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Game Recap by Rob Clough
If there's ever a right time to have injuries, it's when you're playing an
overmatched opponent that has injury issues of its own. UNC-Greensboro was
going to be a young, overmatched foe to begin with, but when they lost starting
point guard and returning leading scorer Kristen Boone earlier in the year, it
was obvious that they wouldn't be able to compete with Duke. Still, the Devils
missed the take-charge nature of both Abby Waner and Wanisha Smith. The
starting backcourt of Brittany Mitch, Keturah Jackson and Bridgette Mitchell
was mighty green, even if that trio had played a significant number of minutes
in Duke's first two games.
That played out as one might expect in the early going. Mitch did hit Mitchell
for a three on Duke's first possession, but they all got quiet playing against
UNC-G's packed-in zone. That made much of the first half an exercise in trying
to pound the ball inside and not quite being able to do so with much success.
Duke's spacing wasn't that great, the passes made weren't crisp and sharp, and
open shots were turned down in favor of tougher looks or difficult passes.
Coach McCallie's philosophy on busting zones is to do so from inside-out, and
that didn't quite happen in the early going.
That said, Duke's defense and effort were ferocious. After giving up
penetration and a kick-out for a three with 17:51 left in the game, the Devils
didn't give up another field goal for twelve minutes. Chante Black scored 5
quick points for Duke on a free throw, 15' jumper and inbounds pass from Emily
Waner to put Duke up 8-3. UNC-G got to the foul line to stay close, and
trailed just 10-7 with twelve minutes to go in the half after answering a Joy
Cheek jumper with foul shots.
The Devils responded with a 15-1 run over the next six minutes to take control
of the game. Krystal Thomas came off the bench to score 9 points during the
run, including four stickbacks. Jasmine Thomas hit a floater and Carrem Gay
stuck a 10' jumper. The Spartans missed 3 shots during the run and committed 8
turnovers, 5 of them Duke steals. The teams traded baskets over the next
couple
of minutes, with Waner hitting a three and Cheek getting a stickback. Duke
continued to put UNC-G at the line; 9 of their 16 first-half points came at the
foul line.
With under three minutes to go, Duke blew the game wide open with a tremendous
half-ending 12-0 run. Duke's energy was starting to increase as they saw their
opponents starting to tire. The centerpiece of that late run was Mitch, who
seemed to be in the right place at the right time--and making the right
decisions. She dished to Waner for another three, stole the ball and then
finished a Mitchell pass, then stole the ball again and drove in for a layup
right before halftime. Waner also had a clever play, finding K.Thomas on an
inbounds pass for a three point play. The Spartans looked shellshocked by that
run and one could tell that Duke was getting excited by its own hustle,
especially since they had so much trouble getting easy looks at the basket in the first half.
Though the Devils had just 6 assists and 12 turnovers, 4 of those assists came
in the final four minutes of the half. Duke also took much better care of the
ball in the late going. For the half, UNC-G shot just 19% while Duke hit 42%
of its own attempts. The Devils owned a 28-4 edge in second chance points
thanks to their 17-3 advantage on offensive rebounds. Duke employed a lot of
pressure and particularly sprung a lot of sideline traps out of its matchup
zone. It worked, as the Devils enjoyed a 21-0 margin in points off turnovers.
For the half, K.Thomas & Black were both in double figures with 12 and 11
points, respectively.
Duke's defense relaxed a little in the second half, but not by much. After an
exchange of baskets, Duke pounded the nail in the coffin with an exquisite
Waner drive and drop-off to Black, a J.Thomas steal and jumper, and a K.Thomas
post-up. That made the score 54-21 with under seventeen minutes left to go in
the game. Duke kept the pressure on and unleashed a 7-0 run a few possessions
later as J.Thomas and Mitch had back-to-back steals & runouts. UNC-G, to their
credit, didn't give up. They staged a 8-5 mini-run after that last Mitch
basket, hitting a three to answer a Mitch three at the end of it.
However, they didn't have much left in the tank: the Spartans only scored 6
points over the last nine minutes of the game. Duke kept chugging along, as
K.Thomas, Karima Christmas, Cheek and Jackson combined for 14 of Duke's last 16
points. Duke did a great job sharing the ball during this stretch and in the
second half in general, as the Devils had 11 assists on their 18 field goals.
Duke still wound up fouling too much, putting the Spartans on the line 22
times. In the end, the ultimate stat was 39 UNC-G points, 38 UNC-G turnovers.
Combined that with monstrous advantages in points in the paint (52-12), points
off turnovers (44-2) and second-chance points (32-10), and one can see how Duke
translated effort into output.
UNC-G coach Lynne Agee, when asked how this game will help her team down the
road, half-jokingly offered "Sometimes I wonder why I do this!" She noted that
while she was pleased that her team didn't quit, she said that her remaining
players "have to make a team". That said, she said "We don't fool ourselves"
regarding the disparity in talent, size and athleticism. She thought that Duke
certainly had a chance to go to the Final Four with its "size, quickness,
shooting and athletes".
Duke set a team record with its 28 steals, and Coach P noted how happy she was
with the team's intensity, and was pleased that this group was "hungry".
She
singled out K.Thomas, Mitch and Waner for their measurable results on the
floor. She was also happy to play against a team that almost exclusively
employed a zone, since the Devils hadn't faced that so far this year. It
certainly took a while for the team to figure out how best to attack it. She
also noted that Duke needed to do a better job in forcing the tempo, and that they played a bit too slow in the early going.
It's clear that McCallie is trying to instill a bit of a Big Ten mindset into
her team, declaring the need for a "blue-collar mentality" for her current
"tenacious ten". Looking ahead to the Paradise Jam next week, McCallie noted
that Duke has "done exactly what we need to do", which is "dominate for forty
minutes". While there are some fearsome opponents ahead, McCallie noted that
she "loves our depth" in a tournament setting. The team is starting to get
used to the short bursts they've been playing in thus far, and it'll be
interesting to see how that changes when Duke starts to play tougher opponents.
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