Joy Cheek

Joy had a pretty good first half, sinking a three, a pull-up jumper and posting up for a turnaround jumper. She didn't seem to want anything to do with battling in the post, grabbing just 1 rebound, but she also managed to pick up just one foul. In the second half, UConn shut her down completely as she missed 3 shots and turned the ball over 3 times (including an offensive foul). If Duke was going to have a chance to win, they simply needed Cheek to be a lot more productive and to have made better decisions.

Karima Christmas

Rima was shut down cold by a UConn team that was clearly keying in on her as one of Duke's bigger threats. She couldn't hit jumpers, she got few open looks, and she had her dribble attacked. Christmas never stopped trying, as she forced a jump ball and grabbed an impressive 7 rebounds. UConn just found ways to make sure that Karima's energy couldn't hurt them.

Bridgette Mitchell

Bridgette was awful in the first half with several bad shots (along with one key stickback) and 3 turnovers. She didn't always block out well enough and missed several defensive assignments. B was much tougher and smarter in the second half, getting 2 three point plays, grabbing 3 boards and avoiding ballhandling mistakes. There was a period in the second half when Duke could have used her on the floor, because UConn's physical players were tossing potential Duke rebounders out of bounds after shots (in a very precise manner, of course) and Mitchell was the one player who could have slipped in from the weak side to get boards. That's how it played out later in the game, but by then it was too late.

Keturah Jackson

KJ's performance was not what one would hope from a fifth-year senior. She shot poorly (and took a couple of off-balance shots), she didn't handle the ball well, she didn't get to the foul line, she didn't rebound and she was torched on the defensive end. All of UConn's perimeter players had a field day against Duke, and it's KJ's job to slow down at least one top perimeter opponent.

Jasmine Thomas

Jasmine was the one player who was able to produce against UConn. Indeed, there were times I wish she had taken more shots, especially in the first half when she was in a rhythm and UConn hadn't yet made any adjustments against her. Prior to that, she was picking through UConn's defense to find open spots to pop short jumpers or get to the basket. Despite taking 21 shots, she was actually quite unselfish with a team-high 4 assists and many more passes made that didn't result in assists. She wore down as the game went on and it was evident that she wasn't going to get a lot of scoring help, but she kept plugging away. Jasmine is a star, which sometimes means knowing when to take over a game when your teammates need you to. There are times when she doesn't seem quite comfortable in doing so, but I hope to see her exploit such opportunities later this season when the need arises.

Krystal Thomas

Krystal was completely neutralized by UConn's defense, only getting off 1 shot and earning just 4 cracks at the foul line. Thomas did rebound nicely and did tough work on the offensive boards with 4. She passed out of the post pretty well, setting Cheek up for a three early in the game. All told, she didn't play with enough composure or efficiency to match what the Huskies were doing.

Allison Vernerey

Allison really displayed her fighting spirit in this game. She wasn't afraid in the least to mix it up with Charles or Mclaren inside, and did a nice job of taking what the defense gave her. She wasn't able to finish on the right side of the block, but I was impressed to see her sink a little runner in the lane and fight hard on the boards. Allison took a charge, as well. This is a player who simply needs a refinement of skills, because the moxie is certainly there.

Shay Selby

Shay was a real difference-maker in this game for short bursts. She took a charge, blocked a shot, came in out of nowhere to get a stickback and poked away a steal. She did lose the ball once for a turnover, but she played with a fearlessness and a sense of court awareness that wasn't always shared by all of her teammates. This is the sort of game that can get a player a lot more minutes.

Chelsea Hopkins

Chelsea came in at the end of the game and turned the ball over.

Alexis Rogers

Lexi only popped in late, but managed to grab a board and fouled Lorin Dixon.

Kathleen Scheer

Kathleen just got a brief cameo in this game.