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2nd Half Recap
Duke didn't exactly come out on fire in the second half. Wake had a
beautifully-designed play to Corrine Groves in the post for a score, and
then ran exactly the same play on their next possession to pull within 11.
After the offense meandered around for 14 seconds, an irate Coach G called
a time-out to blast her team's lack of effort. As always, Harding took it
upon herself to jump-start her team, nailing a 15' jumper. Groves then
picked up Bales' 4th foul on a dubious call that Gail was not amused by
just two and a half minutes into the half. Cheek came in but Wake managed
to come with a steal after another Waner miss. Tchanguoue stroked a three
to bring the Deacs within 8. Suddenly, it was very much a game up for
grabs.
Harding restored order thanks to sheer effort. She stuck back a Waner
miss, then got fouled following a shot on Duke's next possession. Cheek
then came up with a steal and was fouled by Groves, sinking both. Her
steadiness at the foul line was encouraging, and it was nice to see her
develop a rhythm there. Harding took a charge from Tchangoue and Smith
hit Bridgette Mitchell for a score. Groves had a three point play, but
Duke blew the game open thanks to Nish. Smith hit a three, grabbed a
rebound and drove in for a score, then dished to Brittany Mitch for a
trey.
The Deacs came back to score 4 in a row, but Duke's bench was in total
control. Mitch passed to Cheek inside for a basket, Mitchell had 2
freebies, and then Cheek scored 5 straight points. Wake crawled to within
19 points, but only scored 2 more in the last 5:36. Keturah Jackson came
in at around this point and played well, scoring and dishing out an
assist.
Duke outrebounded the Deacs by 13 in the second half, including 11-3 on
the offensive boards. That led to a huge 16-5 edge in second chance
points. The play of Duke's bench gave them a big edge, as Wake's players
either had to play 37+ minutes (three of them) or were limited by foul
trouble (2 players fouled out and 2 more had 4 fouls). Duke held
Lavender, one of the top scorers in the ACC, to just 15 points on 5-20
shooting. Wake wasn't in a position to force the tempo, but Duke still
did well to only have 9 turnovers. Amazingly, this was Duke's 30th
straight win over the Deacs, dating back to 1994. The win in some ways
was a microcosm of the season: no one player was depended upon for
everything, and every player had to take responsibility and make plays.
While this perhaps makes Duke a bit less spectacular to watch, the fact
that they've won so many close games without a dominant, go-to player on
offense like Monique Currie or Alana Beard is what's allowed them to go
to 26-0.
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