Lions Continue Devils' Skid, 86-84

Chante Black

Despite battling foul trouble, Chante fought valiantly in the post. With Cheek & Gay both playing poorly and Krystal Thomas out, that pretty much made Chante Duke's only option inside. She missed some easy shots in the first half but was money in the second half, using her footwork and positioning to score nearly every time she touched the ball inside. Black has been the one Duke player who's put up big numbers in every Duke loss, and she has started to become more comfortable in the role as Duke's first option on offense. Abby Waner and Jasmine Thomas are quite happy to feed her the ball. What Chante needs to be careful of is picking up offensive fouls. She had 2 in the first half that sent her to the bench. While the effort in trying to free herself up is admirable, she has to be more careful in how she does it, especially after she gets called for her first foul.

Carrem Gay

After a nice start, Carrem was pretty much a non-entity in this game. She looked baffled in the team's defense, didn't make herself available on offense, and didn't make an impact on the boards. It's as though her struggles completely drained away her confidence and made her play tentatively. Gay's game is all about effort, hustle and being in the right place at the right time, and none of these things were in evidence in this game.

Bridgette Mitchell

Bridgette picked up 2 quick fouls early in the game, one of them offensive. She did start in the second half but Christmas wound up playing most of the minutes at wing. Mitchell did have an assist to Thomas, but her near-constant foul trouble kept her glued to the bench.

Abby Waner

Before the game, I had heard that Abby was finally at full strength physically. She certainly proved that this was the case, and played with a fury that hadn't yet been seen this year. She wasn't much of a factor in the first six minutes of the game, but then she hit her first trey and had an assist to Black. Late in the half, she had a big three point play that cut the lead to 8 and then later sank a three that pulled Duke within 6. To start the second half, she had a steal and layup, another assist to Gay, a three off a no-look inbounds pass from Thomas, and then a three from Christmas. Penn State decided to concentrate on making sure she wasn't getting the ball, but she still hit a three on a pass from Thomas, sank a 25' bomb with 23 seconds left in the game with two defenders hanging all over her, and still found time to get the ball to Christmas with time running down. There was the curious situation where she was taken out of the game with 2:24 left and Duke down 3. Without Waner on the floor, Thomas was forced to take a bad shot and Penn State went up 5. It's unclear why this was done; one possibility is a twinge from her ankle. Waner will need to play at this kind of level in every game to give Duke a chance to win big games.

Emily Waner

Em is quietly directing the team quite nicely. During Duke's big second-half run, she had assists to Black and Thomas for scores. At the moment, she's best suited to come off the bench, feed the post, and sneak in for the occasional rebound. She's not taking open shots, which is a problem, because she becomes a fifth wheel on offense. Em doesn't have to take 10 shots a game, but she has to be willing to pull the trigger from time to time if only to help set up her ability to pass and occasionally penetrate.

Jasmine Thomas

Jasmine was magnificent in this game, even as she took some bad shots. It's pretty clear that she deserves a chance to start given what she's accomplished the past few games. In the first half, she was relatively quiet as she was trying to deal with a confident Brianne O'Rourke. She still had passes to Waner for three and Black in the post, along with scoring on a blazing-quick drive when Duke fell behind by 13. McCallie finally opted to start her in the second half, which proved to be a shrewd move. She hit a three and 15' pull-up six minutes into the half, and then she really went to work. She hit 2 free throws, found A.Waner for a three, and then hit another three in a three minute span. In the last four minutes, she hit another three, found Black for a basket and then followed her own miss to pull the team within 3 with a minute left. Now, Thomas was isolated down the stretch and as a result took some ill-advised shots. Thomas has an odd release and that results in some ugly-looking misses at times, but I've never seen a young player who was so fearless. I had been waiting for Jasmine to play with Duke's best players, because I thought she'd make them better and vice-versa. Thomas played well off of Waner, and their scoring & passing punch was quite a weapon. Thomas was the one guard that Penn State couldn't blow past, and while she made some mistakes on defense, she was the one Duke player who disrupted Penn State and got them uncomfortable. She also helped Duke push tempo and got PSU to play a little faster than they wanted. This game was a major step forward for Jasmine, because she finally was able to exert her will on the game for an extended period of time.

Karima Christmas

I had been saying all along that Christmas was the wing who was most ready to contribute as Smith's backup. With Smith out, Christmas stepped up in a big way in this game. From the first time I saw her in practice, Christmas displayed a number of traits that indicated she could be ready to contribute quickly. Physically, her strength, speed and agility are all top-notch. She likes contact and is hard to intimidate. Christmas is a fine rebounder (4 in this game) who can also handle the ball and shoot. In the first half, she was limited by her main flaw: a tendency to foul. Part of that is trying to get used to a new position (going from post to wing) and the kind of contact that's allowed there, and part of that is not being in the right position on defense. That can be taught. What can't be taught is that Christmas makes plays: she had 2 stickbacks, a short jumper in the lane, a finish on a pass from A.Waner with time running down, and an amazing finish after that late Mitch steal. Her nerves failed her a bit when she missed the free throw, but this game was a tremendous learning experience for her.

Brittany Mitch

Things didn't start off well for Brittany, getting lost on defense, turning the ball over and missing a short jumper. Once again, she appeared hesitant. Then she started to make plays: a steal and layup and a pass to A.Waner for a three in the first half, and a finish on a give-and-go in the second half. Her big play was a tip of an inbounds pass that tied the game, an incredible hustle play that made full use of her length and eye for the ball. It was encouraging to see her make big plays in a close game, and this is a role that she should embrace: the role of connector. She will never put up big stats, but she has the ability to make 5 or 6 game-changing plays simply by exploiting matchups and her skills.

Joy Cheek

Joy struggled immensely in this game. Her only basket was a short jumper in the line, and she couldn't hit anything else. She only managed 2 rebounds in 22 minutes and picked up 4 fouls, all in the second half. Duke simply didn't get any production out of its power forward spot in this game, and this was a big reason why Penn State was able to get easy penetration, why they outrebounded Duke, and why the Devils put them at the foul line. It wasn't for a lack of effort, but rather she just seemed out of synch. She seemed pretty constantly frustrated and confused about where she needed to be on the floor, and it only got worse as the game went on.

Keturah Jackson

KJ had a nice block, but also immediately committed an offensive foul when she entered the game in the first half. With the strong play of Christmas, it made sense to keep her on the bench.

Wanisha Smith

Wanisha is day-to-day with a small broken bone in her hand.

Krystal Thomas

Krystal will be out until early January with a sublexed kneecap suffered in the Vanderbilt game.