On March 29, 2006 the Duke women’s basketball team defeated Connecticut 63-61 in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The game was played in Bridgeport, Connecticut and the top-seeded Blue Devils had to go into overtime to edge the second-seeded Huskies.
Despite playing in the hostile arena no one was surprised at the Duke win. Gail Goestenkors had established Duke as one of the nation’s premiere programs. The win propelled Duke to its third Final Four in five years. The season would end in the title game, an agonizing overtime loss to Maryland.
The win evened the Duke-Connecticut series at three wins apiece.
Duke hasn’t beaten the Huskies since.
Back in 2006 everyone felt that Duke’s first NCAA title was just a matter of time.
Everyone was wrong. Barely a year later and two weeks after a shocking Sweet Sixteen loss to Rutgers, Goestenkors was on her way to Texas and Duke was on its way to something well short of winning an NCAA title.
Joanne P. McCallie left Michigan State to replace Goestenkors. She faced off against Geno Auriemma and the Huskies nine times and came away with nine losses. The closest game loss was 61-45.
Kara Lawson lost to Connecticut 78-50 last season in Portland.
Some rivalry.
The most disappointing loss came on December 17, 2013, in Cameron. This was McCallie’s most talented team; Chelsea Gray, Elizabeth Williams, Haley Peters, Tricia Liston, Alexis Jones, Richa Jackson. Both teams came into the contest 10-0, Connecticut ranked number one, Duke number two.
Most of the students were gone for the semester break. But it was a sell-out, with national media in attendance and as much anticipation as I can remember for a women’s game.
This was McCallie’s chance to show the world that she was bringing her program back to national prominence.
The game was close for about five minutes. Duke’s only lead was 4-3. UConn broke it open with a 16-1 run and cruised to an 83-61 statement win.
UConn ended the season at 40-0, the ninth of Auriemma’s 11 NCAA titles.
Gray suffered a season-ending knee injury later that season and Duke bowed out in the second round of the NCAAs, losing at home to DePaul.
I still remember the smug grin on Auriemma’s face in the Cameron media room after thrashing Duke in Cameron the three times he beat McCallie at Duke, 81-48 in January 2010, 61-45 in January 2012 and that December 2013 game.
There may be some things that keep Geno Auriemma awake at night. Joanne P.McCallie wasn’t one of them.
Can Kara Lawson flip that script?
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to JimSumnerSports to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.