Temple is a team that has played a lot of great teams quite closely, but was never able to break through. Other than wins over Georgia Tech and Xavier, the Owls came up just short against NC State, Maryland and Bowling Green, among others. After the game, coach Dawn Staley bemoaned her team coming so close but not being able to get over the hump, but it wasn't for a lack of intensity or effort. On Duke's end, the fact that they were so close to breaking the game wide open several times made them rush on offense. That led to dumb turnovers, quick shots and breakdowns in communication for Duke; it was to Temple's credit that they were able to take advantage of Duke's mistakes--especially the ones that they helped to create.

Ultimately, Duke won the game by going back to the formula that got them such a fine record this season: the whole being greater than the sum of its parts and taking what the defense gives them. In this game, Temple glued themselves to Abby Waner and threw Alison Bales off her game with elbows, trash talk and general physical play. They were happy to concede jump shots to Lindsey Harding but weren't prepared for Wanisha Smith to be so aggressive on offense, nor could they handle the hustle plays of Carrem Gay.

Temple was looking to get Bales out of sorts, and they weren't afraid to go right at her. 6-2 center Lady Comfort scored the first points of the game with a jumper over Bales, and then Ali missed a shot. Wanisha Smith stole the ball and Gay was fouled, hitting both. Temple star Kamesha Hairston had a few cracks at the basket, but Bales' size threw her off. Gay then rebounded a Smith miss, and then converted an Abby Waner miss into a basket. Waner then stole the ball, and dished to Lindsey Harding in transition, who finished a spectacular three point play. Harding then stuck a 12' jumper in the lane to give Duke a 9-2 lead with 16:35 left in the half.

Duke was using a variety of defenses, including a zone, halfcourt traps, switching on screens, and straight-up man-to-man. The halfcourt trap forced some early turnovers, and it was especially effective because Duke knew that Temple wasn't going to hit any threes (it's their biggest weakness). So if Duke was slow on a rotation, it wasn't a big deal. Temple went on a 6-2 run to make sure Duke wouldn't run away with things; Gay missed a shot and committed an offensive foul during this stretch. Duke's only basket was a Waner fast break after she forced a turnover from Hairston.

The Devils went up 16-8 when Nish came up with a steal and fed Harding for a layup, and a Gay steal led to a Waner three. Hairston was working the baseline, shooting whenever she got a decent look. Bales missed a shot and Gay stuck back that miss. A Temple turnover led to Harding posting up for a short jumper, making it 20-10 halfway through the first stanza. On the downside, Abby Waner picked up her second foul.

Temple attacked Duke with dribble penetration, getting some easy looks at the basket and pulling within 22-16 with 8:10 left. Duke's only score during the period was a Smith drive where she bounced the ball high off the glass. The Devils countered with a 10-2 run that seemed to put them in control. The Owls missed a couple of bunnies during the run, which saw Lindsey Harding hit 2 jumpers and find Joy Cheek for a long jumper. Cheek also hit Bales inside for one of her very few good looks, and Ali followed that up with a 15' baseline jumper. Comfort hit a shot inside, but Gay countered with a 15' jumper. Temple turned the ball over, but Harding got careless with the ball and the Owls got an easy score.

The Devils missed 4 straight shots and Hairston hit another baseline jumper. Smith then coughed up the ball and Temple pulled within 8 points. Duke ran the clock down and Cheek found Smith in the corner for a huge three. That gave Duke some momentum going into the half, with a 37-26 lead. The Devils used some interesting lineups late in the half, with a frontline of Cheek, Gay and Bridgette Mitchell at one point. Comfort, Hairston and Fatima Maddox combined for 20 of Temple's 26 points. Duke had a +1 edge in rebounding, which was significant since the Owls usually go +9 on the boards. The disturbing stat was that Duke had just a 14-10 edge in points off turnovers. This is a stat that Duke usually dominates, and the fact that the Owls were keeping pace showed that they weren't backing down. Harding had 13 points in the first half to lead Duke, with Gay getting 8 points and 6 boards.