Duke women pass their board test, win title

GREENSBORO -- Duke women's basketball coach Joanne P. McCallie asked one thing from her team in the ACC Tournament: Rebound.

The Blue Devils followed their coach's instructions to perfection Sunday.

Long-armed and relentless, the top-seeded Blue Devils outrebounded sixth-seeded N.C. State en route to a 70-60 victory in the ACC Tournament final, claiming their sixth tournament championship but first since 2004.

"Without rebounding, you have nothing," McCallie said of duke's 46-32 board advantage. "Without rebounding, you don't have the attitude, the urgency, the power, the strength.

"When we pursue the ball like we did [Sunday], we can do so many things."

By controlling the boards, the Devils (27-5) found that other aspects of their game - pressure defense and up-tempo offense - were easier to accomplish against an N.C. State (20-13) team that didn't give an inch.

Stepping into passing lanes for 15 steals and scoring 28 points off 23 Wolfpack turnovers, the Devils built upon their 32-27 halftime lead with a disciplined second half. They extended that lead with a 14-2 run in the first four minutes, led by the poised junior point guard Jasmine Thomas, who scored a team-high 18 points and received the tournament's most valuable player honors.

Thomas hit two 3-pointers in the second half and finished with six assists, six rebounds and three steals.

With 8 minutes, 20 seconds remaining, the Devils pulled ahead 60-42 on a 12-foot jump shot by senior Joy Cheek and were well on their way to victory.

Duke ended a string of two runner-up finishes in the tournament - losing in the final to Maryland last season and to North Carolina in 2008.

The ninth-ranked Devils never played a perfect game in this tournament but showed enough of the strengths - particularly toughness - to make them a formidable team headed into the NCAA Tournament.

"It's a great feeling," Thomas said. "I was here two years and lost. ... [But] I'm thinking about what is next. I can't help but do that. We finally accomplished our goal in winning the ACC championship, and now we want to go on and win the NCAA Tournament."

McCallie, in her third season at Duke, became the first NCAA Division I coach to win tournament championships in four conferences. She owns titles in the North Atlantic, America East, Big Ten and ACC.

State, playing in its fourth game in as many days, fell victim to Duke's length and full-court pressure.

"Fourth day of the tournament, you're going to be tired both mentally and physically," first-year N.C. State coach Kellie Harper said. "I thought the mental part got us. ... An example, we gave up three wide-open 3s because we weren't matched up well defensively. That's complete mental breakdown. Had we'd been a little sharper there, you never know what would have happened."

But the Pack didn't expect to be in top form after grinding out victories against 11th-seeded Clemson, third-seeded Virginia and seventh-seeded Boston College to earn its first title-game appearance since 2007.

State tried to become the first sixth seed to win the tournament. It was a difficult task to ask of players who had slammed to the floor for loose balls and exerted themselves in every way to win eight of their previous 10 games entering Sunday's championship.

Despite their loss, the Pack gained momentum for a likely NCAA Tournament bid, which would be its first since 2007. It's a positive jolt to a team that has endured a lot over the past year with the death of coach Kay Yow and the transition of Harper.

"I think our kids have proved over the last few weeks that we are an NCAA Tournament team," Harper said. "Right now, I don't think I have to make an argument for these girls. I think they made it for me."

Senior Nikitta Gartrell, who scored a game-high 19 points, said the team is developing a chemistry similar to that of the 2007 team that made a surprising, inspiring run into the NCAA Tournament round of 16.

Gartrell scored a tournament-best 66 total points and grabbed 30 rebounds.

"I have to say winning is a big part of how we've been acting lately," she said. "Our confidence and everything has been sky high. So right now, we can't drop our heads and let our confidence go away."

As for the Devils, who were outrebounded by Maryland and Georgia Tech in earlier rounds, they finally heard their coach's call to rebound.

"It's a good message: If you dominate the boards, you can do just about anything," McCallie said.