University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE VS. DUKE - NCAA FINAL FOUR - POST GAME NOTES
April 06, 2003 | Women's Basketball
April 6, 2003
Tennessee Quotes | Tennessee Notes | Duke Quotes | Duke Notes
MIDWEST REGION: No. 1 seed DUKE (Ranked No. 1 by AP and USA Today)
Records: 35-1; 16-0 ACC/1st; won conference tournament, automatic bid
Road to Final Four: Beat Georgia State 66-48; Beat Utah 65-54; Beat Georgia, 66- 63; Beat Texas Tech, 57-51
COACH GAIL GOESTENKORS
Owns an all-time record of 272-84 in her 11th season as a head coach, all with Duke. In NCAA Tournament games, her record is 23-9 (1-3 in the Final Four).
Falls in the NCAA semifinal for the second straight season. The Blue Devils lost to Oklahoma in last year's semifinal.
Made her third trip to the Final Four as a head coach. She is the only coach in Duke history to take the Blue Devils to the Final Four (1999, 2002, 2003).
Picked up two National Coach of the Year honors this season
the 2003 Naismith and WBCA awards.
DUKE TEAM NOTES
Duke's 56 points were a season low. The previous was 54 points at NC State on Jan. 29, 2003.
The point total was also Duke's second-lowest in an NCAA Tournament game, behind 45 points versus Purdue in the 1999 Championship game.
Duke was outrebounded for the third straight game (41-30). It was their second-lowest rebounding effort of the season, behind 29 versus Georgia in the regional semifinal. It also ties as the fifth-lowest rebounding total in an NCAA semifinal and sixth lowest in a Final Four game. The Vols also outrebounded Duke (44-42) by two in the first meeting between the teams earlier this season. Prior to the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils had fewer rebounds than their opponents just five times.
After averaging a nation-leading 81.6 points per game entering the Big Dance, the Blue Devils put up just 62.0 points a contest in five games of the NCAA Tournament.
Duke shot 5-of-6 from the free throw line, tying a season low. The six attempts ties as the third-fewest in both an NCAA semifinal and Final Four game, while the five makes is the fourth-fewest in a semifinal, sixth-fewest in a Final Four contest.
Duke lost for the first time all season when leading at the half. Prior to tonight's game, the Blue Devils were 29-0 when leading at the break.
The loss to Tennessee halted a 15-game win streak for the Blue Devils.
Duke's all-time Final Four results: National runners-up (1999), National semifinals (2002, 2003)
Duke faced Tennessee for the fifth time, and with tonight's win the Vols now own a 3-2 series lead. In the only other NCAA meeting between the two teams, the Blue Devils halted the 'Vols run for a fourth-straight national championship with a win in the 1999 East Regional final (69-63). That victory gave Duke its first Final Four appearance.
Duke and Tennessee met earlier this season, with the Blue Devils notching a 76-55 victory.
Duke's 35 victories entering the Final Four was a new ACC and school record. Duke's two season losses is also a new school record.
DUKE INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Four of Duke's five starters also started in last year's Final Four -
Alana Beard, Vicki Krapohl, Michele Matyasovsky, and Iciss Tillis.
Along with freshman Lindsey Harding, the above-mentioned quartet entered tonight's game undefeated but finished 15-1 as a starting unit this season.
Alana Beard scored 29 points, tying her career high in an NCAA Tournament game. (Her career high is 41.) It also ties as the third-best individual scoring performance in Duke history in NCAA Tournament play. It also ties for ninth in NCAA semifinal and 10th all-time in Final Four history. Her 12 field goals tie for fifth all-time in NCAA semifinals, sixth in Final Four records.
Duke's Alana Beard and Iciss Tillis combined for 38 points, while the rest of the Blue Devil squad totaled 18.
Tillis, however, was held below double figures (9 pts.) for the second straight game after posting seven straight double-figure games prior to the regional final.
Alana Beard started her 102nd career game versus Tennessee. The junior has started every game of her collegiate career.
With her buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the first half, Duke junior Alana Beard notched her 2,000 career point. She entered the game needing just 13 to achieve that milestone and reached that at the half. She becomes the second player in Duke history to reach the 2,000-point plateau.
Senior Sheana Mosch (10 pts.) reached double-figures in scoring for the first time in the NCAA Tournament and first since the ACC Tournament final versus North Carolina.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Tonight's sellout attendance of 28,210 marks the largest crowd Duke has played in front of this season. The previous season high was 16,182 versus Georgia at the regional semifinal in Albuquerque, N.M.
