Devils Refuse Rutgers, 49-44

Game Recap by Rob Clough

The latter phenomenon was certainly in evidence against Rutgers but fortunately the former was not. Duke's defense got better and grittier the further the game went on, to the point where Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer thought that her post players were "intimidated" by Chante Black. When Duke went to a zone about eight minutes into the game, Rutgers was utterly baffled by it. That prevented Rutgers from getting good looks inside, and forced them to either take contested shots or else try to force bad passes. For Duke's part, they took bad shot after bad shot as Rutgers was funneling the ball into players who weren't the best scoring options. What this game came down to was who could make a handful of plays down the stretch when the pressure was on.

The crowd was not nearly the full house that was hoped for, though that's not a huge surprise given the losing streak. Wanisha Smith was presented with a ball prior to the game commemorating her passing the 1,000 point mark in her career. Duke started Chante Black, Joy Cheek, Bridgette Mitchell, Abby Waner and Jasmine Thomas, finally debuting in the starting lineup. Mitchell scored the first points of the game with a nifty dropstep and then blocked a shot by Kia Vaughn. That success didn't last long, as Mitchell missed 3 shots and turned the ball over in the next two minutes. Rutgers was quite content to let her take off-balance shots driving to the basket or making questionable decisions with the ball. Meanwhile, Waner's body language was all wrong on the floor and she didn't even try to attempt a shot during the first few minutes of the game.

Rutgers ran off 11 straight points against Duke's man-to-man defense. Epiphanny Prince drained a three as the shot clock was running down, and that seemed to dampen Duke's initial enthusiasm. A fast break by Prince and a short jumper from Heather Zurich made it 11-2. Rutgers was getting offensive rebounds and patiently working the ball around. Carrem Gay came off the bench and hit two elbow jumpers to snap Duke out of its funk. After a Rutgers jumper that pushed the lead back up to 13-6, Cheek got a hard-earned stickback. Mitchell then got a rebound and snapped it ahead to Waner for a three point play. Waner then picked up 2 quick fouls and Rutgers converted on both, sandwiched around a pretty Thomas drive and dish to Black for a reverse. Black sank a long jumper from the top of the key to once again keep Duke within two points with 6:19 left.

The first fourteen minutes of the game were not pretty. However, the next six minutes should be permanently purged from both teams' game tape libraries, if not from the annals of basketball history. Rutgers missed 8 shots and turned the ball over twice, while Duke was even worse with 3 misses and 5 turnovers. That included an ill-advised long three by Cheek with 26 seconds on the shot clock, several bad passes picked off, and Abby Waner's third foul. McCallie rolled the dice because the team was struggling so much on the offensive end, and Abby wound up committing an offensive foul. Finally, Rutgers converted on one of their 8 offensive rebounds to go up 4 with 21 seconds left. Their defense broke down as Black finally got a good look near the basket on a nice entry pass by Gay with eleven seconds left, and then Mitch came up with a steal to end a final potential score by Rutgers. When the smoke cleared, Duke had shot 28% from the floor and Rutgers 24%. Rutgers dominated points off turnovers (11-2) and second -chance points (5-2), but couldn't score otherwise. The best news for Duke is that they only committed 5 first-half fouls. This was the key difference in this game compared to the recent losses: the Devils were playing solid defense and not giving up points at the foul line. It also helped that the officiating crew had two big-time veterans in Dee Kantner and Lawson Newton, both of whom swallowed their whistles at most of the contact underneath the basket at both ends.

Brittany Mitch started the second half in place of Waner, a move that made sense but was worrisome in terms of scoring. The two teams traded turnovers early in the half. Chante grabbed a missed Mitchell three but had the ball slapped away, leading to an easy transition basket for Prince. After those two quick miscues to start the half, the Devils would have only 4 more for the entire game. Rutgers seemed to relax after pushing the lead up to 4, because Thomas carved through their defense with her quickness to get a layup. Rutgers was settling for jumpers, and Duke was starting to block out more effectively. Cheek pounded the paint after a Black miss and was fouled, hitting one.

