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Spotlight: Gail Goestenkors, Duke women's basketball coach
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Posted: Friday March 26, 1999 11:48 AM
Goestenkors is fighting for an NCAA title |
Hometown: Waterford, Mich.
Upcoming Event: NCAA Women's Final Four, Duke (28-6, 15-1 ACC) vs. Georgia (27-6, 9-5 SEC), March 26, 7 p.m. ET, San Jose, Calif.
Worth Watching Because: Goestenkors has taken the Blue Devils farther than they've ever gone before. On March 22 her team won the East Region by shocking No. 2 Tennessee, handing the Lady Vols their first tournament loss in four years and ending their quest for a fourth straight national title. With the 69-63 victory Duke toppled its highest-ranked opponent ever and advanced to the women's Final Four for the first time in school history.
In five seasons with the Blue Devils, "Coach G" has guided Duke to a school-record five straight NCAA appearances. Her four 20-win seasons (22 in 1994-95, 26 in 1995-96, 24 in 1997-98, and 28 going into the '99 Final Four) is also a first for a Duke coach. Last year, she led the team to its best ACC season (13-3 and a first-place finish), and followed that this year with another first-place finish and a 15-1 league mark.
Goestenkors is a 1985 graduate of Saginaw Valley State, where she earned NAIA All-America honors at point guard. She came to Duke in 1992 after a six-year stint as an assistant coach at Purdue. She currently has a career/school record of 147-67 (.687) and a career 10-4 record in the NCAA Tournament. The way Duke is rolling, don't be surprised if Goestenkors and the Blue Devils add two more wins this weekend.
Greatest Success: Leading the Duke women's basketball team to its first-ever Final Four.
Quote/Unquote: "I've become an emotional coach. My players know exactly how I feel. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I don't hide much so they always know where I'm coming from. I'm not a coach that plays a lot of head games. I will tell them if I'm happy, if I'm sad, if I'm disappointed. And they always know what I expect of them."
Cool Fact: Coach G joins Coach K in the Final Four. It's only the second time that women's and men's basketball teams from the same school have advanced to the final weekend. (Both Georgia teams lost in the 1983 semifinals.)
Come back soon for a new women's sports Spotlight.
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