College basketball

Double dribble: Women

By GREG AUMAN
Published January 7, 2006

RIVALRY RENEWAL

Even though Duke has beaten Maryland in 15 of the past 16 meetings, the ACC schools have one of the nation's best emerging rivalries, with another chapter set for Sunday at the Terrapins' Comcast Center.

A year ago, this game drew 17,243, the most to see an ACC women's game, with Duke winning 60-49 in the second of three Blue Devils victories. Duke won 60-57 in Durham and again in the ACC semifinals.

The No. 6 Terrapins hope to chip away at Duke and North Carolina's ACC supremacy, improving to 14-1 after an overtime win Thursday at No. 14 Boston College. After an 80-75 loss at No. 1 Tennessee, Maryland won its next nine games, all by at least 25 points, before edging the Eagles.

Coach Brenda Frese had the ACC's rookie of the year last season in forward Crystal Langhorne, and she has landed another impact freshman in guard/forward Marissa Coleman, who has earned rookie of the week honors three times, averaging 16.5 points and 6.7 rebounds.

Duke, too, has found little resistance in its nonconference schedule, winning its first 12 games by an average of 46.9 points. The second-ranked Blue Devils have a stellar freshman of their own in guard Abby Waner, who is third on the team with 12.0 points and a team-high 2.8 steals a game.

The teams meet again in Durham on Feb. 13, and unless North Carolina gets to one of them first, it's a safe bet Duke and Maryland will find each other a third time in the ACC tournament in March at Greensboro, N.C.

An 0-2 start has Syracuse (7-6) at the bottom of the 16-team Big East, but the Orange has a breakout star in sophomore Vaida Sipaviciute, a 6-4 center from Lithuania who is averaging 20.1 points and 8.9 rebounds. The last name looks daunting, but it's basically "sip of a shoot-a."

The Orange comes to Tampa to face USF on Jan. 18, and limiting Sipaviciute inside will be a key for the Bulls. She had a school-record 41 points and 21 rebounds in a win against Colgate in November but was held to two points and one rebound in a loss Tuesday to Louisville. The USF game will match the Big East's top shot blockers, with Sipaviciute at 2.6 per game and the Bulls' Nalini Miller averaging 2.4.

Former Gaither star Candice Dupree, last season's Atlantic 10 player of the year, has sparked No. 24 Temple's 8-3 start, averaging a team-high 16.3 points and 9.8 rebounds.

Dupree, a 6-2 senior forward/center, had a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds in last month's overtime upset of then-No. 15 Georgia, and had her fourth double double with 17 points and 11 boards in a 75-50 loss to Tennessee on Dec. 28.

Fans seeking to watch Dupree can see the Owls twice this month, with their Jan. 19 game at Rutgers televised on ESPNU and a Jan. 22 game at Xavier on ESPN2.

One of Dupree's Temple teammates may have the nation's most memorable name: sophomore center Lady Comfort, a Pensacola native who is listed as a cousin of Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks.

NO. 15 MINNESOTA VS. NO. 3 LSU, NOON TODAY, CH. 10: Can anybody stop the Tigers? The Gophers frontcourt of 6-3 Jamie Broback and 6-2 Liz Podominick will have their hands full with LSU's Sylvia Fowles, not to mention Seimone Augustus. Maybe the Tigers will look ahead to Jan. 16 at Connecticut, or Feb. 9 at Tennessee.

NO. 4 BAYLOR VS. NO. 23 TEXAS, 4 P.M. TODAY, FSN: Baylor's 30-game win streak ended Thursday with a loss to Missouri. Has anybody had a tougher nonconference run than Texas, which is 6-5 but has losses to Tennessee, Duke and Rutgers. The Longhorns still have Connecticut on Feb. 12 and two dates with Oklahoma.

[Last modified January 7, 2006, 01:25:29]