed similarly unsung, no final four to their credit.

Well, aside from the two. Then again, two is similar to zero, in that they are both single-digit numbers.

[CameronBlue]

Yikes...I stand corrected (a low bow to your pedanticism). My apologies to the class of 2004 (hopefully I got that right.)

[Kfanarmy]

These games just serve to remind about a couple of things in WBB.

1) parity just doesn't seem to be coming. Each year there are two or three teams at the top and no one else with a significant likelihood of beating them. At the moment that's seems to be rotating around UCONN, Stanford, and a few others in and out depending on the year...Notre Dame will be in it for a couple of years it appears. It's mostly about talent, it seems to me. For whatever reason, WBB seems to be where the men's game was in the 60's, one or two teams getting the bulk of the talent each year, and trending at the top of the rankings for long periods.
2) as bad as some MBB games are officiated, they are light years ahead of the officials in the women's game. Good gracious, inconsistency is the only thing the womens officials are consistent at: calls in-game, calls across the ACC, and in interpreting the rules. I've always thought the women's rules were similar to the mens, but I guess I need to read them because what is/isn't a foul in WBB seems to be purely in the eye of the beholder.

The Duke WBB team certainly didn't give up, but they weren't much of a Defensive challenge to Notre Dame, who scored essentially their season average. On the other side of the ball, Notre Dame seemed to cause a lot of rushed shots. Duke seemed to be doing an awful lot of missing. On multiple posessions they pounded the boards, got a couple of offensive rebounds, but simply couldn't put the ball in the hoop. Notre Dame simply wasn't challenged in the second half of the game.

[MCFinARL]

lets be honest...this result was heavily affected by duke's injury troubles...couldn't have happened in a worse year for duke, as I thought this was a year they'd hit the final 4...

ND is a really good team, and you can't go into them not being close to full strength and hope to win...even uconn, last year's national champion, only beat them once in four tries last year.


without injuries, this is a close game, so we can only lament what could have been. THis team might get a favorable draw and luck into a final four...but with key pieces riding the bench due to bad luck, I think we all know it's probably not going to happen...and that sucks for the guys on the team...since they deserve better...

it's just unfortunate that the year that duke finally has the depth and talent (IMO) they bet burned by injuries and end up not having the depth....sigh.

Couldn't agree more with this post--it is a shame. While UConn was clearly still a level ahead when Duke was at full strength, this looked like a year when Duke would most likely take that next step (in the Coach P years) of getting to the Final Four--and maybe even the final game. Now they may struggle to get to the regional final, given the injury challenges. Here is hoping they can rally to do the very best they can with what they have.

[burnspbesq]

Pretty simple, actually. ND really is that good. Their offensive efficiency is off the charts (51 percent from the field and 1.14 PPP).

[throatybeard]

You know how you can sometimes tell that one team simply is not going to win even though the score is reasonably close at the moment? From momentum, intangibles, your gall bladder, something.

Duke trailed 49-39, cut it to 49-44, and got a defensive stop. Liston (I think) fed Williams (I'm sure) under the hoop and Williams gakked up an open layup. Notre Dame came back down and got three the old fashioned way to push the lead back to eight. I turned to my wife and said "Duke won't win this game, and I bet you it gets messy after this."

After that came the deluge.

It's important to win out and secure a 1-seed. You don't want a scenario as UConn's #2 or Notre Dame's #2.

[burnspbesq]

As long as we win our other five remaining games against ranked teams (two vs. Carolina, Maryland, State, and one of those teams in the ACC semifinals), we can get squashed three times by ND and still get a number one seed.

At this point, it's five into four. Louisville is going to get squashed at least twice, and probably three times, by UConn, and those three games aren't going to help the Cardinals' SOS (currently 45) very much. Stanford's SOS, currently 7, is going to continue to slide as they continue to play Pac-12 opponents, and their RPI (currently 1) will suffer as a result. The lousy hand we were dealt by the ACC schedule-makers ensures we will have the highest SOS in the conference (we're currently three, vs. 16 for ND, 42 for MD, 43 for NC, and 70 for State). We're sitting pretty as long as we take care of business.

[Gargoyle]

You know how you can sometimes tell that one team simply is not going to win even though the score is reasonably close at the moment? From momentum, intangibles, your gall bladder, something.

Duke trailed 49-39, cut it to 49-44, and got a defensive stop. Liston (I think) fed Williams (I'm sure) under the hoop and Williams gakked up an open layup. Notre Dame came back down and got three the old fashioned way to push the lead back to eight. I turned to my wife and said "Duke won't win this game, and I bet you it gets messy after this."

After that came the deluge.

It's important to win out and secure a 1-seed. You don't want a scenario as UConn's #2 or Notre Dame's #2.

Definitely do not want CT or ND (at home) and I would also prefer no Stan but we may not need a one-seed to accomplish that. Here is Charlie Creme's latest "bracketology". I could certainly live with this result.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-ba...l/bracketology

[brevity]

Definitely do not want CT or ND (at home) and I would also prefer no Stan but we may not need a one-seed to accomplish that. Here is Charlie Creme's latest "bracketology". I could certainly live with this result.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-ba...l/bracketology

Wow. I did not know that the regional sites (for the second weekend) would be home courts for Louisville, Stanford, and Notre Dame (and Nebraska). I understand the motivation, but this sport has taken a serious step back.

[Mike Corey]

Coach P is fired up about something and has taken to Twitter:

Joanne P. McCallie ‏@CoachPDuke 54m
Parents at any level can be inspiring or completely foolish in support of their child. What kind of parent are you? Inspiring? Or a fool?

[Duvall]

Coach P is fired up about something and has taken to Twitter:

Joanne P. McCallie ‏@CoachPDuke 54m
Parents at any level can be inspiring or completely foolish in support of their child. What kind of parent are you? Inspiring? Or a fool?

That is very odd.

[Lid]

I try hard to support Coach P, but I often find myself wishing that she wouldn't tweet. Just strange.

[miramar]

I try hard to support Coach P, but I often find myself wishing that she wouldn't tweet. Just strange.

I googled her twitter account and did not find that particular tweet, but there was another one that got an interesting response from a Dr. Anthony Smith. I don't know who that is, but the good doctor is in the house and he has certainly provided his diagnosis. Ouch!


Tweets
Joanne P. McCallie ‏@CoachPDuke 20h
"You have to know who you are now to get to where you want to be in the future." #KeepItReal #TeamOwnership
10:22 AM - 4 Feb 2014 · Details

Anthony Smith ‏@DrAnthonySmith 11h
@CoachPDuke maybe you should keep it real & realize you have become a diva & have no idea how to utilize talent and win big games #GoDuke
Reply Retweet Favorite More Collapse
7:13 PM - 4 Feb 2014 · Details

[burnspbesq]

Somebody should send that knucklehead a copy of Feinstein's ACC book (A Season Inside?), with a Post-It flagging the page that talks about Terry Holland's delicious smackdown of a know-it-all fan (ironically, that knucklehead was also a doctor).

[Mike Corey]

She deleted the post at some point yesterday.