Krystal Thomas

Krystal was truly a warrior in defending Griner, and I don't think it was a coincidence that Duke crumbled defensively when she fouled out. The key for her was being physical with Griner, letting her know that she was going to be pushing away at her throughout the game. After getting several shots swatted away in the first half, she aggressively looked for her shot in the second half, scoring twice. Missing the front end of a one-and-one certainly hurt the team down the stretch, but at least she made it to the foul line. A summer spent working on her flexibility and offensive confidence could reshape her into a potentially dominant player.

Joy Cheek

Joy's final game was truly a microcosm of her career. She dug in against Griner for 6 tough rebounds, including one that led to a stickback. Her three in the second half gave Duke a lead that seemed to be difficult to overcome. On the other hand, she had some shots swatted and took her usual array of off-balance jumpers. Her 4 steals were offset by 4 turnovers, and she was probably not the right person to take a game-tying three. This was a game for Joy that was by turns frustrating, satisfying and heart-breaking.

Bridgette Mitchell

B had a couple of key assists, drained two jumpers and grabbed some tough rebounds. Baylor's quickness surprised her, I think, as her sticky hands didn't get their hands on a single steal in this game.

Keturah Jackson

KJ had her usual strong defensive game, forcing Baylor PG Kelli Griffin into 5 turnovers. She forced 2 tie-ups, grabbed 5 tough rebounds and even hit a key three. The problem was that she missed 7 other shots, forcing some of them. A couple of them looked good but just didn't land. All told, she took what was available to her for the most part but simply couldn't get shots to drop.

Jasmine Thomas

This season, when Jasmine wasn't feeling it on offense, she would find other ways to contribute: passing, defense, rebounding, etc. In this game, she just kept on shooting (4-18, 1-7 from three). While she did manage to get to the foul line 8 times, she settled far often for the off-balance jumper. Her game management in the last three minutes was simply not what was expected from Duke's leader. She may have been feeling the pressure and it seemed as though she started to think "I need to hit this shot" rather than "We need to score on this play". Jasmine tried to carry her team, but this was simply a night where she would have been better off passing more rather than shooting more.

Karima Christmas

Karima had a brilliant first half but curiously stopped getting the ball in the second half. She was the one Duke player who was consistently effective in attacking Baylor off the dribble, getting to the foul line 8 times. Her quickness and leaping were elements that Baylor had trouble dealing with, as she soared to 12 rebounds (6 offensive). She was the best player on the floor at the end of the first half (even strongly sending back a shot) but curiously seemed to either defer too much to other players or get ignored in the game plan. Either way, she was the one player Baylor couldn't handle and I only wish she had given herself a chance to help her team score.

Allison Vernerey

Alli was extremely scrappy in this game, going right at Griner. She was able to score on a drive but had a pull-up jumper blasted back at her. She did block out nicely in grabbing 5 rebounds and had a block of her own. Her real problem was the way she handled the ball once she got it. She rushed her movements, turning the ball over 3 times as Baylor applied pressure and she felt Griner looming over her.

Shay Selby

Shay got some great looks from three, but the shots didn't land. She also came up with a steal when a ball came into a passing lane.