University of Tennessee Athletics
Duke Shocks the Lady Vols, 69-63
March 22, 1999 | Women's Basketball
NCAA Tournament East Region First Round
#1 Tennessee Lady Vols vs #3 Duke Blue Devils
Monday, March 22, 1999, 9:00 p.m. EST, ESPN
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Duke shocks Lady Vols
Monday, March 22, 1999 at 23:32 EDT
DAVID DROSCHAK AP Sports Writer
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Duke needed a supreme effort and an off night from Tennessee star Chamique Holdsclaw to win the NCAA East Regional title. It got both Monday night. The Blue Devils (28-6) joined their men's team in the Final Four with a stunning 69-63 victory over the top-seeded and three-time defending national champion Lady Volunteers.
Georgia Schweitzer matched her career high with 22 points as third-seeded Duke became the first program to place both its men's and women's basketball teams in the Final Four since Georgia did it in 1983.
Duke, which lost to Tennessee by 14 points in December, will now face Georgia in the national semifinals in San Jose, Calif.
The women did it in front of male counterparts Trajan Langdon, Chris Carrawell and Shane Battier, who had driven an hour from the Duke campus to the Greensboro Coliseum to cheer on the women.
Holdsclaw, the top women's player in the game, missed her first 10 shots and finished 2-for-18 from the field for eight points -- matching her season low.
She fouled out with 25.4 seconds left to end her stellar career, receiving a standing ovation.
Semeka Randall led Tennessee (31-3) with 18 points.
Tennessee fans outnumbered the Duke contingent by thousands, but the Lady Volunteers came out uninspired and soon found themselves down 13 in the first half.
But the Lady Volunteers made their first four shots of the second half, including the opening bucket of the period by Holdsclaw, to close to 38-34.
But Duke withstood a 5 1/2-minute span without a basket as Tennessee got as close as 46-45 with 6:52 left.
The Blue Devils were limited to three second-half baskets before Nicole Erickson, who was saddled with first-half foul trouble, made a 12-footer, than 50 seconds later hit a running banker for a 55-50 lead.
Tennessee never got closer than five down the stretch as Duke sank 12 free throws over the final 1:31 to clinch it as Erickson added 17 points.
Both teams started slowly, but no one started slower than Holdsclaw, who was averaging more than 29 points in three NCAA tournament games this season. The senior forward couldn't find her range from anywhere on the floor and her superior jumping ability didn't seem to be there on this night.
Duke led 21-18 before going on a 12-2 run as Lauren Rice and Schweitzer each sank 3-pointers as the Blue Devils led 35-24 at intermission.
Duke
| min | m-a | m-a | o-t | a | pf | tp | |
| Browne Schweitzer Vangorp Howard Erickson Black Rice Parent Totals | 20 33 29 39 33 1 30 15 200 | 2-7 7-11 5-7 1-8 5-12 0-0 1-5 0-0 21-50 | 2-2 5-6 3-4 0-0 6-9 0-0 6-8 0-0 22-29 | 4-9 2-5 1-7 0-4 0-5 0-0 1-8 0-1 8-39 | 0 1 1 7 3 0 1 1 14 | 1 2 4 3 3 1 1 4 19 | 6 22 13 2 17 0 9 0 69 |
Percentages
Fg-.420, Ft-.759.
3-Point Goals
5-15, .333 (Browne 0-1, Schweitzer 3-4, Howard 0-2, Erickson 1-6, Rice 1-2).
Team rebounds
3.
Blocked shots
3 (Browne 2, Parent).
Turnovers
16 (Browne 5, Vangorp 5, Howard 3, Schweitzer 2, Parent).
Steals
5 (Howard 2, Erickson, Rice, Schweitzer).
Tennessee
| min | m-a | m-a | o-t | a | pf | tp | |
| Holdsclaw Catchings Snow Jolly Randall Clement Geter Butts Totals | 38 29 27 38 33 19 14 2 200 | 2-18 5-14 3-5 5-9 8-17 1-4 1-1 1-1 26-69 | 4-8 2-5 0-0 1-4 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 8-18 | 3-11 4-6 2-8 0-5 0-0 0-0 2-3 1-2 12-35 | 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 7 | 5 4 5 5 1 0 3 0 23 | 8 13 6 11 18 3 2 2 63 |
Percentages
Fg-.377, Ft-.444.
3-Point Goals
3-10, .300 (Catchings 1-4, Jolly 0-2, Randall 1-1, Clement 1-3).
Team rebounds
4.
Blocked shots
None.
Turnovers
9 (Holdsclaw 5, Jolly 3, Snow).
Steals
7 (Jolly 2, Randall 2, Geter, Holdsclaw, Snow).
Technical fouls
None.
A
12,235.
Officials
Art Bomengen, Sue Kennedy, John Whitson.
