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2nd Half Recap
As hot as the two squads were in the first half, they both went cold for long
stretches in the second. After Gay drove right by Langhorne for another score,
each team missed 3 straight shots. One of them was a spectacular block by Bales
on Toliver, who tried to shoot over her. Gay broke the string of misses by
rebounding her own shot, but soon picked up her third foul. Bales also picked
up her third foul at around this time, but Coach G opted to keep both of them
in the game. Gay went right at Langhorne again, but this time Langhorne stood
her ground as Gay tried to spin around her and she got called for the charge.
That setback gave the Terps some fuel and helped them get some offensive
rebounds. A Langhorne stickback brought the Terps to within 7 three minutes
into the half.
Harding noted that the Terps were starting to face-guard her, preventing her
from getting any open looks. Indeed, Lindsey struggled in the half, going just
3-10 from the floor. However, the Terps' focus on her nicely opened things up
for Alison Bales. Ali scored 4 straight points on 2 foul shots followed by a nice spin move
inside. Langhorne countered to bring the margin back under 10, but Harding went
baseline and was fouled fading away, getting the basket. After nailing the
free throw, Duke was up by 12 points, their biggest lead of the game. The
Terps got one of their very few open looks from beyond the arc thanks to a
beautiful pass from Wiley-Gatewood, but Bales nailed a jumper from the elbow and then
dished to Smith on a cut. Duke's lead was 13 with fourteen minutes left--not
unlike the scenario in the national title game last spring.
True to form, the Terps started to make their push. Getting the ball in to Langhorne,
she came up with a three point play on a quick post-up. Harding badly
missed a three, but Bridgette Mitchell came out of nowhere to stick back her
miss. That would be a crucial basket, because Duke wouldn't get another field
goal for nearly six minutes. Maryland went on a 6-1 run to pull within 53-46
with ten minutes to go. Smith took a couple of very quick threes that might have
netted Maryland extra possessions, but the Terps couldn't draw any closer than 7.
Duke couldn't score either, but with three stops on defense they blunted
Maryland's momentum. Finally, Brittany Mitch stepped in front of a pass by
jumping into a lane, which led to Cheek driving in for a big score. The two
teams traded wild turnovers, culminating in Smith stealing the ball from
Coleman, who stole it right back a second later and scored. With under seven
minutes to go, tension was high with a true sense that the game hung in the balance.
In such situations, Harding has no problem taking the lead and asserting herself.
She blew by
Toliver and then angled herself past Langhorne such that the layup she put up
was bounced on the backboard next to the square, and the english she put on the
shot zipped it right into the basket. It was an astonishing play that was impossible
to defend against, the kind of highlight that Wade Trophy voters and WNBA execs alike
will be sure to note.
Toliver then traveled, and with Terp focus squarely on Harding, Cheek alertly saw that
Bales had sealed off her defender, and lobbed it into Ali for the score. Just like that,
Duke's lead was back to a more comfortable 11 points, a working margin for the endgame
phase.
Langhorne then missed the front end of a
one-and-one and Smith grabbed the board. Harding shot and missed, but Gay was
there for the rebound. Toliver jacked up another three and Smith got the board,
putting the Devils into perfect position to run a little clock. With three seconds
left to shoot, Harding drained a 15' jumper to put Duke up 63-49. On Duke's next
trip, Carrem got the ball inside to Ali, who turned, hit the jumper and was fouled.
The foul shot put Duke up 66-51 with under two minutes to go and was the nail in the coffin.
Free throws followed from there, though there was a scary moment when Gay hurt
her shoulder again and had to go to the locker room. Initial reports say that
she's fine, just a bit sore, and should be ready to go for the UNC game next
week. Duke's consistency in avoiding the injury bug has been a huge plus this season,
attributable to proper training and conditioning as well as good fortune.
Bales was the star of the second half, with a near double double, with all 12 points
and 9 of her 12 rebounds in the period. She was simply too much for Harper to handle,
especially with Duke's other forwards demanding attention by also hitting big shots.
Duke's offensive output was especially significant since the Terps played much better
defense than in Cameron. They made Abby Waner a non-factor on offense, forced Wanisha
Smith to take bad shots, and even the shots that Harding made weren't the easy layups
she was notching in Cameron. Both teams are definitely better now, but it was clear
that the Terps missed having Doron on the floor. I did think that the Terps panicked
a bit down the stretch, taking bad threes instead of taking the time to get a good shot for
Langhorne or Harper against Duke post players saddled with foul trouble. It's
been their modus operandi to make comebacks via the jump shot in the last
couple of years - and while it certainly makes up points quicker, abandoning
Langhorne inside when the margin was about 10 points was a huge mistake. The
fact that Coleman wound up with 6 assists but 7 turnovers speaks to the kind of
problems the team had--a good pass would be met with a bad one just a few plays
later. Duke's defensive rotation was exceptionally crisp, rarely allowing the
Terps any decent looks.
The Devils managed their foul trouble well with their bench depth, while also
getting foul-ridden players back in before they lost their game rhythm.
Duke's transition game not always smooth in this contest, but it just goes to
show how tough the Devils can be in a halfcourt game. The fact that a lethal scoring
team like Maryland had trouble scoring tonight shows just how precise and
adaptable Duke's defense can be. While there are several excellent individual
defenders, what makes it great is that everyone on the team is buying into it. Even
with several starters on the bench, both intensity and execution persisted.
As long as that trend continues, Duke will be a very unpleasant matchup for most
teams. The Devils will now have a week to prepare for the dual outpouring of
love and loathing, as Bales and Harding conclude their home careers with a Senior
Night against the Tar Heels.
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