Duke is in the middle of a historic women?s college basketball run.
The Blue Devils became the first Atlantic Coast Conference team to go undefeated in the regular season following their 67-62 victory Sunday against visiting North Carolina. However, Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said that 29-0 start doesn?t mean anything without capping their season with a national title.
The next step toward accomplishing that goal comes this week when the ACC tournament takes place Thursday through Sunday in Greensboro, N.C. Top-ranked Duke is the top seed, with No. 4 North Carolina (27-3, 11-3 ACC), No. 6 Maryland (26-4, 10-4) and No. 24 N.C. State (21-8, 10-4) rounding out the top four and securing a first-round bye in the tournament.
“I?m just really excited about the ACC tournament and I?m really proud of what this team was able to accomplish this year,” Goestenkors said.”In the beginning of the year I didn?t think any team would go undefeated in the regular season.”
While Duke may have all the tournament hype surrounding it, many of the other 11 teams in the conference can make a legitimate case for winning the league title and getting the automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. This group includes defending national champion Maryland, who ended the regular season with a 76-60 win Sunday at Boston College.
Maryland coach Brenda Frese said one thing in the Terps favor right now is the play of junior forward Crystal Langhorne, who leads the ACC with a .725 field goal percentage.
“The inside presence of Crystal Langhorne makes our perimeter players that much better,” Frese said.
Maryland will play at 8 p.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday?s Georgia Tech-Miami game. The Terps routed Miami, 111-53, Jan. 10 in Florida. But, Georgia Tech had one of its biggest wins of the year when it upset visiting Maryland, 77-72, on Feb. 1.
That Yellow Jackets? win set the tone for the rest of the season. After losing their next two games, Georgia Tech (19-10, 9-5) won its last five games, including one over N.C. State. The 19 victories are the team?s most since 2003 and its third-most as a Division I program.
“The thing going into the Maryland game was that there were the big three teams and the other teams in the conference weren?t as strong,” said Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph, referring to Duke, North Carolina and Maryland. “That win was a huge boost of confidence for us.”
ACC TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS
Thursday (first round):
In Greensboro, N.C.
» No. 5 Florida State vs. No. 12 Wake Forest, 11 a.m.
» No. 8 Virginia vs. No. 9 Clemson, 3 p.m.
» No. 7 Virginia Tech vs. No. 10 Boston College, 6 p.m.
» No. 6 Georgia Tech vs. No. 11 Miami, 8 p.m.
Friday:
» No. 4 N.C. State vs. Florida St./Wake Forest-winner, 11 a.m.
» No. 1 Duke vs. Virginia/Clemson-winner, 3 p.m.
» No. 2 North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech/Boston College-winner, 6 p.m.
» No. 3 Maryland vs. Georgia Tech/Miami-winner, 8 p.m.
Saturday:
» Game No. 9: ACC Semifinal 1, 2 p.m.
» Game No. 10: ACC Semifinal 2, 4:30 p.m.
Sunday:
» Game No. 11: Championship Game, 1 p.m.
