Clemson Women’s Basketball Upsets No. 3 Duke 93-75

Dec. 9, 2000

CLEMSON, S.C. – Chrissy Floyd scored 23 points and teammate Erin Batth had 14 points and 10 rebounds in leading Clemson to a 93-75 upset win over third-ranked Duke in an Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball game at Clemson, SC Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Clemson improves to 5-2 overall, 1-0 in the ACC, while Duke falls to 9-1 this season, and 0-1 in league play.

Duke is ranked third by the Associated Press and USA Today polls. Floyd finished the game 7-14 from the field. She also had six rebounds, six assists, and two steals.

Today’s game was the worst defeat for Duke since November 21, 1998 when Notre Dame defeated Duke 84-57. It was also the first time a team has scored over 90 points against the Blue Devils since Connecticut defeated Duke 104-74 on November 13, 1998.

Duke was led in scoring by Alana Beard with 18 points. Beard also paced the Blue Devils with 10 boards.

This was the largest defeat by Clemson over Duke since the Lady Tigers defeated the Blue Devils 71-54 on March 3, 1996 in the ACC Tournament Finals. Clemson’s win today was also the second season in a row that the Lady Tigers defeated a third-ranked team. Last season, the Lady Tigers defeated third-ranked N.C. State 71-56 on January 13, 2000.

Under Head Coach Jim Davis, Clemson has a 29-20 record against Top 25 teams at home including a 13-9 record against Top 10 teams played in Littlejohn Coliseum.

In the first half, Duke had a 9-5 lead with 15:33 left as Rochelle Parent hit a jump shot. From this point, Clemson went on a 18-5 run and built a 23-14 lead as Krystal Scott hit 1-2 free throws with 9:59 left to go. Clemson had a 41-29 lead with 2:14 remaining as Julie Aderhold hit two free throws. However, Duke scored the last eight points of the half and narrowed Clemson’s lead to 41-37 at the half.

In the first four minutes of the second half, Clemson outscored Duke 13-2 and took a 54-39 lead as Batth hit a short jump shot. Floyd had four points in this run.

The Blue Devils came within nine points of Clemson, 71-62 as Alana Beard hit a lay-up with 8:20 remaining in the game. From this point, Clemson scored eight unanswered points and took a 79-62 lead with 5:16 left in the second half.

The Lady Tigers finished the game 26-54 from the field for a .481 pct., while the Blue Devils were 23-63 from the field for a .365 mark. The Lady Tigers won the battle of the boards 38-35.

“I am very proud of our basketball team,” said Clemson Head Coach Jim Davis. “We out rebounded somebody, and our players came off the bench and stepped it up a notch. It was a great team win. I thought Julie Aderhold, Lakeia Stokes, and Andrea Gaines did a great job coming off the bench and gave us some good minutes when Erin and Krystal were in foul trouble. I am very proud of this win. I thought we defended really well. Duke is well deserving of their ranking as they are very talented. They didn’t play their A-game, but I like to think we had something to do with that. I am very proud of Chrissy Floyd and Erin Batth. They played really well.”

“Give Clemson the credit,” said Duke Head Coach Gail Goestenkors. They outplayed us, they outsmarted us today. They also were more focused and more intense than we were. They played tougher and were more physical than we were. We didn’t play smart. In the second half, they did a great job making things difficult for us. We didn’t take advantage of their foul trouble. They made us pay for our mistakes. We had a lack of focus today. They were great in handling the ball, we were more tentative. This Clemson team is the best I have seen since I have been at Duke. They are more athletic, faster, and quicker. Batth is better this year and is a factor in the post. Floyd has really improved her range.”