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Game Recap by Rob CloughI didn't get a chance to see the Duke-Purdue game, but here are a few
game-related notes:
Playing in the islands often leads to close, sloppy games. The Devils have
rarely played their best ball in such settings. So it's no surprise that Duke
struggled to beat #20 (but probably overrated) Purdue in the first round of the
Paradise Jam. Duke's bracket has two divisions with three teams each. The
winner of each division plays for the championship of the tournament. Duke
opened up with the win over Purdue and will face Temple in the next game; a win
there will guarantee a trip to the finals. UConn lurks as an almost certain
opponent if the Devils do defeat Temple, given that they beat Stanford in their
first game here and will almost certainly have no difficulties with Old
Dominion.
Of course, Duke needed a sterling defensive effort to beat Purdue. Amazingly,
neither team scored any points during the game's first five minutes. The
Boilermakers turned the ball over 5 times and missed 4 shots, while Duke missed
its first 10 shots and had 5 turnovers. During the latter part of Duke's dry
spell, the Boilers scored 9 straight points and eventually staked themselves to
a 12-2 lead with under thirteen minutes in the half. Jasmine Thomas came off
the bench to score 8 of Duke's next 10 points, with the returning Wanisha Smith
scoring the other pair. That included 2 treys for the streaky frosh, whose
confidence never wavers no matter the result. Thomas also hit a buzzer-beater
at the end of the half to push Duke's lead to 7.
A Brittany Mitch three put Duke up by 6, and Duke's post players went to work a
bit after being shut down by Purdue's twin towers. More importantly, Duke's
defense was ridiculously sticky, holding Purdue to just 6 points the rest of
the half. Duke's depth also started to take a toll against a short-handed
Purdue club, though it also probably contributed to the disjointed nature of
the team's offense.
In the second half, Duke kept Purdue at arm's length with a lead that hovered
around double-digits. The Boilers would pull to within 7 or 5 points, Duke
would push it to 9 or 10, and the game would remain in stasis. Finally, Purdue
got to within 44-38 with a bit over four minutes left. Bridgette Mitchell hit
a
crucial shot on a Wanisha Smith feed, then turned Purdue over. Duke went
inside
and Chante Black was fouled, hitting both shots. Emily Waner turned over
former
Terp Kalika France and J.Thomas wound up with the points and the foul. That
play pretty much put the Boilers away, as they never got any closer. Duke won
the rebounding battle against the Big Ten club, dominating the offensive boards
in particular. That gave Duke a 17-6 edge in second-chance points, and that
edge gave them the game.
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