Devils Outrun Racers, 78-57

Game Recap by Rob Clough

Abby Waner drained a long bomb to match that, but when she tried to hit again, MSU took advantage and cut the lead to 9-8 five minutes into the game. That got Duke's attention, as they dealt out a 13-0 run over the next seven minutes. The Devils did it thanks to their fast break, post game and the fact that 6-5 MSU center Angela Brown went out of the game with two fouls. It began with a driving three point play by Smith. After that foul by Brown, Joy Cheek (who had been cleaning up on the boards) went to the line for two foul shots. Duke then had 4 chances to extend their lead, but didn't push their lead to 16-8 until Jasmine Thomas found Black inside for a post-up. Jasmine then grabbed a miss by guard Amber Guffey and turned on the afterburners, blowing by everyone on the court for a layup. That basket seemed to energize her, as she followed a Black miss for a stickback. A Smith steal led to Waner breaking off a nice pass to Cheek in transition, pushing Duke's lead to 22-8 with eight minutes left in the first half.

The rest of the half was about even, as Murray State started to hit some shots but Duke kept them at arm's length. With under three minutes left, the Devils' lead remained 14 thanks to a stickback by Joy Cheek. With many of Duke's reserves in, MSU's Jessica Jackson cut the lead to 34-20 and then her team got a stop. After a miss, Black grabbed the rebound and snapped it to Waner, who hit a perfectly angled pass to Smith for another fastbreak basket. Duke got the ball back twice but turned it over twice, which led to Hayes draining another three. Keturah Jackson hit a foul shot to push the lead up to 12, which held up at the half. The Devils pounded MSU inside, with a 9-0 edge in second chance points and a 24-8 advantage inside. Smith led Duke with 9 points. Cheek had 7 points and 9 rebounds, while J.Thomas had 5 points and 5 rebounds. Most importantly, Duke held MSU to just 26% from the floor.

The start of the second half was not pretty for Duke. Cheek & Black missed point-blank shots, and only a Smith basket on an inbounds play blunted MSU's 10 quick points. Just like that MSU cut the lead to 37-32 thanks to a couple of quick threes. Duke took a time-out, regrouped and Smith attacked the basket. She missed on a layup, but Jackson got an offensive rebound and Black stuck a 15' jumper. MSU got 2 cracks at the basket but missed both, and Cheek hit a cutting Smith for a layup. Black then came up with a steal and pushed it ahead to Thomas, who found a streaking Jackson for a fast break basket. Just like that, Duke pushed their lead back up to 11 with under fifteen minutes to go.

Duke then landed their knockout punch in the next three minutes. After a tough MSU jumper, Jackson was fouled attacking the basket and hit 2 freebies. Duke forced another miss, and Black stuck back a Smith miss. After a miss by Hayes, Black hit J.Thomas with a relocation pass and she drained a three. Gay then stuck back a Black miss, and Waner finished the run with a steal, a pass to Thomas, and then getting the pass back for a layup. With 12:21 left in the game, Duke was suddenly up 54-34. The two teams played even the rest of the way. Duke pushed the lead out to 22 points a couple of times and even got it up to 68-44 on a Krystal Thomas hook. MSU scored 9 point in the last 2:22 of the game as Duke's deep reserves were in.

The Devils were able to get some good minutes for players like Brittany Mitch, who hit a couple of jumpers, and Krystal Thomas, who was quite active in the last minutes of the game at both ends. Duke was really able to focus in and put this opponent away thanks to their rebounding, pressure defense and aggressiveness in transition. The fact that they did it with boos raining down on them from the College Park partisans only focused the team all the more.