Sports > February 14, 2008

By Martin Rickman | Staff writer

Without a chance to savor their first ACC win in nearly two years, the Lady Deacons basketball team fell to 11th-ranked Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Feb. 10, 71-36. The Deacons won their first conference game since February 2006 when they completely dismantled the Virginia Tech Hokies Feb. 9, winning 67-50.

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Virginia Tech, a team that won its first ACC game against Miami Feb. 10 in overtime, had recently taken fourth-ranked Maryland to overtime.

Their game against the Deacs would prove to be a lot less close as Wake led by 14 at the half and at one time led by 30 with just under five minutes remaining.

Continuing the ferocious defensive effort that has defined their season, the Demon Deacons held Virginia Tech to 33.9 percent shooting and 12.5 percent from beyond the arc. They also forced 27 Hokie turnovers, leading to 23 points.

Junior Alex Tchangoue continued her fantastic season, stuffing the stat sheet with 11 points, nine rebounds and a career-high eight assists.

Freshman Brittany Waters, who collapsed during the North Carolina game and was held out against Clemson while she underwent additional tests, had a career-high 15 points in her first ever start for the Deacons. Waters also recorded four steals.

Head Coach Mike Petersen talked about the team’s injury situation, which has forced Tchangoue, a natural small forward, into the point guard position.

“The way she played against VT, for her to go 40 minutes at the point and direct our team was a really great effort. The other person in that game specifically was Brittany and I think she responded really well,” Petersen said.

“Back when we were 12-2, we’d play with both Tiffany and Camille on the court. This doesn’t just mess with our rotation at the point, but it messes with our whole rotation. I think our players have done a really good job of just playing on. This is who we are right now and we need to be the best team we can be right now.”

Shooting 40.6 percent on the day and making nine three-pointers, the Deacs had two players in addition to Tchangoue and Waters scoring in double figures, Corinne Groves with 14 and Christen Brown with 12.

Hoping to continue their momentum in Durham, the Deacs were unable to break through the Blue Devils’ ferocious defense.

The team shot 23 percent, their worst shooting percentage of the season and had 24 turnovers with an almost 3-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Duke’s pressure held the Deacs scoreless through the first 7:30 of the game, while Wake quickly found themselves down 14-0.

They were never able to fully recover, falling behind 68-33 at one point.

The Blue Devils out-rebounded the Demon Deacons 50-34, while shooting 50 percent from the field.

Sophomore forward Mekia Valentine led all Deacon scorers with eight points, Brown chipped in seven and Waters scored six.

Waters also grabbed seven rebounds and pitched in two steals.

The Demon Deacons fell to 14-12 on the year and 1-10 in conference play, while Duke improved to 18-6 and 7-2 in the ACC.

Petersen said that Duke’s style of play and their pressure, coupled with the team’s injury problems, led to the loss.

However, he was optimistic about the next three games, of which the team needs to win one to be eligible for postseason play.

“I just told the team that it was over and we have to forget about the loss,” Petersen said.

“We have three games left and they’re all winnable. We’re not going to cost ourselves a game in the future because we’re worried about a game in the past.”

The ACC has three teams – UNC, Maryland and Duke – in the top 12, with two other teams – Virginia and Georgia Tech – receiving votes.

In a year when the Deacons started 12-2, the competitiveness of the ACC does not leave any room for error or injury.

“The level of athletes and the level of programs in the ACC are incredible,” Petersen said. “A good indication of that would be us. We struggle in conference for whatever reason and our RPI is still in the 80s. From top to bottom, it is an unbelievably tough conference. In our situation, if you have some things go wrong for you, which clearly we have, it makes your job that much more difficult.”

The team has a week off before returning home to play N.C. State at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 17. The game will be part of the “Think Pink” series, which aims to raise breast cancer awareness. The team will wear pink shoelaces and pink shooting shirts and fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game.