Atlantic Coast Conference
ACC Women's Basketball Tournament: A Day 2 Diary
Game IV: Boston College vs Louisville, 11:00am
It’s the Battle of the Birds – the Boston College Eagles against the Louisville Cardinals – as my friend Lora proclaimed it. This will be the most exciting match of the day, in part because it will host the best crowd of the day, thousands of school kids. It must be part of some local promotion because there are dozens of elementary classes here and free from the everyday shackles of rigid classroom rules, these kids are here to scream and yell, so when the in-house host urges the crowd to make some noise, they do.
Secondly, the second day must matter more to tournament organizers because they have brought out smoke and fire machines for player introductions. It’s all very biblical, the whole pillar of smoke and column of fire and all. The pyrotechnic machines arriving on the second day, after the first day’s bottom-feeders have been winnowed out, was a feature of last year’s tournament. It’s definitely a snub to the first-round teams. This is part of the atmosphere of a tournament and I think they ought to enjoy it as well.
Source: Author
Louisville’s intro video is the best of the bunch so far. Last year’s BC video showcased the city of Boston and Wake Forest’s highlighted Winston-Salem. They located the school and the players in their urban settings and they were effective. Virginia’s vid would have been better if it had showcased The Lawn, as would Pitt’s if it displayed the Cathedral of Learning. Louisville brags about their eight-straight Sweet 16s and five consecutive Elite 8 appearances (these are on head coach Jeff Walz) and the Cardinals’ two national titles (these are not.) It’s far better than anyone else’s.
1st Quarter
9:40 BC’s T’yana Todd, fresh off a 5/6 game from deep against Clemson, drops a three, following a Dontavia Waggoner offensive board. BC with the early lead.
5:04 These guys are banging on the boards. Louisville’s Nyla Harris with a nice rebound and baseline finish to knot the score at 9-9.
4:32 Todd and Teya Sidberry have taken hard spills to the hardwood already. Seriously, we could hear Sidberry hit the deck. (Both seem OK.) It’s a war out there.
1:18 Louisville has hit three straight three point attempts to go up 18-16, the last by Sydney Taylor.
0.00 Boston College works the 2-for-1 at the end of the quarter as Todd does her part. Louisville’s Kiki Jefferson responds but really good face up defense by Nina Rickards denies BC. It’s 20-18 after one.
2nd Quarter
Lora, Official First Friend of Cavaliers Now©, observes that it seems the BC band has had their morning coffee. They are very loud. And the schoolkids are in full voice. Now this feels like championship week.
8:03 Waggoner with a ripped steal and then finish brings BC to within 3, 25-22. Waggoner is easily the most fun to watch player of the tournament thus far. She’s the fastest up and down the court, and as a member of the All-Defensive team this year, she’s banging down low with Louisville’s Olivia Cochran. She’s struggling to finish, though, as she’s missed three at the rim this quarter.
3:35 Sidberry hits from deep and ties it up 29-29.
BC is lucky to still be in the game. Louisville is 12/23 and 5/9 from deep while BC is 10/27 and 2/7 from beyond the arc.
2:40 Louisville’s Merissah Russell called for a travel. Yep, the refs are back and calling too many travels. Status quo restored.
Halftime
Louisville holds a 33-29 lead.
The halftime entertainment seems to be much-improved on the second day. We’ve got the Frisbee Dogs, which is like catnip to the elementary school set. This place is buzzing. It is kind of cool to see a dog do a back flip while catching a frisbee.
6:13 The game is getting a little chippy. Jeff Walz is a fine coach, but man-o-man is he a whiner. The refs have responded to his chirping by letting the game get physical with more extracurricular contact than is normally allowed. This will benefit the Cards as they are the team most comfortable when the game gets rough.
5:15 Jada Perry connects from deep at the buzzer. Cards have opened up 42-33 lead.
5:08 Sidberry answers immediately with the best drive of the tournament. She’s a big. Rather than go sit down in the block and wait for the guards to bring it up, she calls for the ball out of the in-bounds and charges straight down to the rim.
4th Quarter
Boston College scored 11 straight points to take a 44-42 lead.
9:12 Nina Rickards, scoreless for the Cardinals, hits the first two buckets of the final frame to give Louisville the lead.
6:17 Jeff Walz is winning the battle of the referees. He’s worked them into calling two fouls on Waggoner in 30 seconds. One was probably deserved, the second most definitely not.
1:15 BC held the lead, 55-52, but the defensive pressure, so characteristic of Louisville is wearing the Eagles down.
Olivia Cochran, who made life difficult for Louisville by missing five of six free throws in the last frame, has two huge steals and a bigger defensive board in the last 75 seconds. Louisville holds on for the 58-55 win.
This game was a barn-burner and the schoolkids gave the game the electricity it deserved. BC is one of the more appealing teams to watch. Walz is just awful on the sideline. He’s got the hardware to show how good a coach he is, but he’s beyond insufferable. I really wanted BC to win.
Game V: UNC vs Miami, 1:30pm
1st Quarter
4:14 UNC’s ball movement is fabulous as Lexi Donarski nails a wide open three. They are always wide open threes for Lexi. She’s the least athletic of UNC’s Big Three of Deja Kelly, Alyssa Ustby and herself. Yet her threes are always wide open. If she was on a non-UNC team, I would love her.
2:14 High comedy. Too early in the timeout, the UNC pep band starts playing their fight song, Sweet Caroline. But here’s the thing, despite having played this song for decades, most Tar Heels still don’t know the words beyond the chorus.
