Krystal Thomas

Krystal was one of the leaders of the Duke effort that tallied 44 points in the paint, a point that Mike Petersen was lamenting. Beating Duke means turning them into a jump-shooting team; in this game, Wake couldn't keep Duke out of the paint no matter what they did. Krystal scored on an early post-up but otherwise started slowly, turning the ball over on an ill-advised drive and losing a couple of passes aimed a bit low. Late in the half, she started taking over, getting a stickback, draining 2 free throws, finding Scheer for a shot and scoring on a couple of post-ups. That late charge gave her 10 first half points to lead the Devils, along with 6 boards. She wound up with a double-double as she mostly rested in the second half, other than pulling up for a short jumper that splashed down. She dominated Wake center Sandra Garcia, holding her to 6 points and 5 rebounds. This was a strong bounce-back game, but she'll have a far greater task when she goes up against the league's best center in Boston College's Carolyn Swords.

Allison Vernerey

Alli did a fine job of taking advantage of the opportunities the defense was giving her and exploiting those opportunities aggressively. She scored on a couple of early post-ups and found Christmas on a give-and-go. She piled up 5 rebounds in the first half alone, preventing Wake from getting many second looks at the basket. She did have a few passes bounce off her hands for turnovers, but she mostly did a good job of catching and finishing. That was clear in the second half, when she twice finished "and ones", even knocking down the free throws. Interestingly, she had a much higher success rate with a weird line drive push shot on her free throws than anything resembling typical foul shot form. Her ability to draw fouls helped force out Wake forward Mykala Walker (who fouled out in only thirteen minutes).

Karima Christmas

I think Rima got the "be aggressive" message loud and clear, as she was in attack mode from the very beginning of the game. She scored in transition and off a cut in the early going, and then knocked down 3 foul shots. She was also aggressive on defense, blocking 2 shots. Foul trouble limited her minutes once again, which has been a problem that's plagued her this season.

Chelsea Gray

This was a solid game for Chelsea as she dominated Wake in the first twelve minutes of the game. She delivered a pass into Vernerey for Duke's first score and then came up with a steal that led to a fast break basket for Christmas. She later scored on a give-and-go and found Jasmine on a cut. She concluded her first-half stint by scoring on a drive and finding Vernerey for another score. In the second half, she scored on a post-up and nailed a three. She did get a little down on herself when a couple of high-risk passes didn't pay off, but she got past that.

Jasmine Thomas

Jasmine waited patiently as a decoy for Duke's offense during most of the first half, drawing an extra defender at all times. Wake did a terrible job of rotating defenders over, and Duke did a great job of taking advantage of this. She did score on an early cut, though. Later in the half, when Wake abandoned this plan, Jasmine hit a 10' jumper and a back-breaking three. In the second half, she found Vernerey for a three point play and scored on a variety of jump shots as well as 2 free throws. She hustled for rebounds and steals, blocked a shot and took a big charge in the first half.