Virginia Falls to #1 Duke in ACC Tourney, 79-58
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March 2, 2007
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The No. 8 seed Virginia Cavaliers fell to top seed and No. 1 nationally ranked Duke, 79-58, in the quarterfinal round of the 2007 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament on Friday at Greensboro Coliseum.
Virginia fell to 17-14 overall, while the Blue Devils stand a perfect 30-0 overall. Duke now advances to the semifinals against No. 4 seed NC State on Saturday, March 3 at 2 p.m.
ACC Rookie of the Year Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va.) scored the game’s first bucket. The teams traded baskets before Duke jumped out to a 12-6 lead. The Blue Devils pushed their lead to 15 points, 36-21, with the help of five three-pointers from Abby Waner. Duke held a 13-point lead at intermission, 38-25.
“I thought we started with a lot of energy,” Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan said. “We never got ourselves into a pattern offensively. I felt fairly good going into halftime.”
Wright opened the second half with a trey to bring UVa within 10 points, 38-28. Duke then went on a 10-2 run to go ahead by 18 points, 48-30. The Blue Devils maintained their double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.
Wright paced UVa with 18 points and nine boards, while senior Siedah Williams (Cleveland, Ohio) added her sixth double-double of the season (10th of her career) with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Paulisha Kellum (Upper Marlboro, Md.) came off the bench for 11 points, six boards, and a career-high two blocks.
“She’s the most unheralded ACC freshman ever,” Ryan said of Kellum. “(Her play) is not a surprise. She’s done this all season long. She’s fearless.”
With her first lay-up of the second stanza, Williams became the 23rd Cavalier to score 1,000 career points. After 120 games, Williams has 1,004 points in her collegiate career.
“It’s special that it came in this tournament,” Williams said.
Abby Waner led Duke with 24 points, including a career-high six three-point baskets. Alison Bales added 13 points, while Carrem Gay and Joy Cheek chipped in 10 points each.
“Duke’s a good team,” Williams added. “You never know who’s going to come out hot.”
Both teams grabbed 42 rebounds.
Virginia now awaits an at-large postseason tournament berth. The NCAA and WNIT brackets will be announced on Monday, March 12.
“I have no idea what our status is at this point,” Ryan said of her team’s postseason possibilities. “We would definitely play no matter which tournament we’d play.”
ACC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
QUARTERFINAL
1 2 - Final#8 Virginia (17-14) 25 33 - 58#1 Duke (30-0) 38 41 - 79