Women's Basketball
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Diggins hits triple-double as Irish rip Maryland, end ACC hoop season
PNC ARENA/RALEIGH It’s supposed to be the best matchup in the NCAA Women’s Elite Eight this season.
- Photo courtesy Notre Dame athletics
- Notre Dame guard Skylar Diggins
Notre Dame’s semifinal contest on Sunday was a snoozer, a 79-35 romp over a St. Bonaventure team that didn’t seem ready for this level of prime time. And the Terps had eliminated defending tournament champion Texas A&M 81-74 after recovering from an 18-point deficit.
A classic Goliath vs. Goliath clone matchup, right?
Not exactly. Charismatic Irish point guard Skylar Diggins puts together her school’s first triple-double in 22 years, with game highs of 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in an 80-49 romp that looks like a typographical error.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
PNC ARENA/RALEIGH Maryland will be carrying the ACC’s banner into the Raleigh Regional, and the Terps’ path to the Final Four is not an easy one.
- Photo courtesy Maryland athletics
- Maryland guard Laurin Mincy
Of course if Brenda Frese’s Terps get through this one they’ll look to take their winning streak to 12 games on Tuesday night, probably against last season’s NCAA runner-up and No. 1 seed Notre Dame (32-3) and glamorous point guard Skylar Diggins.
Maryland is one of three teams in the four-team field that has won an NCAA title, that coming in 2006 while Notre Dame got its championship in 2001. The outlier is No. 5 seed St. Bonaventure (31-3).
The Terps rise up from oblivion not once but twice during the game, scoring the last eight points over the final 3 ½ minutes to win 81-74. The other game isn’t nearly as competitive, as the Irish dominate from start to finish in a 79-35 rout.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
CARMICHAEL ARENA/CHAPEL HILL It’s pretty sure to be a good battle when No. 4 seed Georgia Tech takes on No. 5 seed Georgetown in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Tournament on UNC’s home court.
- Photo courtesy Georgia Tech athletics
- Georgia Tech guard Sydney Wallace
These programs are almost mirroring each other at the moment.
Tech (25-8) has a senior class of five players that has the best four-year record in school history at 96-37.
Georgetown (23-8) has a senior class of seven players that has the best record in school history at 92-41.
And MaChelle Joseph’s Yellow Jackets have never been to a Sweet 16.
Until this time.
The Jackets take charge after the opening minutes and roll on to a comfortable 76-64 decision.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Hoop Cheese: UNC and N.C. State feel the agony and the ecstasy of the Sweet 16, and more
Nevertheless, the ACC beat writers for Indyweek Sports—which is what we’re calling ourselves nowadays; click and follow our new Google+ page for further proof—have been faithfully churning out copy. Adam Sobsey was our eye and ears for last weekend’s happenings in Greensboro, while Mike Potter has been tracking the NCAA Women’s Tournament from Chapel Hill and Raleigh.
Next weekend, North Carolina and N.C. State will fly to St. Louis for the Midwest Regional Finals, both teams one win away from the most epic showdown in the history of the schools’ basketball rivalry. After I offer some thoughts on N.C. State’s seemingly improbable run to the Sweet 16, Rob Harrington looks at the strategic fallout for North Carolina in the wake of Kendall Marshall’s injury. Finally, Mike Potter updates the recent (mis)fortunes of ACC teams in women’s postseason tournament play.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
CARMICHAEL ARENA/CHAPEL HILL Georgia Tech will go into the first round of the NCAA Women’s Tournament carrying the ACC’s banner in the Triangle — at least for now.
- Photo courtesy Georgia Tech athletics
- Georgia Tech guard Sydney Wallace
Today the No. 4 seed Yellow Jackets (24-8) will take on No. 13 Sacred Heart (27-5), the champions of the Northeast Conference, in the first meeting between the schools.
It’s not much of a contest as Tech is clearly the superior team, rolling to a 76-50 victory.
