Tag Archives: Marissa Coleman

Black, Waner Selected in WNBA Draft

Posted on by
Leave a reply

Photo Courtesy of the WNBA

It was a disappointing finish to the season for Duke, as the Blue Devils were upset in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, prematurely ending the careers of Chante Black, Abby Waner and Carrem Gay.

But Black took the next step in her basketball career as she was selected 10th overall in the WNBA Draft Thursday by the Connecticut Sun. At least one Blue Devil has now been taken in the first round in three of the last four years, including Lindsey Harding and Alison Bales in 2007 and Monique Currie in 2006. Harding was the No. 1 overall pick in 2007 after earning National Player of the Year honors.

With the Duke center at the draft in Secaucus, N.J. were head coach Joanne P. McCallie, assistant coach Al Brown, friends and Black’s number one fan–her mother. Mazie Black is a teacher in Saudi Arabia and had not seen her daughter since last summer.

But she was on hand to witness the opening act of what hopes to a be long and successful professional career for Chante.

Black joins a Connecticut team that finished 21-13 and made the WNBA playoffs, only to be upset by the New York Liberty in the first round. She was the third ACC player to be selected, behind Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver of Maryland, who went No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Angel McCoughtry, who led Louisville to its first Final Four and national championship game, was the first overall pick.

UPDATE 4:53 p.m.: Waner was picked with the 21st overall pick in the second round by the New York Liberty. The Liberty also drafted Duke guard Wanisha Smith in 2008, but Smith only appeared in one game for the Detroit Shock last season.

Waner has previously expressed interest in pursuing a career in sports media after completing an internship with ESPN over the summer and was not present in New Jersey for the draft. The WNBA cut its roster size from 13 to 11 during the offseason because of the economy, so it will be even more difficult than usual for second and third round picks to make a team.

UPDATE 5:19 p.m.: The third round of the draft just concluded and Carrem Gay was not picked. In all, nine players from the ACC were drafted, including three from Florida State.

Blue Devils To Face Familiar Foe In Maryland

Posted on by
Leave a reply

Sunday’s ACC Tournament final at 1 p.m. in Greensboro is between two teams that know each other very well—and don’t particularly like each other.

It’s Duke-Maryland, and it may be a better rivalry game now, in terms of recent history, than the one between Duke and that team wearing a lighter blue eight miles away.

Three years ago, when Abby Waner and Carrem Gay were freshmen, the Blue Devils squandered a 13-point lead to lose the national title to the Terrapins in overtime.  Then-freshman Kristi Toliver hit a step-back 3-pointer to force the extra period with six seconds left in regulation, and she and fellow freshman Marissa Coleman combined for nine of the team’s last 13 points in the 78-75 victory.

Even now, Toliver still isn’t exactly shy about her play that day. After Duke beat Maryland this year, the sharp-shooting guard said that it was too early in the year to be breaking the Blue Devils’ hearts—and Waner wasn’t a huge fan of the comment.

“I remember Kristi saying that it was a little too early for them to be breaking our hearts after the first game,” she said after beating Florida State Saturday. “I definitely don’t want to be breaking her heart tomorrow either.”

“I mean, I won’t say I like Maryland by any means…. I’m not going to say I have a vendetta against Maryland, I just want to win a championship.”

Duke is coming off two of its best games of the season in the Tournament—victories over Virginia and Florida State—and also closed the season with perhaps its two best performances against Wake Forest and North Carolina. It’s as good a time as any to be peaking, but will the Blue Devils be able to prolong their streak against the dual-pronged attack of Toliver and  Coleman? In the Terrapins’ convincing victory over North Carolina before the Duke game Saturday, the two first-team All-ACC seniors combined for 54 points in the 95-84 win.

Still, Waner’s not worried.

“They’re both very good players, but we know it’s all about us,” she said. “If we do everything right on our end, which includes keeping focus for all 40 minutes—we can do that—and if we take care of our side, these things will fall into place.”

LIVE BLOG: Duke 68, Maryland 65 (FINAL)

Posted on by
1 Reply

DUKE 68-65, FINAL: And the Blue Devils hang on. Thomas made two more free throws, and Toliver couldn’t get a last second three off in time. It is Duke’s second consecutive victory over the Terrapins and first in the regular season since 2007.

SECOND HALF, Duke 66-65, 2.6 seconds remaining: Toliver just nailed a three to bring the Terps to within one after Thomas made her second free throw. But is there enough time left for Maryland to pull off the improbable comeback?

SECOND HALF, Duke 64-62, 8.6 seconds remaining: Maryland just had their first chance to steal a road victory, and they couldn’t have hoped for a much better look, as Toliver’s 3-pointer rimmed out. Cheek grabbed the rebound for the Blue Devils, who will now have to protect the ball and make their foul shots.

Jasmine Thomas just sunk her first free throw to give the Blue Devils a three-point lead. This next one will be crucial in order to make it a two-possession game. The Terrapins have called timeout, probably in an attempt to ice Thomas.

SECOND HALF, Duke 64-62, 59.8 seconds remaining: Evidently, the return of Coleman has re-energized Waner, who just scored on a give-and-go from Black. But Coleman responded with a layup of her own and we still have a one-possession game. The entire crowd at Cameron Indoor is standing for what should be an exciting finish.

SECOND HALF, Duke 62-60, 1:39 remaining: Coleman is back for Maryland, but the Terrapins are still having difficulty scoring. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils have been shooting abysmally in this half. After putting up 40 points in the first period, they’ve missed a lot of open looks in the second session.

SECOND HALF, Duke 58-57, 6:03 remaining: If the Blue Devils don’t pull out a victory tonight, they can point to one factor that most directly contributed to their loss-missed layups. On that last possession, Duke missed four-count it, FOUR-layups for a long, empty trip.

SECOND HALF, Duke 58-57, 6:45 remaining: Maryland’s Kizer is at the line to try to complete a three-point play for the Terrapins, but the Blue Devils are finally showing some life. Waner hit Black in the post for a jumper right after the timeout and Karima Christmas stole the inbounds and converted a Keturah Jackson missed 3-pointer into a layup. So much for an easy win – this one’s likely to go down to the wire.

SECOND HALF, Maryland 53-52, 7:41 remaining: No Coleman, no  problem for the Terrapins. The Terps have made four consecutive 3-pointers-fairly uncontested looks, at that-to take their first lead since 20-19.

SECOND HALF, Duke 52-49, 8:49 remaining: The pace is getting a little frenetic here as both teams are committing very sloppy turnovers. Toliver made another three-after yet another travel call- but then finally drained one that counted to bring Maryland to within three. Coleman has been limping for most of the second half and the pain has caused another stoppage of play. And Coleman has just headed to the locker room with what looks to be a cramp in her left leg.

SECOND HALF, Duke 48-41, 11:59 remaining: Toliver just drained her first three-pointer of the night, but luckily for Duke, it came after the guard had been whistled for a traveling violation. The Blue Devils have rediscovered their offense, at least for the time being, but Toliver and the Terps aren’t likely to go away easily.

SECOND HALF, Duke 41-36, 15:45 remaining: Suffice to say Duke’s offensive success hasn’t exactly carried over to this half. The Blue Devils have only managed one point on a 1-for-2 trip to the foul line from Cheek. Meanwhile, Coleman has come alive offensively for the Terrapins. After taking Waner to the hole and making a lay-in, a clearly hobbling Coleman deflected a pass by Waner on the other end, leading to an easy jumper by Toliver-the Maryland point guard’s first points of the game. Let’s see how Duke responds after the media timeout. Continue reading →