Krystal Thomas

Krystal had a decent first half but was nearly invisible in the second half. She went up straight for a three point play, but missed 2 foul shots and several close-in shots. There was nothing wrong with her defense, as she held Kizer to 4-11 shooting. She did have key assists to J.Thomas and Hopkins for threes and swept the boards nicely. She had one block that she plucked out of the air for the rebound. Thomas was rendered helpless by Maryland's zone, but she didn't do much to help her cause offensively by moving or setting screens.

Joy Cheek

Joy displayed a lot of maturity in this game. Despite a truly putrid shooting performance (including some shots that were less aimed than flung at the basket), Joy kept hanging in there, playing defense and grabbing rebounds. In the end, she scored 4 points during a crucial Duke run and drained 2 big-time foul shots under pressure to boost Duke's lead to 3 at the end of the game. 3-17 is not the kind of percentage Joy needs to be shooting, but the problem is that she's still not committing her body to attacking the paint in the way that she's capable. She's going up like a finesse player rather than a bruising forward, and opponents know that they can let Cheek go instead of bodying her up, because she won't attack hard. Still, Joy came up with winning plays when her team needed them and truly embodied "next play" when it came time to hitting those foul shots.

Bridgette Mitchell

This was a weird game for B, who was barely involved during the first half (just one shot) but asserted herself in the second with a jumper, a stickback and the improbable game-winning jump shot. That was an instance of it being better to be lucky than good, but at the same time it showed that a number of players on the team can step up to make big plays. It showed real courage for Bridgette to take that shot, and it was certainly the biggest shot of her college career to date.

Keturah Jackson

KJ hit a three early on and did a nice job on the boards, but looked uncomfortable handling the ball (3 turnovers) and taking shots. Her only other shot of the game was an awkward one with the shot clock running down. She did a good job of picking up Maryland guard Lori Bjork, never giving her an ounce of daylight.

Jasmine Thomas

I loved that Jasmine was ready and willing to keep firing away when her shot wasn't dropping at first. She's a rhythm shooter, and the more she shoots, the better she gets. She sank a couple of threes in the first half after missing her first several shots. Of course, she was unstoppable for a time in the second half, hitting pull-up jumpers in the lane, draining threes and pulling up from beyond the foul line to score 13 in a row. I'm not sure why Duke went away from her for a period of time, because she was reminding me of Lindsey Harding in 2007 out there. Jasmine also came up with the game-preserving rebound and free throw to go along with her other heroics in what was just another day at the office. Throw in a few steals by pressuring frosh PG Dara Taylor, and you have a tremendous all-around performance.

Allison Vernerey

Allison couldn't get in great position to shoot in this game, but did a much better job at being patient with and without the ball. The result was 6 trips to the foul line, where she cashed in 4 times. She was rewarded with a stickback right before the half, which put Duke into the lead. This was a solid showing an a very unfriendly court.

Shay Selby

Shay missed a driving layup and a three and didn't have quite the same energy or focus that she had showed in earlier games. She did come up with one steal, but the team seemed out of sync when she was in the game. She'll get another shot at Florida State's stable of guards Friday.

Karima Christmas

The one problem Karima had in this game was foul trouble. When she committed her fourth foul with 8;22 left, Duke was leading by 11. Right after that, Maryland made a huge run, fueled in part by Duke's inability to attack the rim and body up defensively. Right before she left, she found Cheek for a jumper and drove for a layup. After Maryland scored 10 straight points down the stretch, Karima attacked the rim again and gave Duke a 53-50 lead. Christmas took 2 charges, grabbed 5 boards and made few mistakes. She simply needs to be more careful when bodying up opponents.

Chelsea Hopkins

Chelsea hit a big-time three in the first half when Duke went over four minutes without a point, the second time this year she's drained a three under high-pressure circumstances. She was paired with Jasmine for a few minutes in an effort to help Jasmine hunt her shot, but Chelsea turned the ball over twice. Once was an offensive foul that was at least an aggressive play, but I think the other turnover is what led to her being sent back to the bench.

Kathleen Scheer

Kathleen got a few minutes in the first half when Duke was desperately looking to unclog Maryland's zone, but she missed her only attempt of the game.