1st Half Recap
Virginia gave Duke a tough game in Charlottesville, a contest that Duke
won primarily because of their work on the boards. Lyndra Littles got
into a scoring rhythm and patiently picked Duke apart with her
well-planned shots. The key in this game was taking her out of that
rhythm. To that end, the Devils kept her off-balance with a variety of
looks on defense. Wanisha Smith fronted her for much of the game, an
approach that made Littles hesitant at times. Duke would then switch
Carrem Gay, Alison Bales and Joy Cheek on her to make her deal with a
quicker, taller and equally physical opponent, respectively.
The result was a first half that featured 1-6 shooting from Littles and
forced the Hoos to look elsewhere for scoring. Initially, that came in
the form of frosh Monica Wright who kept the Hoos within striking range.
Virginia was making Duke shoot jumpers in the early going, and they
responded quite nicely as A.Waner drained a long three and then found
Bales for a 19' jumper. Sharnee Zoll put the Hoos up 6-5, but Bales hit
Abby on a give-and-go. The two teams exchanged misses and turnovers
during the next couple of minutes before Harding dished out to A.Waner for
a three. A miss by Virginia led to Wanisha Smith finding Joy Cheek in
transition for a 12-6 lead six minutes into the game.
Wright and Zoll kept Virginia within striking distance before a 7-0
Duke
run.
These are the sorts of runs that Duke's been laying on opponents all
year - not huge scoring jags, but steady ones punctuated by suffocating
defense. This run featured a 15' Carrem Gay jumper, a soft Emily Waner
trey, and a Harding pull-up jumper. The Hoos missed 5 shots and had 2
turnovers during the run. Virginia then scored 6 points in less than two
minutes, but Duke answered each Virginia two with either a trey (by Abby &
Emily Waner) or a three point play (by Alison Bales). With under seven
minutes to go, Duke led 30-16.
The Devils couldn't quite put the Hoos away early, however. Wright hit a
three and Bales missed a chippie inside. Promising frosh guard Paulisha
Kellum then found senior Seidah Williams inside. A.Waner responded with a
three, stole the ball from Wright, and then drained another triple to make
it 36-21 with four minutes left. However, both Gay & Cheek picked up
their second fouls and sat out, allowing Virginia to become more
successful on the boards. Duke went over three minutes without a single
point, but their defense held the Hoos to just 4 points. Brittany Mitch
sank a jumper with 41 seconds left in the half to halt Duke's slide, and
the Devils went into the locker room with a 38-25 lead.
Bales and Harding combined for just 3-13 shooting and 5 turnovers. The
main reason Duke was ahead was their suffocating defense (holding UVa to
29%) and their sharpshooting from long range (7-9 or 78%!). Abby had 17
ponits, while Wanisha Smith grabbed 8 first-half boards.