So, as a public service, here’s the lyrics:
2nd Quarter
4:56 UNC has stretched a 20-15 lead after the break into a 31-17 lead. Miami can’t buy a bucket and the game is slipping away. Deja Kelly, who is the ACC’s most pre-eminent flat-track bully (in that she scores her points late in blow outs and against the worst teams) hits a corner three. UNC up 31-17.
2:56 Still 31-17. Miami’s Kyla Oldacre has looked like a future WNBA legend against Virginia. Last year versus the Hoos, she scored her career-high. This year she set her season-high. Against UNC? She’s looking like the player who only averages 5 points per game. Despite being 6’6”. Miami can throw a lot of size at you. Latasha Lattimore is 6’4” as is Lazaria Spearman. Spearman is a stud.
1:37 Miami’s Ja’Leah Williams travels. Miami coach Katie Meier is doing her best Jeff Walz impersonation. (She’s right though. It was a weak call.)
0.00 Shot of the tournament. Bad news is that Miami is still down 37-30.
3rd Quarter
6:37 It’s a battle down low. UNC’s Maria Gakdeng is holding her own against Oldacre and Spearman, but Miami has more fouls to give.
5:20 I was prescient. Gakdeng picks up her fourth.
4:14 Spearman going to work and Miami is down just two, 44-42.
2:37 Miami up 45-44. Miami’s Shayeann Day-Wilson, a former Dukie, has gone 4/4 from the line the last couple of minutes. What’s the opposite of “nothing but net?” Because Day-Wilson has been rocking a whole of rim on these four free throws.
Final Score: Miami 60, UNC 59. This game was just as hard fought, just as intense as the Louisville v Boston College game, yet the vibe wasn’t there. The schoolkids brought an energy that can’t be matched. Seriously, absent the kids, this is a very old crowd, like one you would see at the opera. I’m 60 years old, and I’m not even at the median age. What is notably absent is college kids. The only students here are the players, the cheerleaders and the bands. I wouldn’t expect BC or Miami students to attend, but the four favored Tobacco Road schools? UNC and Wake, schools just an hour away, haven’t had love from their respective student bodies.
Game VI: Duke vs Georgia Tech, 5:00pm
Lora and I are getting a little punchy. I misread the tournament guide and missed the player introductions.
1st Quarter
6:03 This Duke defense is tenacious. The Blue Devils just won a pair of shot clock violations. On the same play. Tech tossed up a long three at the buzzer than missed the rim, but which the refs missed. Tech got the rebound and then was held without a shot for another 30 seconds.
5:04 The only way either team can score is if they grab their own misses and convert on the offensive rebounds. The score is 6-6 and four of the six baskets have come of offensive rebounds. The teams are a combined 6/15.
1:32 Georgia Tech has missed five straight shots. The quarter will end at 14-8 in favor of Duke.
2nd Quarter
All of a sudden it’s raining threes. Duke hits two and Tech one. 17-14 Duke.
2:51 It’s 30-20 for Duke. They are playing a lot of full court pressure and it’s wearing Tech down to the tune of three turnovers in five possessions.
1:36 Duke is the team no one wants to play. The defense is suffocating and their break is fabulous. It’s hard to visualize how lovely this play is as Taina Mair breaks, slows, and then hits Camilla Emsbo on the secondary break. This is high-level basketball.
Halftime
Now this is entertainment. The ACC Network’s women’s basketball show is called Nothing But Net. Two of the color commentators are former North Carolina star Ivory Latta and former Clemson great Kelly Gramlich. They are going to have a three-point contest. This is very gutsy, dare I say ballsy. Brand is everything in media these days and here are two of the faces of the ACC women’s game putting it all on the line in a very public way. I couldn’t be more impressed. For the record, Gramlich looks like someone who “used” to play. Ivory is much smoother and wins going away.
It's raining mascots in Greensboro. Even Food Lion has a mascot!
3rd Quarter
3:35 It’s over. Sure, there’s more game to play, but when you run the break this well, there’s too many opportunities, too many free shots. This is the best floor spacing in the ACC. Virginia players would be well-advised to watch as much Duke game footage this offseason as the can, because this is lovely, attacking basketball.
After a pair of nail-biters today, Duke wins the third game going away, 70-58.
Game VII: Florida State vs Wake Forest, 7:30pm
Florida State is going to win this game at the foul line. Neither team distinguishes themselves from the field, Wake Forest shooting 33% from the field and going 7/25 from deep. FSU will shoot 40% from the field and even worse from deep, 3/17. There were so many airballs, from both teams. We had back-to-back airball threes. Twice. You know how student sections serenade opponents who airball a three? There were so many that the two bands stopped doing that or else they’d be serenading every single player.
Wake had no answer to Mikayla Timpson who was 7/10 from the field and 8/9 from the charity stripe. FSU went 22/25 from the line overall while Wake was 4/9, with all four of those coming long after the game had been decided. The final score was 70-53, which is about the disparity in made free throws.
The two low-lights of the game were provided by the Seminoles.
4:25 in the third quarter and the Seminoles were up 46-27 and coach Brooke Wyckoff really went off on the referees in a this-is-even-beyond-Jeff-Walz tirade. Believe me, the Seminoles were not being victimized and the game was perfectly well called. It was flatly embarrassing and she should have been tossed.
Then with 1:06 remaining, FSU’s Sara Bejedi was the only starter still on the court as both coaches had emptied their benches. She’s playing with her walk-ons, but she takes it hard to the rim – against the Wake’s walk-ons – for the bucket. Selfish and classless at the same time. Take a bow, Sara. That’s hard to accomplish on one play.
Day Three will see the arrival of the top guns. Notre Dame, Syracuse, NC State and Virginia Tech make their ACC tourney entrances.