AP News, March 2nd, 2007
Abby Waner scored 17 of her 24 points in the first half to lead top-ranked Duke past Virginia 79-58 on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Alison Bales had 13 points, eight rebounds and six blocks for the Blue Devils (30-0), the tournament's top seed and the nation's last unbeaten team. Duke advanced to Saturday's semifinals to face No. 24 North Carolina State, which beat Florida State 76-49 earlier on Friday.
Monica Wright had 18 points and nine rebounds for the eighth-seeded Cavaliers (17-14), who reached the quarterfinals with an 89-82 win against ninth-seeded Clemson in the first round on Thursday.
The Blue Devils had little trouble winning their ACC tournament opener for the 13th straight year and beating the Cavaliers for the 13th straight time. Duke took a double-digit lead midway through the first half, led 38-25 at the break and pushed its margin to as many as 23 points after halftime.
Waner was the only Blue Devil to turn in a big offensive game, going 6-for-9 and hitting all five 3-point attempts in the first half. She added another 3 in the second half, finishing 9-for-17 from the field with six rebounds and four assists.
Carrem Gay and Joy Cheek each added 10 points for Duke, which shot 45 percent. And Duke's defense hounded Virginia the entire way, holding the Cavaliers to 30 percent shooting while scoring 18 points off 17 turnovers.
The biggest cause for concern was probably the play of point guard Lindsey Harding, who was awarded the ACC player of the year earlier this week. She struggled to find any rhythm, finishing with six points on 3-for-8 shooting with four assists and five turnovers.
Not that it mattered much. Duke led virtually the whole way, getting seven straight points to take a 21-10 lead on Harding's jumper with 9:28 left in the first half. Waner soon followed with three 3s in seven possessions, including back-to-back shots from each wing to make it 36-21 with 4:10 left before the break.
Virginia got as close as 10 points on a 3-pointer from Wright early in the second half, but Bales answered with an inside score inside followed by consecutive baskets from Gay to push the lead to 44-28 with 17:06 left.
