Dec. 3, 2007
by Jeff Smith
Contributor, BigTen.org
Final Tally
The ACC defeated the Big Ten in the inaugural Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge, 8-3.
Lady Lions Upset No. 10 Duke in Final Challenge Matchup
The inaugural Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge ended with a fantastic finale on Sunday as Penn State upset No. 10 Duke in State College. Junior Brianne O'Rourke dumped a pass to Janessa Wolff under the basket for a game-winning lay-up with 0.5 seconds left in the game to give the Lady Lions an 86-84 victory. O'Rourke put forth a solid effort against Duke with both a game and career-high 23 points, including 15-of-15 from the free throw line. Her perfection at the charity stripe, as well as the 15 made attempts, equaled school records set by Jess Strom in an upset over Minnesota two years ago. O'Rourke, who also recorded eight assists and two steals, was followed in the boxscore by junior Mashea Williams and her career-high output of 22 points. Williams was also perfect from the line with an 8-of-8 performance. Also reaching double figures on Sunday were senior Kam Gissendanner with 13 points and Tyra Grant with 10 points and four rebounds.
"Easiest Shots" the Key to Win for Penn State
While Janessa Wolff's basket at the end of the game looked easy, Penn State made several more easier buckets on the day according to first-year head coach Coquese Washington. The Lady Lions shot 28-of-30 from the line Sunday, compared to only 7-of-10 for Duke.
"We talk all the time about making easy baskets, and free throw should be the easiest shots to make, there's nobody guarding," Washington said. "So we practice free throws every day. We shoot a lot of them every day and when we go to the line we expect to make them."
Notable Notes
Penn State's victory over the Blue Devils Sunday marked the first time the team topped a Top-10 squad since defeating Minnesota, 81-68, in State College on Jan. 30, 2005. In addition, the Lady Lions' upset Sunday snapped a 76-game winning streak for Duke against unranked opponents.
McCallie Still Mystified by the Bryce Jordan Center
During her stint as head coach at Michigan State, Joanne P. McCallie did not win a game at Penn State in six attempts. Despite the fact that Duke owned a 5-0 advantage over PSU in the all-time series, McCallie remains winless at the BJC in seven attempts after Sunday's loss.
"Penn State has always done a great job with environment from all that I can remember. I just think it is great for women's basketball," said the Blue Devils' first-year head coach. "But do I think it affected the game? No. We need to do what we need to do, but that was certainly a great crowd and a loud crowd. And they were rewarded with a really nice victory."
Hoosiers Nearly Net Upset Win at Home Over Florida State
Indiana sophomore Jamie Braun and freshman Haylie Lin provided a spark to a young Hoosier ballclub, but it proved not enough as IU fell in Bloomington to No. 21 Florida State last Friday, 85-78. Braun led the Hoosiers with her first double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while also adding six assists and three steals for good measure. Linn notched a career-high 16 points on 5-of-9 from the floor. She made all five of her field goals from three-point land on five attempts from beyond the arc. Jori Davis, another IU freshman, netted 10 points in the loss. The Seminoles boasted five players in double-figures, led by Mara Freshour's game-high 21 points.
Ohio State Falls in Top-20 Meeting at Maryland
No. 3 Maryland proved too much for 17th-ranked Ohio State as the Terps won 77-53 on Friday. Maryland moved to 10-0 on the season with impressive efforts from Crystal Langhorne and Marissa Coleman, who scored 17 and 14 points, respectively. The Buckeyes' primary weapon, Marscilla Packer, was held in check throughout the game. Entering the game averaging 17.7 points, the hot-handed Packer was held to just 2-of-11 shooting and finished with six points. Ashlee Trebilcock and Brittany Johnson both ended with nine points each, while Maria Moeller came off the bench to score six. OSU was just 6-of-21 from the perimeter and totaled just 21-of-71 from the floor on the night.
Virginia Tech Wins Close One at Home to Minnesota
The most impressive performance of the Challenge was turned in Friday when Minnesota's Emily Fox tied a career-high 30 points - almost half of the Gophers' total in their 68-62 loss at Virginia Tech. The contest was close from the tip as the first half saw the lead change hands nine times, just as many times as the contest was tied as well. The Hokies' largest lead in the first half was when they opened up to a 4-0 start, while the Gophers answered to take a three-point lead near halftime. Without the services of Ashley Ellis-Milan, Zoe Harper filled in with a career-high 14 points. Brittany Cook led VT with 15 points, but it was Fox's 12-of-17 shooting that kept Minnesota close throughout. She was 4-of-4 from three-point land and also dished out three assists in her 40 minutes of play.
Turnovers Plague Badgers in WNIT Rematch at Virginia
In what was billed as a rematch of Wisconsin's 84-78 WNIT Quarterfinal win over Virginia last year, turned out to be a dominant performance by the Cavaliers from the start. Virginia stormed out to a 22-point lead in the first half thanks in part to 17 Badger turnovers. With just over six minutes to play before intermission, the Cavaliers held a 31-9 advantage over Wisconsin, who was led in the game by Jolene Anderson with 18 points. Anderson's play brought the Badgers back to within nine points in the second half, but Virginia was too strong in the end. Monica Wright, who entered Friday averaging 15.3 points for Virginia, shot 11-of-17 from the floor for a game-high 27 points. The Badgers boasted two additional scorers in double-figures in Janese Banks and freshman Tara Steinbauer, with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Challenge Teams Find Success at Home
In the 11-game 2007 edition of the Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge, the home team turned in an 8-3 overall record.
Top Five Big Ten/ACC Challenge Scorers
Emily Fox, MINN (30 points) vs. Virginia Tech
Rashanda McCants, UNC (28) vs. Purdue
Monica Wright, VA (27) vs. Wisconsin
Alyssa DeHaan, MSU (26) vs. Clemson
Chioma Nnamaka, GT (24) vs. Iowa
Nothing Against Scoring 23 Though...
Big Ten standouts turned in three of the four 23-point efforts, which was the sixth-highest point total scored in the Challenge. Iowa's Wendy Ausdemore scored 23 points against Georgia Tech, while Penn State's Brianne O'Rourke and Purdue's Lakisha Freeman netted the total against Duke and North Carolina, respectively. Duke's Abby Waner also scored 23 against in the Blue Devil's loss at Penn State.
