Cavaliers Now

The ACC Women’s Tournament Play by Play: Day 5

It's Championship Sunday and Val is (still) in Greensboro to bring you the sights and sounds of the ACC Women's Tournament
Val Prochaska|
The ACC

Championship Sunday!

Fifteen teams, thirteen games, 570 minutes, 471 threes taken and we have arrived with the two most deserving teams this season, NC State and Duke.

I’ll name my All Tournament team at the conclusion of this game, but for now…

All Kayla Team

Kayla Williams – Cal
I am really impressed with her effectiveness on defense.  She pretty much shut down Virginia’s Kymora Johnson and her defense against Hannah Hidalgo was as good as Hannah has seen all season.

Makayla Timpson – FSU
15 points, 8 blocks, 8 rebounds versus UNC.  One of the best performances of the tournament.

Kaylah Ivey – Boston College
Overlooked by me (and I love BC) she erupted with 5/10 shooting from deep against UNC as both Dontavia Waggoner and Teya Sidberry struggled.

Kayla Blackshear – Georgia Tech
9 rebounds and punishing D against Virginia Tech.  Anyone who helps send Tech back to Blacksburg is to be celebrated.

MaKayla Elmore – Pitt
3/5 shooting from deep and 8 boards against Virginia.

All Building Block Team

Kayla Williams – Georgia Tech
Look, I love Tonie Morgan, but Williams drew the hardest defensive assignments in the two games she played.

Maria Gakdeng – UNC
Nobody battled harder in the post at this tournament than Gakdeng.  For years this spot has been filled by Louisville’s Olivia Cochrane, but Gakdeng’s offensive game is on another level.

Oluchi Okananwa – Duke
The fastest player on the court, she never stops running.  Her shooting is getting better as she leads Duke in total scoring.

Saniya Rivers – NC State
Last year she took a step back as State’s lead guard with the emergence of Aziaha James.  This year it has been Zoe Brooks who has emerged.  Rivers doesn’t seem to care.  She slots in and does whatever needs to be done.

Dontavia Waggoner – Boston College
Only thirty-point scorer this tourney, she is the most disruptive defender in the ACC.

All Building Block?  Heck, you could win a lot of games with these women as your starting five.

1:00pm – Game Fourteen:  Duke vs NC State

One thing to keep track of:  three-point shooting.  For the tournament, the women are connecting at a 30.6% rate.  Yesterday was much worse, as the theoretically four best teams in the ACC, combined to go 18/84.  Which is 21.4%  Better defenses and fatigue probably contributed the most, but then, the same will apply in this game as well.

A sight you don’t often see in women’s hoops, but Aziaha James was just hanging onto the rim.

And I may have been a tad harsh with my comments about State’s Madison Hayes and her pre-game prep.  She’s doing the same tag-team with Mallory Collier trying to make a State assistant coach laugh.  It must be a pre-game ritual.

Whoa!  Now Saniya Rivers is hanging on the rim.  This looks ritualistic.  You know, in a good way.

During player intros, each announced starter does a little chicken dance with the designated in-team motivator.  NC State’s chicken dances are much more elaborate, almost to the point of preening.  Advantage Duke.

First Quarter

8:39  Tilda Trygger, very well boxed out, still grabs an offensive rebound and that’s turned into a Saniya Rivers bucket.

8:23  Another charge drawn by Aziaha James.  She’s incredible.  This leads to a Zoe Brooks floater.  State up 4 – 0.

7:47  James steps into a three five seconds into the shot clock.  7 – 0 State.  Duke has only taken one shot.  Kara Lawson calls time.

3:48  Duke is 0/2 from deep while State is 3/4.  State up 13 – 5.

2:29  OK, one for three as Ashlon Jackson connects from beyond the arc.  13 – 10 State

2:07  BS travel call tally is now up to 11.

1:22  Zoe Brooks with back-to-back floaters, State up 19 – 10.

Second Quarter

Well-coached teams don’t foul.  Three total fouls in the first quarter.

During the fan free-throw shooting contest, the NC State participant comes back from 3 – 1 down to win 5 – 3.  If there ever was an omen…

9:10  Vanessa de Jesus can’t recreate the magic from yesterday.  James, however, can, with a gorgeous ankle-breaking cross-over for two and then another three.  State up 24 – 12 and this game is getting away from the Blue Devils.

6:20  Action Jackson with a pair of buckets, State up 24 – 16.

5:55  Zoe Brooks answers with a three, 27 – 16.

2:40  There are more NC State fans here, but the Dukies are louder.  Back to back threes by Action Jackson and Okananwa have awakened the faithful.  31 – 24 State.

1:58  Ooops, I was wrong.  And-1 by James and this place is roaring.  State up 34 – 24.

