2007 NCAA Tournament Greensboro Regional (1) Duke 81, (16) Holy Cross 44 RBC Center, Raleigh NC March 18, 2007 Recap and Analysis by Rob Clough Photos and Captions by Orin Day Publication is complete The Nutshell On the surface, Duke had a pretty good first half against Holy Cross, given their 19 point lead and 20 points from Abby Waner. In reality, the lack of defensive intensity that had plagued them against NC State resurfaced, as they allowed Holy Cross frosh Bethany O'Dell to score 13 of her team's 17 points, getting plenty of wide-open looks. The Crusaders were also able to break Duke's press without much difficulty, and the Devils were slow to set up their halfcourt traps and apply the kind of ball pressure that led to easy scores. That all changed in the second half, as Duke pressured inbounds passes, shadowed every great shooter and scored 18 points off turnovers. The team noted that they were anxious to play and redeem themselves after losing to NC State, but it took them a while to play as a team. In the end, Duke's depth told as the reserves contributed many fine plays. Alison Bales was also too much for the valiant Holy Cross squad, dominating them at both ends and fouling out the team's leading scorer and rebounder. She wound up with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks and 3 assists. Abby had 26 points that included 6 treys, sinking one from about 27 feet. She also had the play of the game with a monster block that Bales called a "perfect ten", swatting a three point attempt out of bounds as a Holy Cross player was loading up. Carrem Gay and Joy Cheek had 10 points apiece off the bench. Duke will next play Dawn Staley's Temple Owls on Tuesday at 5pm. DWHoops.com will provide full coverage of this game, including recaps, player stats & commentary, and a photo gallery.

---

Copyright © 2007 DWHOOPS.COM (Orin A. Day, Durham, NC, USA.) All Rights Reserved.