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The Nutshell by Rob CloughThere are some games where you can look at just a couple of numbers and say
pretty much everything that needs to be said. For the UNC-Greensboro game,
those numbers were 39 points and 38 turnovers. Those were the Spartans' totals
for the contest, and reflected both Duke's aggressiveness and how overmatched
UNC-G was. The Spartans went into the season having lost three of their best
scorers, and just lost point guard Kristen Boone to injury. They came into the
game with a youthful squad that had been pounded by NC State and Liberty, and
was not even close to being ready to compete with Duke.
That said, Duke played with a great deal of energy but not a lot of efficiency
at times. With Abby Waner and Wanisha Smith both out with injuries, the young
starting backcourt trio of Brittany Mitch, Keturah Jackson and Bridgette
Mitchell looked a bit jittery at times. UNC-G sat in a zone the entire time,
and Duke didn't do a great job of moving the ball around crisply in order to
get good shots, and they often tried to force things inside. It's no surprise
that Duke had just 6 assists to 12 turnovers in the first half. Still, Duke's
size, strength and quickness advantages were so steep that the Devils racked up
obscene differentials in points off turnovers (44-2!) and second-chance points
(28-4 in the first half, 32-10 for the game). The four posts combined for 50
points, 27 rebounds and 12 steals. Duke's bench was another significant
factor: a reserve contingent led by Jasmine Thomas gave Duke a first-half spark
as the Devils scored 30 of their 44 first-half points in the last ten minutes.
All told, it was good to see some role players put in a position where they had
to be decision-makers.
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