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Game Recap by Rob Clough It was hard to see everything Duke was doing given the vantage point of
Vandy's webcast of the game...especially when they cut away from live
footage to show replays of Vandy scores. [Note from Orin: The feed was the same as the video scoreboard in the arena.] That said, it was obvious that
Duke had moments where it looked like Vanderbilt could do nothing to stop
them and was about to run away with the game. Then the Devils would
follow that by looking utterly lost at both ends of the floor. I've never
seen a Duke team that communicated as poorly as this one at this point of
the year. As I've noted before, this is largely a function of the
extended lineup and line-substitutions that coach McCallie has been
employing. One gets the sense that she considers these pre-ACC games to
be lab experiments and is trying to see what lineups stick in the line of
fire. The problem is that the answer at this point is "none of them."
Obviously, not having the team's best wing defender and penetrator
(Wanisha Smith) available against a team vulnerable to penetration didn't
help. Abby Waner was not quite 100%, but was close. And having dominant
rebounder and shotblocker Krystal Thomas go down with a kneecap injury
(out 4 weeks) also certainly weakened Duke inside. That said, the
remaining players showed little cohesion.
Neither team scored until the 17:16 mark. The Devils turned the ball over
five times during that stretch, getting just one shot. The starting
lineup this time around was Black, Gay, Mitchell, A.Waner and E.Waner.
Jasmine Thomas immediately came in for Mitchell, and she later staked Duke
to its first lead at 8-7, with under fourteen minutes left. Vandy's Liz
Sherwood was getting lots of easy looks at the basket, as Duke simply
didn't rotate over to her as quickly as they should when she moved without
the ball.
Duke started to get in a bit of a rhythm as Black put Duke up 10-9, then
blocked a shot and got the board. Abby Waner then hit a three and Keturah
Jackson scored in transition to make it 17-11. She then missed a free
throw, and Vandy responded by sinking a wide-open three. Black hit 2 in a
row and Karima Christmas attacked the basket for a score to put Duke up
23-14 with 9:23 left. Black was just too quick for Vandy, and Duke's
defense was starting to get active. Christmas was fouled on that score
but also missed a free throw. Once again, Vandy hit an open three against
a disorganized defense to stop Duke's run, starting a 7-0 run of their
own. Jasmine Thomas hit a three to stop the bleeding and give Duke a 5
point lead.
Both teams were scoreless over the next three minutes. The Devils had
their chances, with 5 missed shots, 2 steals and 3 turnovers, but they
couldn't get it done. Vandy struck back with a Tina Wirth basket, but Joy
Cheek entered the game and slipped through for a layup. The Commodores
had trouble shooting, but the lack of defensive cohesion got them to the
foul line. They pulled within 33-30 at the half with their last 7 points
coming at the foul line. That helped spoil an A.Waner three (foul, 2
free throws) and a Cheek layup (foul, 1 free throw).
Duke's offensive rebounding gave them their narrow halftime lead, thanks
to a 7-0 edge in second-chance points. The teams were about even in
turnovers (Duke had 12 and was -1), but Vandy was close because of 4-6
shooting from the three point line and 4-6 shooting from the foul line.
After Vandy hit a three to start the second half and tie the game, Black
and Gay combined for 6 straight points, forcing a timeout. A.Waner picked
up 2 quick fouls and had to leave the game, and Vandy got a couple of free
throws out of it to stay close. After Bridgette Mitchell sank 2 freebies,
the Devils somehow left Wirth open again for a three. Mitchell countered
with a short jumper, but Wirth sank another trey to pull Vandy within 2.
Abby Waner picked up her 4th foul, and that's when things started to run
off the rails for Duke.
Vandy took the lead thanks to free throws, but Cheek put Duke up again
with a post score. The hosts took a three point lead thanks to a couple
of short baskets, but J.Thomas hit a huge three to tie the game at 48.
Cheek and Thomas both scored, with Jasmine's free throws making it 52-50
wit 6:49 left. A Vandy three gave them a lead they'd never lose. Duke
would scored again with 3:27 left, when Thomas hit 2 more free throws to
pull Duke within 57-54. The Commodores closed the game on an 11-1 run, as
the Devils missed their last 8 shots and coughed up the ball 4 more times.
Duke put Vandy at the line 14 times in the last four minutes of the
game--and Duke only started intentionally fouling with under a minute to
go.
I've been saying all along that Duke's been playing with effort, but not
efficiency. That lack of efficiency at both ends put them in a position
where their fouls and carelessness with the ball let them squander their
lead and then left them flailing when they got in a hole. Interestingly,
Coach McCallie didn't start calling timeouts until under four minutes
remained in the game.
This game was a reminder that Duke can't expect to beat opponents simply
because they have talent, speed and depth. Vandy exploited every Duke
error and made them pay dearly. They had open shots and hit them. Duke
seemed befuddled on defense and Vandy drew fouls. Duke was throwing lazy
passes and the Commodores took advantage. The Devils got away from
getting the ball to Black inside, whose own foul trouble didn't help
matters any. Things don't get any easier for Duke with Penn State and
Rutgers coming up. The Lady Lions have had their heads handed to them by
Duke in recent meetings, and they'll be looking for some payback. The
players simply have to learn what they can from this loss, remember what
it feels like, and try to get on the same page with everyone involved.
Even if there's confusion about what the team is running and who's playing
with whom, that should never stop the players from playing with intensity
and intelligence. Both of those traits will be needed in large quantities
over the next month, as the Devils try to survive a stretch that would
have been difficult for Duke's best teams.
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