Nutshell by Orin DayThe Blue Devils escaped a late Pitt rally to win 51-49 in the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden. Duke's performance was more reminiscent of a visit to a venue closer to home than "The World's Most Famous Arena" - namely, Reynolds Coliseum. Duke played Pitt like those many matchups against NC State, where it appeared that the ball was greased and the rims came from the state fairgrounds. The Devils were indeed stellar on defense, and the offense showed more flow than against Rutgers on Thursday night, when Duke only managed 6 assists. Today's 16 assists would suggest great improvement if not for the 29 turnovers committed - four more miscues than the 25 times Duke put the ball through the basket - including free throws! It's obvious that the offense needs an overhaul before the grueling ACC schedule begins, and with no practice between Rutgers and today's trip, there was no time for the coaching staff to address this. But a 9 day break for exams followed by visits to Cameron by Utah Valley and Bucknell will give the staff plenty of time to review film and the much needed opportunity for all to regroup and find focus in the halfcourt.
Photos have been published, 145 in all. In lieu of a full game recap, here's my quick take on how the game ended.
After coming back from 6 down with a 10-0 run over 10 minutes, Duke was riding their defensive intensity and seemed poised to cruise to victory. When a shot clock beating three from Emily Waner fell with 6:35 left, Duke led 47-40. But Agnus Berenato was not about to let her team quit, and the Panthers stormed back with a 9-2 run over the next 6:20, fueled by not only their press, but also by Duke turnovers and fouls. Up 49-47 with 1:35 left the Devils practically handed Pitt the game, turning the ball over on consecutive possessions without a shot. The first turnover, an errant pass by Keturah Jackson trying to throw to Abby over the press, resulted in a Pitt basket to tie. The second turnover, a Jasmine Thomas entry pass stolen by Jania Sims, gave Pitt the ball with 20 seconds to play and the score tied. But a shot by Pitt's Salvonte Zellous rimmed out, and a missed follow by Chelsea Cole was batted out of bounds. The majority of the arena was stunned when the ball went Duke's way, and with 12 seconds left the Devils had a chance to win it. Jasmine Thomas brought the ball upcourt and found Chante Black in the paint with 5 seconds left. Chante pivoted and shot, and when blocked by Pitt's Chelsea Cole, Joy Cheek (who later described herself as Chante's "rebound buddy") was there for the quick stickback with 1.2 seconds left (photo below). A desperation Pitt heave was off target, and Duke escaped.
Before this week, only once in program history had Duke won when scoring so few points. That was a 45-44 win at Maryland, in Debbie Leonard's penultimate season. The same two game stretch in 1991 (prior wass a 63-49 loss at Clemson) was the last time Duke failed to score more than 100 combined points in back-to-back contests.
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