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Cavaliers Now

The ACC Women’s Tournament Play by Play: Day 4

We're down to four teams at the ACC Women's Tournament as the minnows have been eliminated.
Val Prochaska|
The ACC

It’s Semifinal Saturday here in Greensboro and the pretenders have all been eliminated.  Two games on tap; first it is an all Carolina match-up between UNC and NC State while in the second game, Notre Dame tries to break up the Carolina party by taking down Duke.  I’m joined by my buddy, Mark, Official Friend of Cavs on SI, so I won’t be talking to myself quite so much.  Though there will be plenty of calls that will mystify the both of us.

I have spent the week talking to all the various band directors and members of the cheer and dance squads.  I wanted to know, if we were gathered to celebrate our musicians and dancers, who would win.  Who has the best band in the ACC?  Of course, the Stanford and Cal bands don’t have much exposure yet to ACC bands, and one director was at pains to tell me that for the ACC tourney, most of these bands are pick-up bands comprised of the students who could take the time off from school and work out their exams, since this week is mostly likely mid-terms for many of the schools here.

With that caveat, the acclaimed best band of the ACC is Florida State getting over two-thirds of the votes alone.  Clemson and Stanford got a couple votes, though my favorite was the vote for Virginia, which the director made before he realized I was wearing a UVa shirt.  He then tried to backtrack and asked me not to quote him.  But if there is a school as arrogant as Virginia in the ACC, it’s this one.  So, you know where he is from.

As for the cheer/dance, there was much less agreement.  Best moment though, was when I was talking with a particularly ditzy cheerleader from Virginia Tech, who I am not sure even knew what the ACC was.  I tell ya, Hokies gotta Hokie….

12 noon – Game Twelve:  UNC vs NC State

NC State travels better than any other program in the ACC.  I spent time asking Duke, UNC and State fans all week why this would be so, especially given that UNC and Duke are quality programs themselves.  No one seemed to know.  I met some bandwagon fans who jumped aboard four, five years back when State was in the middle of three consecutive ACC Tournament Championships.  But the fans at this tournament, as they have been for the three years I’ve been coming, are decidedly older.  I’m 61 and I think I’m below the median age for attendees.  It is eerie that there are almost no students here, especially from these Tobacco Road schools.

But that is why I am here, to show that these games are exciting and the skill is off the charts.  Certainly Notre Dame, NC State and FSU are all much better than their respective men’s programs.

First Quarter

9:15  NC State’s Madison Hayes is way short on a corner three.  Which is not surprising, maybe.  During warmups she was as uninterested in getting ready as any starter I’ve ever seen.

8:20  UNC’s Alyssa Ustby with a three and UNC is up 5 – 0.

6:53  50 – 50 ball out of bounds, either team could have touched it last.  Who do you think got the call?  Yep, UNC.

5:19  State’s Tilda Trygger (that has to be the best name here in Greensboro) is off to a fast start.  She has six of the Wolfpack’s first eight points.  State up 8 – 5. 

2:14  Madison Hayes atones for her earlier miss with a corner three.  State is up 14 – 5.  UNC is not helping their cause with seven turnovers this half.

Second Quarter

Since scoring the game’s first five points, UNC has been outscored 16 – 0.  Shooting 2/11 will do that to you.

8:18 State’s Lorena Awou pretty blatantly stiff arms Lexi Donarski and scores in the lane.  The refs are no longer calling the game UNC’s way.  18 – 5 in favor of State.

7:35  Lanie Grant hits a three, probably the most important bucket of the tournament for UNC, breaking an 11-minute scoring drought.  21 – 8 NC State.

Last night I witnessed a Duke fan give up one of the free t-shirts that have been tossed in the crowd to a young kid.  I was impressed and told her so, even if I would have to say something nice about a Duke fan.  Well, as she was leaving at the end of the night, I saw that she already had two shirts, so it wasn’t like she was really giving that much up.  Well, she’s just gotten another shirt today.  SMH.  (So Emily, if you’re reading, we’ll always slag off on Duke fans…)

2:07  Since the shots aren’t falling, UNC has been trying to feed Maria Gakdeng down low in the post.  But Awou is a very large woman and she’s just not letting Gakdeng establish position.  Gakdeng has forced Awou into three fouls in seven minutes, but UNC is still down, 31 – 21.

1:05  NC State throws Mallory Collier, another wide body, at Gakdeng.  The strategy is obvious.  NC State coach Wes Moore has three bigs and he’s going to send all of them at Gakdeng.

0:02  Grace Townsend with a three brings the score to 33 – 26.  Suddenly we have a ball game and UNC gets the added bounce of a bucket at the buzzer to take into the locker room.

Third Quarter

7:47  States’ Aziaha James has two buckets sandwiched around a drawn charge.  (That’s her third of the tournament.  In just a game and a half.)  State is up 37 – 28.

5:40  James with another bucket and Hayes with another three and it’s 42 – 28.  I don’t think North Carolina can come back from this.

1:40  Maria Gakdeng is so much fun to watch.  She’s struggling, as everyone on UNC is at this point, but she just forced a fourth foul on Trygger.  All while having committed just two herself.  She goes 1/2 from the foul line but State is up 50 – 37.

Fourth Quarter

9:43  UNC’s Trayanna Crisp has airballed a pair of threes over the past four minutes.  Donarski took a three that just barely reached the rim.  These guys are exhausted; it’s UNC’s third game in three days and the Boston College and Florida State games were absolute dogfights.  Remember, though, that UNC is in this position, having to have had played on Thursday with a only a single bye instead a double bye like NC State got, because Virginia thumped UNC last weekend.  Maybe resting Ustby for that game wasn’t the right move…

 8:54  James, the best player on the court, just airballed a three herself.  If shooting threes was easy, we’d all be doing it.