And MaChelle Joseph’s club will go again on Tuesday night at 7 against No. 5 seed Georgetown (23-8), which held off No. 12 seed Fresno State (28-6) by a 61-56 score for a chance to advance to the semifinals of the Des Moines Regional.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Wolfpack season ends as Appalachian State gets its biggest victory
- Photo by Chris Baird
- Kody Burke fights for the ball with ASU's Ashleigh Kelly (left) and Anna Freeman.
Kellie Harper’s club (19-15) looks for its second 20-win season in her three years at the helm when the Wolfpack hosts Appalachian State in a second-round contest.
But to do it, the Wolfpack will have to beat ASU’s best team ever.
The Wolfpack never trailed in scoring its season high in an 88-78 first-round win over High Point on Thursday night, while the Mountaineers are coming off a 79-73 win at UNC Wilmington.
The Southern Conference regular-season champions come into the contest with a 26-6 record, and certainly with a chip on the shoulder what with its 0-24 all-time record against NCSU.
And the Wolfpack has won 50 straight home games against in-state teams not from the ACC, going back to 1981.
No more.
The Mountaineers shoot 57.7 percent in the second half, holding on for a 66-62 victory that is arguably the best in school history.
With Tar Heels missing, Ga. Tech carries ACC banner in Chapel Hill
CARMICHAEL ARENA/CHAPEL HILL “I bet you didn’t think you’d see us here!” Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph said Saturday.
And she was absolutely right.
- Photo courtesy Georgia Tech athletics
- Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph
So with UNC’s exclusion from the field along with No. 2 seed Duke’s exile to the home court of No. 7 Vanderbilt in the Fresno Regional, the Yellow Jackets are the de facto home team for the four-team pod for games here on Sunday and Tuesday.
The action starts Sunday at 12:20, when No. 5 seed Georgetown (22-8) takes on No. 12 seed Fresno State out of the Western Athletic Conference. The No. 4 seed Yellow Jackets (24-8) — who got their two signature wins this season over the Tar Heels — will take on Sacred Heart at approximately 2:50.
The survivors meet Monday at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to the regional in Kingston, R.I.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Hoop Cheese: Round 2 edition. Mighty Wolfpack. Greensboro. The Duke women minus Williams.
To be honest, we've been so busy with our new Google+ page (circle us now! Or click the magic badge above!) that we barely noticed that N.C. State won its opener in convincing fashion, knocking off San Diego State 79-65. They're even calling it an upset, as the lowly, lowly Wolfpack were a mere 11-seed (No. 50 on the RPI) while SDSU was a 6-seed (No. 27 RPI).
Meanwhile, Adam Sobsey and Al Drago are acting as our eyes and tweeting fingers at the Greensboro Coliseum. UNC put away the Vermont Catamounts 77-58, wisely leaving long, tall John Henson in his civvies, thus validating Rob Harrington's forecast to us:
I expect Roy Williams to limit his court time early with the hope that Carolina will dust off the Catamounts and render Henson unnecessary.For a No. 1 seed, its opening round game should be dull. Excitement against a No. 16 is exactly what you don't want, and Syracuse's close call—arguably aided by the officials—attests to that reality. The Orange certainly didn't emerge from that contest as the takeaway story.
Assuming UNC survives Vermont, either Creighton or Alabama will await on Sunday. The Bluejays lack athleticism and the Crimson Tide can't shoot; if the Heels play reasonably well, they should advance to the Sweet 16 even without a healthy Henson.
Duke tips off in a few minutes. Check back with us for Sobsey's take on today's games, and for more photos by Al Drago. Follow Sobsey here and Drago there. And circle our Google+ page!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Duke hits the road for NCAA Tournament while committee sends UNC packing
Well, the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament selection committee actually did it.
- Photo courtesy Duke athletics
- Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie
Not in the bracket is UNC (20-11), which would have been the playing host team for first- and second-round games in Chapel Hill Sunday and perhaps Tuesday. Neither is Virginia (22-10), which had a very solid season under first-year coach and Duke alumna Joanne Boyle. (The committee did later reveal that Virginia was in the last four teams eliminated, while the Tar Heels were not.)
