MAKING A STATE-MENT: Duke women's basketball upsets No. 8 NC State in Raleigh
Alex Jackson (The Chronicle)
“I don’t know if it’s really complicated for us. I mean, we just had to play…. I’m just really proud of the team for the intensity that was shown throughout,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “But I don’t think you’re reacting too much in these games because really you just have to play every possession and hopefully have the attitude of immediacy in every possession.”
https://www.dukechronicle.com/articl...-haley-gorecki
As long as we're speculating, if Duke finishes the regular season with two wins and wins the ACCT, is Duke hosting the first weekend? I would have to think that would put Duke in the mix.
Given that we are assuming wins over two decent teams to close out the regular season and over one more decent team and likely two top-tier teams to win the tourney, I'd have to think we'd end up fighting for at least a mid-teens ranking and a four seed, even with the spate of early-season bad losses. So yes, if we win out through the tournament, I'd have to think we'd be hosting NCAA games.
If we lose even the ACC final, though, I think that's probably off the table, barring absolute carnage elsewhere. We just have too much baggage to make up for already. So I'll hope for that chance, but I'm not losing any sleep over it.
IF (big if) the committee discounts the early losses due to Mikayla being out and Kyra not 100%, I could see it if we win out. That’s looking too far out right now. Let’s concentrate on VT first, and then the cheaters. THEN we can talk about the tournaments.
That would be an interesting headache for the Duke event folks. In the past, it's been something they've had plenty of time to prepare for; I can't imagine it's been on anyone's mind this season.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
FWIW, yesterday’s bracketology update has Duke as the seven seed in the Dallas regional, playing Iowa State at Stanford.
“The evolution of this team was slow,” said McCallie. “It comes around. It doesn’t always come around when you want it to, but the way this team has worked hard, the senior leadership from Haley in particular…. It’s a long story.”
https://www.dukechronicle.com/articl...teals-the-show
Huge game tonight. A win keeps us in 3rd place in the conference, and further cements a decent seed in the NCAA's.
A loss, while it wouldn't be a bad one (unless we get trounced) against a good VT team, would muddy the waters for both post season tournaments. There is a log jam of teams tied for 4th, and would be nice to not be in the middle of that.
We won in Cameron, but it was a close game that went to OT and I don't expect much different tonight.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
I don't necessarily expect much different, except hopefully in the way we play. While we did win against VT in Cameron, that game was really before our style change (which began with the 30-point thrashing of Syracuse in late January). We are on their court this time, and we have not traditionally performed well in away games. But I have hope that our new-found energy and determination are enough for us to overcome. We shall see, and I definitely agree that this is a crucial game. This is the matchup we have to win so that we can just play for fun in Chapel Hill.
Averaging a turnover per minute so far. We've already committed just two fewer turnovers than we did in the entire NC State game. We've got to hold onto the ball. If we do that, we have a good shot.
Committing 6 turnovers in the first 7 minutes, and looking slow to react on defense, is not the start we were hoping to see. Still, only a 2-point deficit now, so sharpen things up a little and Duke should be in good shape.
That high-low post mismatch is definitely working for VTech. The still with the turnovers. Six-point deficit, with VTech free throws coming. C'mon, Duke!
Down 12, with the turnover fest and bad defense continuing. VTech has a third more field goal attempts than Duke.
Wow we've gone cold
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."