The Nutshell
It was a competitive game for about twelve
minutes, as Clemson was getting steals, hitting open shots, scoring in
transition and generally outhustling Duke to the ball. With under eight
minutes to go, Clemson was within 6 points despite being completely
dominated by Alison Bales. An 11-0 Duke run put an end to any thoughts of
an upset, and a trio of threes by the Waner sisters gave Duke a 22 point
lead at the half. Still, all was not rosy for Duke. The Devils were
outrebounded by 1 in the first half, which was distressing considering how
small the Tigers were. Clemson also managed to hit a three at the
first-half buzzer, which further served to annoy Duke. The Devils started
the second half on an 8-2 run and things just got uglier from there.
Duke's bench got plenty of action (89 minutes) and kept up the intensity,
closing out the game with a 26-7 run as the Devils reached triple-digits
for the first time since the Northeastern game. All ten Duke players
scored and grabbed at least 2 rebounds, 9 had at least 1 steal, and eight
had at least 1 assist. Four Blue Devils scored in double-figures, led by
Bales with 21 (including 13-13 from the foul line). Carrem Gay bounced
back from some rough recent showings with 18 points, and Abby Waner had a
solid 16 points. All in all, the team needed the chance to get loose and
have a bit of fun after their recent slog, especially with UNC coming up
later this week.
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