After finishing the regular season undefeated and earning the top seed and a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament, No. 1 Duke (29-0) will begin its postseason today when it takes on Virginia at 3 p.m. in the Greensboro Coliseum.
The eighth-seeded Cavaliers (17-13) reached the second round by beating ninth-seeded Clemson 89-82 yesterday.
"Our first game, when we were at Virginia, they gave us all that we could handle," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "That was a battle. So they worry me."
When the Blue Devils took on Virginia Feb. 2 in John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va., they eked out a 76-61 win behind a sloppy offensive performance and 21 points from senior Lindsey Harding.
Cavaliers sophomore forward Lyndra Littles torched the Duke defense for a career-high 28 points on the night, and the Blue Devils struggled through multiple scoring droughts during the game.
"It was not one of our prettiest games by any stretch of the imagination," Goestenkors said after the contest.
This time around, however, the game does not fall on a quiet Friday in the middle of the season. Instead, the contest is the first of Duke's postseason, in which the team has high aspirations following an undefeated regular season.
In the week since the Blue Devils beat North Carolina for the second time this year, Harding was named ACC Player of the Year-and the conference's Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season-and Goestenkors was named ACC Coach of the Year.
After dominating in its regular season slate-in a year in which Duke was supposed to struggle, no less-the expectations for this year's postseason are as high as they have ever been. The pressure is intensified as the Blue Devils are still searching for their first national championship.
Still, the youthful team has never displayed any trepidation or hesitancy so far this season, and the players claim to be relaxed heading into the ACC Tournament.
"The expectations that are surrounding our team will never be as high as the expectations that we have for ourselves," Abby Waner said. "We set the bar for ourselves so nothing really phases us."
The team that has already taken on and beaten No. 4 North Carolina twice, No. 6 Maryland twice and No. 2 Tennessee in Knoxville will take on unranked Virginia to begin its quest for the ACC Tournament title today.
"This is a new season now," Goestenkors said. "The regular season was great. It's over. Everybody is 0-0. We're not trying to continue a streak or a record any more, we're beginning anew."
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