On Senior Night the spark came from Freshman Allison Vernerey. The Hoos had no answer for her as she finished with 17 points (8-8 FG), 5 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots.

After a lackluster first half of basketball on Senior Night, Duke stepped up to outscore Virginia 49-33 in the second period for an 83-65 win in Cameron. With the victory Duke clinched the ACC Regular Season Championship, the first for third year Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie. After being outrebounded 21-15 by the Cavs Duke took a 34-32 lead to the locker room, where according to a (now laughing) McCallie, "rebounding just might have been discussed." But Duke came out with new purpose in the second half, getting the ball into the paint where Allison Vernerey went to work. "I thought that Vernerey was the difference in the game, completely the difference in the game," said Virginia Head Coach Debbie Ryan. "She gave them separation, and then that just fueled their defense. They were like swimming sharks in water." Indeed, a 15-4 Duke run to start the half propelled Duke to a never-relinquished double digit lead, with Duke's defense limiting the Cavs to just seven baskets. Vernerey scored 11 of her 17 points in the second, trumped in the box score only by Jasmine Thomas notching 16 of her Duke high 21 points and dishing five assists after the break. Also in the second half Krystal Thomas scored nine and pulled down six boards, all in just 10 minutes on the court. "It was just a just a tremendous half by everybody," continued McCallie. "I'm very proud of our team, it was great team basketball, much better defense, rebounding, and attacking." Joy Cheek had a satsifying 13 and 6 Senior Night, though with Duke hosting the NCAA 1st and 2nd rounds she said, "I guess we'll have another senior night." Virginia's Monica Wright, the likely ACC Player of the Year, led all scorers with 27, while Paulisha Kellum added 13 off the bench. Duke improves to 24-4, 12-1 ACC with the regular season finale in Chapel Hill on Sunday. Virginia drops to 8-5 in the league, tied for third with Georgia Tech. The Cavs own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Jackets, who held on to beat Carolina in Atlanta earlier tonight. Despite the top seed Duke might face a tough opening game in Greensboro, as the #8/#9 game is likely to be Carolina vs. Maryland.