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Women's Basketball Fall To No. 1 seed Duke In ACC Semifinals, 71-67
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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Fourth-seeded Virginia overcame an 18-point second-halfdeficit to pull within two points of upsetting No. 1 seed Duke in thesemifinal round of the 2002 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Greensboro,N.C.
The Blue Devils (26-3) preserved the victory with two made foul shots and aVirginia (17-12) turnover.
“I was very proud of my team,” said UVa head coach Debbie Ryan. “We playedwith a lot of heart and character. Duke hasn’t played in a lot of closegames, and we have. We’ve played from behind.”
Senior Telisha Quarles (Louisa, Va.) paced the Cavs with 19 points, includinga perfect 6-6 from the line. Freshman Brandi Teamer (Joliet, Ill.) added 12points and 6-6 from the line. UVa went 19-21 from the line (91 percent). TheCavaliers shot 47 percent (14-30) in the second half while holding Duke to 26percent (7-27).
“I knew we could pull it off,” Quarles said. “We stayed together and believedin ourselves.”
Alana Beard was Duke’s scoring leader with 20 points.
Virginia now awaits a bid into the 2002 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.The 64-team bracket will be announced on Sunday, March 10 at 5 p.m. live onESPN.
“Today could have been a blowout,” Ryan added. “This team’s made great, greatprogress. Depending upon where we’re seeded, we will make some noise (in theNCAA tourney).
ACC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTGreensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C.Semifinal Round 1 2 - Final#4 Virginia (17-12) 21 46 - 67#1 Duke (26-3) 35 36 - 71