I guess we shouldn’t even start on any silly questions about Wake Forest (19-13) or N.C. State (18-15).
UNC apparently turned down a bid to the WNIT although State, Wake and Virginia are all in. The Wolfpack will host High Point (20-12) in first-round play on Thursday night at 7.
But the only Division I team around here with a huge reason to celebrate Monday night was No. 6 Duke (24-5), which got the No. 2 seed in the — say it with me, now — Fresno Regional and will take on Southern Conference champ and No. 15 seed Samford (20-12) in a first-round game at Vanderbilt Sunday night at 7:45.
The reward for a victory there? A second-round meeting with either the host No. 7 seed Commodores (22-9) or No. 10 Middle Tennessee State (26-6), whose campus is 37 miles away from Vanderbilt’s classy but odd Memorial Gym.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Hoop Cheese: Why you should see Joe Nocera Wednesday, and why all hell could break loose Monday
It's Saturday morning in March in North Carolina. Bradford pears are blooming, young people are in love and the ACC tournament in Atlanta is shaping up to be the most interesting and consequential it's been in years.
It was an inauspicious beginning on Thursday. The referees got taken to task for their forlorn effort to express solidarity with the charming Karl Hess. If it hadn't been for the vigilance of bored, resentful reporters courtside, their act of defiance would have gone completely unnoticed by history.
And yes, the Philips Arena was pretty much empty beyond a few family members and sleepy reporters, but the suits of the ACC assured the media (for no one else was watching) that their eyes were deceiving them, that in fact Thursday's games were capacity-plus SELL-OUTS!
Luke DeCock reported the evidence in front of him early during the game:
But something must have changed in the time it took Maryland to defrock the Demon Deacons, 82-60. The ACC discovered that 19,520 souls had somehow watched the game in Philips Arena.
- theacc.com
As Chico Marx said in Duck Soup, "Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?"
Of course, the ACC's barkers technically managed to distribute 19,520 tickets, whether by putting them under people's windshield wipers or stuffing them in schoolchildren's backpacks or hiring homeless people to give them out at highway off-ramps. Or something like that, according to the AJC.
Fortunately, college basketball resumes printing money this afternoon for the aforementioned doubleheader of shining moments and more utterings of "tobacco road" than Scarlett O'Hara's descendants will be able to bear.
Tip-off for UNC-N.C. State is 1 p.m., while Duke and Florida State have a re-re-match at approximately 3 p.m. Triangle Offense will be tweeting like mad with our nacho-cheese covered fingers. Follow us @IndyweekSports. And we expect today's events to be so exciting that we'll write about it before tomorrow's grand showdown between UNC-N.C. State winner and the Duke-Florida State winner.
Before we yield the floor to Mike Potter's explanation of why some blue-tinted china may get broken Monday night, let us deliver the first of the 73 advance plugs we'll make for the following event:
- Earl Wilson/The New York Times
In the Jan. 1, 2012 issue of the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Nocera puts his green eyeshades on and proposed a system by which college football and (male) basketball players might be paid. If you haven't seen it, it's a must-read.
Also a must-read is Taylor Branch's The Cartel: Inside the Rise and Imminent Fall of the NCAA. Branch presently has a teaching appointment at UNC, and he made a few ripples at an event two weeks ago in which he charged that UNC's coaches have forbidden their players from talking to him.
On Wednesday, March 14, we expect the C-word* to be bandied about a bit as Nocera comes to Chapel Hill looking to rumble on the eve of the three-week event that is expected to deliver $771 million to the NCAA coffers each spring. He'll address such topics as, and we quote:
Is it time to kill the N.C.A.A.?Should college athletes collect salaries?
Should universities sponsor semi-pro teams?
Does corporate money threaten the University’s mission?
It'll go down at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center, beginning at 5:30 p.m. We suggest getting there early. We'll be there. Taylor Branch might be there, too.
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the beaver queen pageant
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