Lady Vols End Duke Streaks, 67-64

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The Nutshell by DWHoops

A number of streaks ended at the hands of the Lady Vols on Monday night. A very rare three game winning streak against Tennessee was broken, giving this senior class at UT their only win over the Blue Devils. Duke had their 27-game non-conference home streak snapped, as well as their 24-game overall home winning streak, which happened to be the longest in the country. Some games are really easy to understand from looking at a boxscore, and this happened to be one such contest. The key stat was second-chance points: Tennessee 21, Duke 0.

In the first half, Tennessee took bad shots and coughed the ball up constantly, but overcame a deficit to tie it at the half thanks to their offensive rebounding. In the first half, UT got a huge lift from its frosh, Angie Bjorkland (who hit several key shots) and Vicki Baugh (who gave Duke trouble with her mobility). Chante Black gave UT fits early in the game, but the Lady Vols started fronting her and Duke struggled to get good looks at the basket after that point. Tennessee came out with a 10-3 run early in the second half but could never quite put Duke away. The Devils had their chances in the second half thanks to a tremendous defensive effort, but the Devils twice missed the front end of one-and-ones as well as a couple of layups. Down the stretch, Abby Waner hit a tough three to tie the game, but Duke played the wrong defense and failed to double-team Candace Parker, who pump faked Chante Black and then scored easily (pictured below...article continues after photo)

As in the close losses to Maryland and Penn State, Duke was a few plays away from winning the game, but wasn't efficient enough at crucial times. Duke played with plenty of enthusiasm and emotion, but that lack of efficiency and the breakdowns that come with it doomed them against a team as deep, complete and experienced as Tennessee.

Tennessee did not play well for much of the game, took bad shots (especially Parker in the first fifteen minutes of the game) and didn't value the ball. But they stuck to their strengths and shored up their weaknesses as they adjusted to Duke's schemes. Against the nation's elite, Duke will need to be able to do the same, and the fact that they were so thoroughly beaten on the boards (something that is emphasized above all else under coach McCallie) is certainly a "back-to-the-drawing-board" moment. The next severe test will be coming in a week, against UNC.

Publication Notes: In lieu of a formal game recap we have instead provided more detailed captions in our expanded photo gallery - we hope you enjoy it!

Lady Vols End Duke Streaks, 67-64

The Nutshell by DWHoops

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