Stringer was so enormously displeased by her team's effort that she sat down her entire starting lineup for almost five minutes. After the game, she went on a soliloquy about how the game to her is like a song to her. When it's disjointed and does not flow, it lacks beauty and she will not accept it. It was, admittedly, a little strange to hear her talk about flow and beauty given that her teams are notorious for winning in the ugliest fashion possible, especially on the offensive end. Still, music does run the gamut from symphony to abstract jazz to industrial noise. The latter form of music certainly sounds beautiful to ears attuned to listen to it, even if most onlookers cringe. I imagine the same is true of Rutgers' style of play. One thing she said that made sense was that she wanted to have players on the floor doing "the best that they could", and while her subs weren't ready for prime time, they did play with effort.

Duke continued to work inside, as Black was fouled and hit 1 to tie the game at 21. After a Rutgers turnover, Thomas drove and dished back to Gay, who once again hit a short jumper to finally give Duke the lead. The crowd roared back into the game after being lulled to sleep through most of it, and this seemed to energize the Devils a bit. Rutgers turned the ball over again and Black took a pass and relocated out to Gay for a 15' jumper, giving Duke a 25-21 lead. This shot was available all game, and Carrem was happy to take it since it was the only play that was working for Duke. Rutgers' subs were working hard, even as Black was blocking shots left and right--including 3 in one sequence. Finally, Rashidat Junaid was fouled by Black 14:59 left and hit 1 free throw. Black went out with that second foul. On Duke's next possession, Thomas missed an open three and Waner, back in the game, fouled on the rebound. Now with four fouls, she had to sit for an extended period once again. Rutgers stayed close by getting to the foul line, though Gay broke that up with a drive and a little runner from 10'. Black turned the ball over twice as Duke was doggedly trying to pound it in inside whether or not there was an angle of attack, and Rutgers took the lead back at 29-27 when their starters returned with twelve minutes left. Black was often being triple-teamed and other teammates were passing up shots, and the offense was bogging down as a result. Karima Christmas halted that with a stickback of a Thomas miss, but Rutgers went up by 2 yet again. Then came a substitution and performance in the last ten minutes of the game that was wholly unexpected: Keturah Jackson.

After an undistinguished stint in the first half, KJ came off the bench and immediately attacked the basket for a layup. Prince hit a three, but Thomas found Cheek for a 19' basket. Rutgers was starting to move the ball nicely inside-out, and Vaughn hit Zurich for a three that stretched the lead to 4 with 8:05 left. Cheek missed another three and Rutgers had a chance to take control of the game, but KJ came up with a huge steal and pass to Thomas in transition for a potential three point play. She missed the foul shot, but KJ came up with the board and was fouled. She missed both shots, a potential momentum-swinger. However, Matee Ajavon missed a layup and Duke had control of the ball.

Waner came back in with six minutes left and missed a three. KJ was there for the board, drove and found Thomas for an enormous three that gave Duke back the lead at 38-37. Rutgers answered with a three from Prince, Jackson missed a jumper, and Black fouled Vaughn on the rebound. What followed was perhaps the nadir of the season followed by the team climbing out of a hole. Everyone on the line forgot that it was a one-and-one, and when Vaughn missed the first shot, everyone froze. Zurich alertly picked up the ball and laid it in. Waner looked furious, shaking off her earlier bad body language, and attacked the basket, drawing a foul. She hit both to erase the damage of that earlier basket and draw Duke within 42-40 with 3:47 left.

Black then came up with a critical steal and posted up a reeling Vaughn for the easiest score of the night, knotting the game at 44. One could sense that this game was going to come down to focus, execution and desire, and that Duke's desire at this point was greater than Rutgers'. On Rutgers' next possession, Vaughn was whistled for an offensive foul. Black then saw that she was open just above the foul line and fired away. The ball bounced on the rim several times before dropping, giving Duke an unlikely 44-42 lead with 2:28 left.

Duke got a stop but Thomas missed a jumper, and then Essence Carson hit a big-time baseline shot over two defenders to tie the game at 44 with just a minute left. Duke was in a similar position down the stretch with Penn State, but this time seemed ready to do what it took to win. Thomas missed a three, but Prince was called for traveling after snagging the long rebound. Ajavon fouled Gay going for the ball, which was not necessarily the worst thing in the world. It was a one-and-one, and the Devils had not exactly been gangbusters from the line. Gay hit the crucial front end to give Duke the lead, but missed the second. The Scarlet Knights had plenty of time to take the final shot.

