Women's Hoops Blog

Inane commentary on a game that deserves far better


Monday, January 30, 2006

Duke-UNC was a classic. It's the sort of game that you're glad you recorded so you can watch it again tonight.

There is no love lost between the two programs. Before the game, Mo Currie and Mistie Williams refused to shake La'Tangela Atkinson's hand. During the game, Williams set a tough half court pick on Latta. A few moments later, Latta walked by Linsey Harding and patted her on the head before she shot free throws. Harding, who said she was "shocked" when Latta touched her, missed the front end of a one-and-one.

The Devils led early, closing the first half with a 17-5 run, and they seemed poised for a convincing win. But the 'Heels are nothing if not fearless. A 16-point deficit to the nation's #1 team... on the road... in front of a wild crowd in one of basketball's most storied venues... it means nothing to them.

"I think it gives us a chance to see how good we can be," said Camille Little. "We can keep playing even though we were down with that big lead they had."

UNC fought back and tied the game in the final minutes. Duke made errors, missing free throws and turning the ball over. UNC, by contrast, just made great plays and scored on 14 of its 16 final possessions to win the game. "I think we just shifted gears and moved to a higher level," coach Hatchell said.

“Against a great team, you have to do the little things well, and making free throws, taking care of the ball, those are two things that we usually do a pretty good job with and unfortunately did not tonight, and Carolina made us pay for it,” coach Goestenkors said.

Currie finished with 13 points on 5 of 15. Nancy Lieberman says Mo needs to do more.

Voepel says UNC is just really damn good.