Sloppy Devils Beat Sun Devils, 67-59

Game Recap by Rob Clough

Duke dealt out a 14-4 haymaker in the first six minutes of the game, a lead that sustained them through some rough patches. Four different Duke players scored to give the team an 8-0 lead. Jasmine Thomas, shooting with a great deal of confidence lately, sank a 15' jumper off a Joy Cheek feed to start the game. Wanisha Smith came up with a steal and fed Chante Black to get her going. After 2 missed ASU free throws, Smith hit a cutting Abby Waner for a score. Smith came up with another steal and was fouled, and hit both. Those 8 straight points happened to be Duke's final margin, which speaks to the importance of a strong start in tournament play.

After a layup by Kristen Thompson, Smith hit Black inside for a nice post-up. After Sybil Dosty scored, Smith pulled up from 17' to put Duke up 12-4. ASU then missed, Carrem Gay grabbed the board and Waner hit Black with a spectacular pass to push Duke's lead up to 10. ASU then responded with a 12-4 run as the very quick Dymond Simon hit a three and helped get her team in a groove. Meanwhile, Smith and Cheek both missed layups. Carrem Gay did help keep them at arm's length by sinking a couple of mid-range jumpers. Duke started turning the ball over, which helped ASU slowly get back into the game, until they pulled within 18-16 with under eight minutes to go in the half.

Krystal Thomas broke that skid with a free throw, and then Waner grabbed a big rebound. Jasmine Thomas drove and pulled up for a short jumper that she nailed to make it 21-16. Black then took over for Duke, scoring on 2 stickbacks and a 15' jumper to push the lead to 27-20 with about a minute to go. Smith was called for charging and Thompson responded by scoring for ASU. Karima Christmas then threw a pass out of bounds, and Simon hit a jumper to cut the lead to 27-24 at the half. When Duke wasn't making dumb mistakes, they were pretty much in control. ASU had a 10-8 edge in points off turnovers, and that was keeping them in the game. Black started out strong, with 12 points and 9 rebounds in the half. Duke didn't get enough production from Cheek, who would step up in the second half.

Duke didn't fool around in the second half, as Waner immediately went into Black, who encountered few double-teams on the evening. She was aggressive and took advantage of this arrangement, taking 20 shots. ASU got an offensive rebound and promptly sank a three and then turned Duke over. Lauren Lacey only hit 1 of 2 to cut the lead to 29-28, and the Devils wisely went inside as Black flipped the ball to a cutting Cheek for a three point play. The two teams exchanged some misses before Waner tipped a missed shot right to Black for a score. Duke quickly pushed its advantage back up to 8 thanks to a Smith drive and a pretty Black turnaround jumper. This was the sort of shot one rarely saw Black take during the regular season because she simply didn't have the confidence.

The margin stayed at around 8 for the next few minutes, until Cheek hit a hook shot, Jackson came up with a steal that Smith bounced to J.Thomas for a three point play, and Nish then finished this 7-0 mini-run with a leaner to put Duke up by 13 with eleven minutes left. The Blue Devils would only hit 3 more field goals the entire game. ASU wouldn't go away, quickly cutting the lead to 8 as Dosty had a three point play. Thomas pulled up for a 5' jumper to push the lead to 11, but ASU once again responded with 6 straight points. Duke was getting sloppy and sending the Sun Devils to the foul line, where they were able to capitalize. Cheek hit a turnaround jumper to make it 54-47 and Thomas hit another short pull-up with four minutes left ot make it 56-49.

Duke kept putting ASU at the line and missed some close shots, and ASU closed to within 56-53 with 3:28 to go. The Devils wisely went to Black, who hit 2 free throws, but a Waner turnover led to Lacey hitting a jumper. Smith hit 1 free throw, but ASU went back to the line and cut the lead to 59-57 with 1:40 left. Black grabbed a huge offensive rebound off a Smith miss, was fouled, and hit both. That seemed to relax Duke a bit, and they forced a bad shot and Waner got the rebound. Cheek rebounded a J.Thomas miss and was fouled, hiting both. With 30 seconds left, Duke suddenly had a 63-57 cushion. It was free throws all the way down from there as Duke kept up their dominance of the boards in the win.

Those late second-chance points were key to Duke in winning the game, as the Blue Devils simply outworked their western counterparts on the boards. It's always a team goal to control the boards, get to the foul line and play stifling defense, and Duke did a good job of each in this game. It was agonizing to see so many players miss shots and get sloppy with the ball, but they were able to focus long enough to beat a team that probably didn't have the raw firepower to beat the Devils. Of course, firepower alone doesn't win games, and Duke seemed really well-prepared in this game. Their matchup zone was very active, as was their man-to-man approach. I thought Duke did a decent job of mixing defenses quickly based on how ASU adjusted personnel, rarely looking unprepared for what they were facing. Duke now heads to Oklahoma City to face a tough, defensive-minded Texas A&M squad. I'll have much more on that matchup later in the week.