After working the clock down a bit, Ajavon drove and was rejected by Black. In the ensuing scrum, Jackson came up with the ball and was fouled. Stringer went ballistic, storming off the bench to scream at Edward Sidlasky, who immediately called a technical with just ten seconds left. Waner drained both technical freebies, but Jackson had to go to the line. It was a two-shot foul, and a good thing, because she missed the first. With Duke leading by just three, she had to make at least 1 to put the game out of reach. Her second shot fell, Rutgers missed a three, KJ got another rebound and hit 1 more freebie to account for the final margin of 49-44.

The Chronicle headlined this game "Sweet Revenge", but honestly, that sentiment seemed to be the furthest thing from the players' minds. The palpable sense of relief and joy on their faces after the game was quite a sight, and KJ in particular got the lion's share of congratulations. The team came together after the game in the center circle, with Abby slapping the floor for this determined group. This was not a pretty win and there were some odd occurrences that aided Duke in the second half, but after a perfect storm of injuries, chemistry issues, travel difficulties, and opponents playing near-perfect basketball, the Devils won't complain about a few breaks going their way.

Stringer said that although Rutgers won the rebounding battle, she thought Duke was "inspired" on the boards. She also thought that down the stretch, the crowd rattled her team a bit, noting that "sound can make you think you're down by more than you are". Of the technical issued near the end of the game, Stringer exhaled, paused and said that it would be best if she just said "no comment". Overall, Stringer did note that Duke is a good team that could use this win as a momentum-builder, though she thought that Maryland was still the most talented team in the country.

McCallie noted that she liked her team's grit in a game that she described as "interesting". In particular, she pointed out the way Thomas was able to change speeds, Gay's overall sharpness and the way she made critical defensive adjustments, Black's all-around steadiness, and Waner's composure despite her foul trouble. I asked her about KJ's contributions as a spark/glue player, and she noted "It's funny how the little things matter" and that this game was a "statement about her toughness". When the team went down early but came back, I asked her to compare it to the Penn State game and what was different. She said, "That is really easy to answer. This team played defense". I think that's obviously what happened, but the team played with a focus in this game that wasn't there against Penn State. I think part of that was that the team was rewarded against Rutgers playing the matchup zone, getting stops, while that didn't initially happen against Penn State. Rutgers was content to sit back and fire away rather than really attack Duke with penetration, but to Duke's credit, the lanes just weren't there to drive.

The offense in this game was a mess, however. Rutgers is physical and quick, which made them nearly impossible to break down one-on-one. They mostly played a sagging man-to-man defense and double-teamed every time someone got the ball in the post. (A few lapses here and there resulted in Duke baskets, and Stringer noted this afterwards.) Duke shot 33% in the game and 1-14 from three. The team also had 18 turnovers against a defense that rarely employed a press in this game (the couple of times they used it, it resulted in one Duke score and one Duke turnover). Beyond the numbers, the team simply struggled to find players good, open shots. Some players took the first available jumper while others seemed petrified to shoot. There was no movement and few screens being set to free up teammates. The team was unselfish (14 assists on 19 turnovers), but once again lacked any kind of rhythm or efficiency. Granted, Rutgers is the kind of team that makes everyone look bad because of the slow tempo they like to play at, but this was a game that really exposed a lot of areas where Duke needs improvement.

The good news is that the players can exhale a bit with the win, but will have to gear up to play in the Garden against a very good Pitt club that has a ton of scoring options. If Duke plays defense against Pitt the way they did against Rutgers, then the Devils will be in good shape. Overall, one can see the team slowly improving under the harshest of circumstances. I think winter break will be good for them, both in terms of getting healthy, getting rest and getting practice. I think that's kind of an underreported aspect of the losing streak: making adjustments has been very difficult with the team playing so many games in such a short span of time. Having three full days to prepare for Rutgers in Cameron was crucial, because the Devils worked hard on stopping penetration, something that had plagued them over the past couple of weeks. Of course, when you stop penetration, the fouls "magically" go away as well.