Sloppy Devils Beat Sun Devils, 67-59

Chante Black

This was one of the best games of Chante's career, and it certainly came at the right time. A few days after talking to her about how she needed to demand the ball, she certainly walked the walk about talking the talk. She scored 6 points early in the first half and 6 points late, either on post-ups or stickbacks, with 1 late jumper. Black then scored 6 quick points in the second half, all around the basket. From that point on, when Duke was in trouble and needed someone to stop up, Chante got the ball near the basket and got to the foul line, hitting 8-10 in the last nine minutes of the game. With 13 rebounds and 3 dominating blocks to go with that, along with a slick pass to Cheek for a three point play, a crafty flop that drew an offensive foul, Chante finally met her preseason goal of dominating an opponent for an entire game.

Joy Cheek

After a mostly invisible first half (0-4 from the floor, 2 turnovers but 2 assists to J.Thomas and Gay for jumpers), Cheek really came to play in the second half. She hit 3 shots and all 3 free throws in the period, including a three point play, a hook and a turnaround jumper. She looked enormously comfortable playing in this game, especially when ASU tried to body her up. Cheek's combination of power and finesse really served her well in the second half, because the Sun Devils had trouble keeping track of her. Her 9 second half points were a huge key to Duke's win.

Wanisha Smith

A reasonably solid showing for Smith, who dominated the first five minutes of the game with 3 assists, a steal and 4 points. That settled her team in very quickly, and she returned to a mostly-complementary role. She did make the pass to J.Thomas during a spectacular steal-and score sequence, and hit a big free throw late in the game to push Duke's led to 4.

Abby Waner

Abby once again looked uncomfortable shooting the ball and eventually stopped taking shots. That didn't stop her from being active on the boards (7 rebounds) and all over the floor. She constantly looked to push tempo, immediately taking off downcourt after a rebound. That rebound and immediate tip to Black for a score was probably the highlight play of the game. When her shot does return, look out, because she's doing so well in other aspects of the game.

Jasmine Thomas

Jasmine's only fault in this game was occasional carelessness with the ball, leading to 4 turnovers. That included sloppy ballhandling and some inexplicably thrown passes. On the other hand, she was deadly off the dribble, breaking off shots that were unguardable. She had trouble finishing on drives from time to time, but her short and mid-range jumpers were deadly. Jas was also a nice complement to Wanisha Smith, especially when Smith decided to attack the basket. Jas was always lurking as a potential threat to score, and in a game where Waner couldn't hit anything, this was a valuable asset to have.

Carrem Gay

Carrem had an excellent game off the bench. She hit 2 important jumpers during what was otherwise a Duke drought in the first half, rebounded reasonably well and then hit another jumper to put Duke up by 8 in the second half. I loved seeing her roam the perimeter, especially on offense. ASU started to make things harder for Black & Cheek to score, and putting Gay out in the high post gave her all kinds of open looks.

Keturah Jackson

This was not one of KJ's better games. She missed 2 chippies and then fouled after 1 miss in a crucial situation, allowing ASU to come back when it looked like Duke was going to put them away. She did at least get a couple of offensive rebounds and had an assist off a drive to Gay.

Krystal Thomas

Krystal hit a free throw that broke up a run and missed a couple of close-in shots. She was mostly playing to buy a couple of minutes of rest for Chante Black.

Karima Christmas

Karima came in just at the end of the first half and threw away a pass which led to ASU scoring. She didn't see any further action (official boxscore shows 0+ minutes).

Brittany Mitch

Bridgette Mitchell