Temple responded to Duke hitting the last shot of the first half by
coming out on fire in the second half. The Owls scored on their first
five possessions, with the Big Three of Hairston, Maddox & Comfort getting
10 points. Smith hit 2 free throws and Bales found Waner on a give-and-go
(a play that had resulted in several turnovers in the first half). The
Owls pulled within 7 points and stayed there for several minutes, as
Harding hit a 17' jumper. Smith and Gay hit a free throw each, but Temple
kept coming, pulling within 45-40 with 13:32 left.
Gay had the ball in the high post and dished to Wanisha Smith,
who pulled
up for a three. Waner came up with a steal and was fouled,
hitting one
shot. However, she picked up her fourth foul with 11:08 left.
Smith drove and was fouled, hitting both shots. Down 9, Maddox hit a shot and Harding
coughed up the ball yet again. Comfort posted up Bales, scoring and
getting the foul. Comfort missed the foul shot, but the Owls were still
within 5 points with 9:21 left.
Coach G made some interesting moves, subbing in the size of Brittany
Mitch
to put a hand in Hairston's face,
but going smaller inside
with Cheek for Bales. Comfort was doing whatever she wanted inside
against Bales, and Ali just couldn't get decent position. However, Joy
stuck to Comfort like glue, moving her feet to deny her the ball.
Meanwhile, Gay
was able to roam on defense, helping to stop the penetration that the
Owls were
getting during their run.
The possession that turned things around featured Smith missing a
jumper but tracking down her miss in the corner and flipping the ball into
an alert Mitch, who had run over to the corner to help get the rebound.
Harding then hit Gay for a clutch 15' jumper. Mitch tipped a Temple pass
to Smith for a runout, and Gay grabbed a rebound of a
Maddox miss.
Cheek
took the ball from the high post and drove in for the score
as no one
could keep up with her. That boosted Duke's lead back to 11. Duke had
several chances to really put Temple away, but Smith blew a layup, Mitch
missed an open three after a Harding steal, Smith missed a stickback,
Cheek missed an open jumper and Smith ganked the front end of a
one-and-one. Despite all this, the Owls were unable to score. Duke's
defense was now forcing the Owls to take tough shots and cut off driving
lanes. Smith found Harding for a three with 4:34 left, making it 60-46.
Duke's mistakes on offense finally started to catch up with them, with
3 straight turnovers leading to 6 Temple points. With under two minutes
left, Duke's 8-point margin was by no means impregnable. Temple threw on
a press and Waner found Gay under the basket for the nail in the coffin.
Temple simply didn't have enough time to get quick points or threes, and
the 62-52 lead held up.
The key to Duke's win was its 15 offensive rebounds, resulting in 15
second-chance points. What made the game close was the fact that the
points off turnovers was 22-22. Down the stretch, the Temple players
noted that Duke's success was less about a specific defensive scheme and
more about their stepping up their intensity as a team. Given that Duke
didn't raise their intensity the last time they were in a close game, this
was a very good sign. The Devils will need to step up their intensity for
forty minutes against upcoming foes and find ways to attack without
rushing shots or passes. Duke's next foe, Rutgers, will play at a pace
very similar to Temple's, only with a much more formidable perimeter
attack. We'll see if Duke can be a bit more precise in their halfcourt
attack while looking to go up-tempo.