8:20 

6:01 

4:51  UNC’s Indya Nivar finally looks ready to play.  She’s got 10 points this quarter, but it’s too little too late.  NC State is going to win 66 – 55.

2:30pm – Game Thirteen:  Notre Dame vs Duke

Notre Dame’s video is still the class of the tournament, looking even better on second viewing.  Olivia Miles is sporting a new ‘do.  It’s not tied up, it’s afro’d out as it were.

Notre Dame's Olivia Miles sporting new hair do
Notre Dame Athletics

First Quarter

5:42   Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron hits her opening shot, atoning for her opening airball from yesterday.  Hannah Hidalgo connects on a pair of baskets and Olivia Miles nails a three.  The Big Three are clicking and Notre Dame has a 9 – 4 lead.

4:46  Duke’s Ashlon Jackson gets to the rim a second time.  Notre Dame 9 – 7.  How has nobody come up with the nickname “Action” for Jackson yet?

1:45  Citron and Hidalgo steals lead to a pair of fast breaks.  Notre Dame up 15 – 11.

0:28  Duke’s Vanessa de Jesus nails a corner three.  The quarter ends with Notre Dame up 17 – 16.

Second Quarter

7:01  Notre Dame’s offense looks very stagnant; lots of standing around.  This leads to two straight turnovers.

6:52  Make that three straight.

6:37 De Jesus with two drives to the rim this quarter. She has seven points this half.  Or seven more than she had all game against Louisville.  Duke with the 24 – 20 lead.

5:06  Hidalgo with the steal.  Ye gods, she’s got quick hands, and they look even faster in person.  But on the break, instead of finishing at the rim, Hidalgo goes the Hero Ball route, trying a three.  She missed. Liza Karlen grabs the offensive board, though, and converts through a tough finish.  24 – 24.

4:10  At this point, Karlen and Kate Koval have logged more minutes than Maddy Westbeld or Liatu King.  That won’t end well for Notre Dame.

Third Quarter

8:54  Hidalgo with yet another steal (she’ll have six on the night.)  She’s got Miles to her left and Citron to her right.  With that kind of spacing and the shots not falling, she can go right to the rim.  But she opts to go the Hero Ball route once again, passing it to Citron for the three.  She misses.  Notre Dame down 33 – 29.

7:10  On a made Sonia Citron free throw, Duke still gets two players behind Notre Dame.  How does that even happen?  Notre Dame is starting with two players standing at mid-court.  Did I mention it was a made free throw?  Duke had to take the ball out of bounds, and they still got down court faster than the Irish.  Jackson can’t convert, but she makes up for it next trip down.  Duke up 36 – 35.

6:12  Maddy Westbeld turnover and again Duke gets behind Notre Dame.  This time it’s Taina Mair and Duke has a three point lead.

4:15  “Action” Jackson (fine, I’ll start it) with a three.  Duke 41 – 37.

3:29  A lineup of Koval, Karlen, Prosper, Hidalgo and Miles isn’t going to win many games at this level.

1:32  Notre Dame looks like a high school team at this point.  Two travels, two questionable passes, they’ve surrendered two offensive boards that lead to points.  Duke up 47 – 42.

Fourth Quarter

8:38  Oluchi Okananwa with a three and Duke is up 50 – 42.  Notre Dame looks like they just want to get off the court and into the locker room.

7:41 Duke’s Jadyn Donovan is trying to make a statement of some kind.  Twice she’s needlessly fouled Hidalgo when she was already past her.  Twice she’s tried for posterizing blocks.  On one of those blocks, while Hidalgo was on the floor, Donovan was flapping her arms and stalking around.  Duke’s in charge of this game, you don’t have to be handing out free And-1s, which Hidalgo converts.  Duke 50 – 47.

3:51 Citron with a corner three.  The Notre Dame fans have woken up.

3:30  Citron with two blocks on Jackson in one possession.

1:10  Okananwa is some kind of fast, for my money, the fastest player in the ACC.  She blows by Hidalgo to get to the rim for an easy score.  Duke 56 – 50.  All that’s left is the free throw.  Duke closes out a 61 – 56 win.

This is a shocking loss.  Notre Dame looks broke.  They have lost three of their last five and are shooting 28% and committing 15 turnovers a game during that streak.  Maddy Westbeld is clearly not the player she was last year, and Liatu King was a non-factor is this game, playing just 17 minutes and taking only two shots.  Olivia Miles looked like she was bored out there, though there are reports that she was struggling through a tweaked ankle.  Regardless, Notre Dame no longer looks like a team that could win the national championship.

So the final is set:  Duke vs NC State.  I don’t normally do predictions (long story) but if I had to guess, I think the game is State’s to lose.  Wes Moore has been here before and I’ll always go with experience.  Both teams have wings and guards a-plenty so the unsung battle may be between the freshmen bigs for both teams: Toby Fournier for Duke or Tilda Trygger for State.  While she did foul a lot, I was impressed with State’s Lorena Awou in the 5 slot.  Who knows?  An under-used freshman may hold the key to State getting another ACC Tournament Championship.

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Val Prochaska
VAL PROCHASKA

Val graduated from the University of Virginia in the last millennium, back when writing one's senior thesis by hand was still a thing. He is a lifelong fan of the ACC, having chosen the Tobacco Road conference ahead of the Big East. Again, when that was still a thing. Val has covered Virginia men's basketball for nine years, first with HoosPlace and then with StreakingTheLawn, before joining us here at Virginia Cavaliers on SI in August of 2023, continuing to cover UVA men's basketball and also writing about women's soccer and women's basketball.

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