The 2nd Half
Coach G noted that there wasn't much yelling during or after the game.
She noted, "I'm saving it for practice", which elicited laughs from the
press but caused her players to flinch. Given her team's erratic play in
the second half when they had a chance to blow out the Hokies, it's not
surprising. Lindsey Harding in particular took responsibility for the
team's lack of energy, saying that it was up to her to get her team and
herself going. With that in mind, she was very aggressive early in the
second half. She took a Smith pass and nailed a three. After Diawara hit
a free throw with that weird fling of a style of hers, Bales found Smith
for a jumper and then blocked Diawara inside. Harding took the rebound
and tore through the defense for a drive, putting Duke up 46-34 two
minutes into the half.
Duke got the ball back and was a position to take control. Instead, the
team had an awful possession culminating in Waner having the ball slapped
out of her hands and Copeland getting an easy score (photo). Gay
hit a free throw and Harding came up with a steal, but Smith threw it away
and Copeland got another easy transition bucket. Another turnover and a
bad shot followed, and Copeland found Anderson for a score that brought
the Hokies to within 7 five minutes into the half.
Duke was having trouble getting any jumpers to land, but to their
credit, they hit the boards hard. After getting outrebounded in several
recent games, Duke won this game because of offensive rebounding in the
second half. Bales rebounded a miss by Abby for a three point play to put
Duke up 10. Copeland hit a three (career 21% three point shooter) to keep
the pressure on, but Bales aggressively dropstepped in past Diawara's sub
for a score. Copeland found Anderson again, but Bridgette Mitchell
grabbed the o-board and slithered in for two. Copeland scored again to
cut the lead to 54-47 and VT got the ball back, but Bales forced a
turnover and Duke jumped on the opportunity.
The Devils didn't score on their next trip down, but they got a couple
of offensive rebounds out of the deal and looked more aggressive. Duke
forced a miss and Harding took command. She scored on a runner, drove and
was fouled (nailing both freebies), and found Mitchell for a 15' jumper.
That gave Duke a 60-47 lead with eight minutes left. VT didn't give up
and went to Diawara, who hit a long jumper. A.Waner hit a three to give
Duke their largest lead at 14, but the Hokies took advantage of another
Duke turnover to score 4 straight points. It was still a game with
six minutes to go.
Smith threaded the needle beautifully to Gay for her only field goal but
Cook drained yet another three to make it a three possession game.
Harding hit 2 free throws but Duke left Cook open yet again from long
range and she made them pay. Duke was up 67-59 with under five minutes
left. Bales went up with the ball but brought it too far back, and the
5-8 Copeland amazingly blocked her shot. Afterwards, a smiling Copeland
noted that she just saw an opportunity, and Beth Dunkenberger said that
given that Ali does that to opponents all the time, it was only fair that
she get a little of the same on occasion. A.Waner came up with a key
steal and was fouled by Copeland. Abby hit 2 foul shots, but Diawara was
fouled by Gay hitting both. Gay coughed up the ball and Tech had a chance
to draw much closer, but Cook finally missed and Bales blocked Diawara's
putback attempt. Ali then cleaned up a miss by Lindsey and her stickback
with 1:36 left gave Duke a 12 point lead.
When the Hokies turned the ball over, it seemed like that was it.
Instead, Copeland stole the ball from Harding and scored. A.Waner then
turned it over but got it back and got a transition basket with 11 seconds
left. Tech still didn't quit, with Diawara hitting 2 freebies to make the
final margin 10 points. Duke's dominance in the paint (16-8) and on
second-chance points (9-4) in the half told the tale for them. Good thing
too, because while VT had more turnovers overall, they were able to get
easier scores from them in the second half. If Duke had just been
slightly more careful with the ball in the second half, VPI would never
have gotten the momentum that allowed them to compete for so long in the
game. That was the most disappointing thing about the game: even when
Duke's made mistakes on offense earlier in the year, they rarely let it
affect them on defense. In this game, VPI's runouts made each Duke player
think and act like individuals. Instead of being consistently disruptive
on defense as a team, players overplayed drives and didn't recover on
kickouts. The Virginia Tech players said that they felt confident taking
short jumpers early on, and that confidence swelled when they saw that
they could get open threes if they were patient.
Gail wasn't sure why her team was so flat. It did seem clear that the
defensive energy that pervaded the team earlier in the year dissipated a
bit. The bench had some key plays in both halves, but Gail noted that the
team shouldn't have to rely on its freshmen for energy. Above all else,
the game proved that Duke can only win games if they play with "energy,
emotion, focus and discipline", to quote Coach G. The latter were
particular issues; when the team was focused, VT had no chance. When Duke
made mistakes, VT was more than happy to jump on them. Considering that
the Hokies did not use a pressure defense, Duke's turnovers were
especially galling. Coach G also noted that they had extensively
practiced rotating against VT's penetration, but that her team was
sluggish in responding when it came to game time.
Still, Duke got the win and remains unbeaten. Because this win feels a
bit like a loss, it gives the team something to focus on in practice.
They know that Virginia looked at the way the Hokies took Duke off the
dribble and salivated, considering Sharnee Zoll's quickness and Monica
Wright's ability to slash. Coach G knows that at this point it's not
about being #1 or being undefeated, but exerting maximum effort in each
game from every position. If the team is perhaps a bit drained by playing
in several big games, they have to find ways to replenish their energy and
get up for every opponent, because there are a lot of big games ahead and
plenty of teams who think they can upset the Devils. This is where the
seniors and team leaders will step in and take responsibility; watch the
team take its lead from Harding and Bales in the next game.