0.43  You’ve got to see Okananwa in person to respect just how fast she is.  James drives her and should be by her, but Okananwa recovers and hip checks her out of bounds.  Unfortunately, James takes a hard fall and has to be carried off.

0.05  Late three by Jordan Wood brings Duke to within seven, 36 – 29.

Halftime

In the battle between the freshman bigs, State’s Tilda Trygger is staying in her lane, setting screens and grabbing rebounds (she has a team-high five.)  Duke’s Toby Fournier is trying to do more, but she hasn’t been successful (1/6 from the floor.)

Aziaha James is back on the court, so that’s good.

8:30  Duke with two baskets to bring it to 36 – 33.  They have all the energy in the first two minutes.

4:40  Reigan Richardson pull up jumper at the elbow.  42 – 42.  This quarter has been Okananwa.  Duke is breaking in waves.  They are up 15 – 6 this quarter.

Timeout

I’ve been watching this one woman tossing t-shirts all week.  Her arm has gotten so much stronger over the course of the tournament.  The first couple of games she was struggling to get past the first five or six rows.  Now, she’s throwing it into the upper third of the bowl.  I haven’t seen anything like it.

Oh, and Duke is up, 44 – 42.

2:54  Fournier with a travel.  This was a good call this time.  Last time down she’d scored on a nice back door, so she maybe got a little too excited.

1:22  The spacing and pace of Duke in transition has Wes Moore pulling at his hair.  Action Jackson with a three.  Duke up 49 – 46.

0.33  If I was of child-rearing age, I would name my daughter after Okananwa.  Offensive board for a put back and streaking out so fast the Wolfpack over-reacted and she had an easy assist to Jordan Wood.  Duke up 53 – 46.  Moore has to burn a timeout.  With 33 seconds left in the quarter.  That’s how brutal this period has been for NC State.

0.05  Okananwa is 5’10” while NC State’s Lorena Awou is 6’ 5”.  Guess who won the rebounding battle?  When State was in position for a put back in the closing seconds?  Yeah, me too.  For good measure, Okananwa drove so hard up court that James had to foul her.

Fourth Quarter

9:43  Okananwa for three.  We are witnessing the birth of a new superstar.  Duke up by 10, 56 – 46.

8:22  I’ve wondered what Jadyn Donovan brings to Duke.  She doesn’t seem to score.  But damn, everything else.  She’s the ultimate glue player.  And she just scored back-to-back baskets to keep Duke up by 10.

6:53  It’s raining threes?  What did I say about maybe 3-point shooting percentages being down this game.  James, Rivers and Richardson have all hit from deep in the past minute.  63 – 53 Duke.  The teams are a combined 15/31 from three-point range.

1:34  Action Jackson has made four straight free throws, Duke up by 18, 74 – 56.  NC State fans are heading for the exits. 

0.46  Duke calls timeout, and then Kara Lawson doesn’t put in her bench.  Seems bush league to me.  Vanessa De Jesus was absolutely indispensable yesterday.  She ought to be out on the court at the end.

Final:  Duke 76 – 62.

My All-Tournament Team

Oluchi Okananwa, Duke 
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
Aziaha James, NC State
Kayla Williams, Cal
Ashlon “Action” Jackson, Duke

Second Team
Saniya Rivers, NC State
Tonie Morgan, Georgia Tech
Dontavia Waggoner, Boston College
Maria Gakdeng, UNC
Makayla Timpson, FSU


MVP:  Oluchi Okananwa

It is hard to overstate just how destructive Okananwa was all game, especially in the second half.  The big change Kara Lawson made was to go 5-Out, only the “out” wasn’t the center, it was point guard Taina Mair.  Look, Mair is a fine, pass-first, facilitator kind of point guard, shooting 37% from three on low volume.  But Mair out of the game, it was fast break all the time.  Whether Okananwa got the ball in her half or she was receiving the ball in the State back-court, it didn’t matter.  What we saw today was almost positionless basketball, akin to the Total Football of Johan Cruyff’s Ajax and Holland teams.

At the beginning of the year, ESPN did a story on the super sophomores who were primed to step into the limelight that Caitlin Clark was ceding by graduating.  The headliners were of course Hannah Hidalgo and USC’s JuJu Watkins.  But almost as an afterthought, Zoe Brooks and Okananwa were listed as honorable mentions.  My first thought reading that article was that Kymora Johnson had something to say about that.  My thinking now is that Okananwa could surpass them all.

And so I say good-bye to Greensboro.  You know you have been in a hotel too long when you have memorized the name of the elevator inspector.  Emily, if you are still reading, you have been a wonderful host.   See you next year!

To get caught up on the entire weekend, read Val's other articles here:

The ACC Women’s Tournament Play by Play: Day 1

The ACC Women’s Tournament Play by Play: Day 2

The ACC Women’s Tournament Play by Play: Day 3 (part 1)

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

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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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