2nd Half Recap
Virginia opened the second half with a three from Monica Wright.
Getting within 10 got Duke's attention, because Bales scored on a feed
from Smith, Gay finished a fast break on a pass from Harding, and Waner
had a touch pass to Gay after a rocket of an outlet pass. Littles hit 2
foul shots, but Duke responded with a drive by Smith after a Waner steal
and 2 Smith free throws. With fifteen minutes left, the Devils were up
48-30.
The Hoos weren't quite done. Smith got caught up in a mismatch with
Williams, and the Hoo got a three point play against her. Nish then
missed a three, and a long rebound helped Virginia get an easy score.
Harding turned the ball over and Williams was fouled by Bales (her third),
hitting 1. With over fourteen minutes left, Virginia had cut the deficit
to 12. Making matters worse, Gay picked up her 4th foul. Duke didn't
panic. Bales forced a miss, grabbed a rebound, and converted a three
point play on a step-through. Virginia had 4 cracks at the basket and
couldn't convert as Cheek finally grabbed the rebound. Joy then converted
a pretty reverse on a feed from Smith. Smith steal generated another fast
break, this time with Cheek zipping a pass inside to A. Waner for the
finish. After a Bales free throw, Duke pushed the lead to 56-36 with
under twelve minutes left.
Once again, Virginia rallied. Wright picked up Bales' 4th foul and hit 2
foul shots. Brenna McGuire, a player not known for her defense, came out
of nowhere to block a shot by A.Waner and the Hoos hit a free throw.
Mitch missed the front end of a one-and-one and Kellum drove in to cut the
lead back to 15. Gay snapped their run by finishing an inbounds pass from
Smith. After another Kellum drive, Harding blew threw UVa's defense for a
layup and Gay relocated out to A.Waner for a long three. That put Duke up
63-43, and the Hoos would not get closer than 17 the rest of the way.
Abby would continue to dominate the game, finding Gay and Cheek inside
for scores. Cheek was active and looking to get the ball down low for her
hook. The bench wound up with a solid 20 points and 10 rebounds. Bales
and Harding were both able to get long stretches of rest, which will help
in their matchup with NC State. For the game, Virginia was even with Duke
on the boards and had an impressive 16 offensive rebounds. However, they
only got 6 points off those boards. The Devils held the Hoos to just 30%
from the floor and shot 45% themselves. Four players were in double
figures, including another strong showing from the increasingly consistent
Joy Cheek. Duke will need every post player at their best when they match
up against NC State.
