The last time the Duke women's basketball team faced the Virginia Cavaliers, they barely escaped Charlottesville with a sloppy 76-61 win, giving up 28 points to forward Lyndra Littles in the process. Unfortunately for Virginia, they ran into a different Duke team on Friday afternoon. The Devils squashed the Cavs in a convincing 79-58 throttling in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. Lyndra Littles was held to 7 points and 5 turnovers on 2-14 shooting. Meanwhile, Virginia had no answer whatsoever for the sizzling Abby Waner, who scored 24 points on 9-17 FG (6-10 3-pt.). For this offensive outburst, she is the obvious choice for the game ball. Carrem Gay, Alison Bales, and Joy Cheek also chipped in double-digits for Duke. The team executed quite well offensively, piling up 22 assists (thanks to Wanisha Smith's eight). Lindsey Harding was not at her best, but thankfully she did not need to be. Expect her to step up her game with NC State on the horizon--and with Maryland or UNC looming around the corner.With the win, Duke cemented their seventh straight 30-win season, breaking the NCAA record held by Louisiana Tech (six straight 30-win seasons, twice). This kind of consistency is a remarkable achievement, and a testament to both the coaching and recruiting abilities of Coach G. Next on the schedule is NC State, a team that is scary given their hot play of late (6 wins in their last 7 games) and the emotional boost Kay Yow has given them. Duke will face the Wolfpack Saturday at 2 PM.
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