Krystal Thomas

Other than playing decent defense against Chester, Krystal floundered in this game. She wasn't aggressive on the boards (she should have grabbed way more than 5) and she didn't look to attack the basket. On one break, she was given the ball in perfect position, stopped and gave the ball up. It's hard to explain why she's being so passive, given the urgency of these games. Perhaps the memory of getting abused by freshman Stefanie Dolson in Duke's earlier matchup with UConn will be a motivating force for this player who seems to need to be angry to play well against good teams. Duke absolutely cannot defeat UConn if she doesn't show up at both ends of the floor.

Haley Peters

Haley was solid, though not quite as productive as one would like for someone stepping back into a starting role. She had two nice early baskets (a short jumper and a stickback) but couldn't get anything else to land. She also missed the front end of a one-and-one. Peters did hustle like crazy and did well on the boards. She simply needs to be herself on the floor--take the shots she knows she can make and work like crazy to get the ball.

Karima Christmas

When Karima is fully committed to attacking with the basketball and plays against a team that allows her to drive, she is an unstoppable force. She helped get the one player capable of staying in front of her (Keisha Hampton) in foul trouble, which meant it was smooth sailing for her. Duke struggled when she went out in the second half with her third foul. Coach McCallie played the percentages with a double-digit lead and hoped the bench could extend the lead. They couldn't, but when Karima re-entered the game she immediately scored off the dribble. There was nothing very complicated about Karima's 7 field goals. They all came off the dribble, with some in transition. The only exception was a stickback. She got to the foul line a startling 14 times and hit 2 huge shots when DePaul had pulled to within 3 points late in the game. She played harassing defense, coming up with steals that lead to baskets. She also didn't turn the ball over. If Karima continues to play at this level, then Duke has a real chance to defeat UConn.

Jasmine Thomas

Jasmine turned in a typical game, which is to say that she may not have shot well but hit key shots when they counted. What was important was that she stayed aggressive the whole game but didn't take a lot of bad shots. She kicked things off for Duke by scoring on a drive and hitting a three. She scored 6 points late in the half when Duke was building a lead, playing off the ball as Wells was finding ways to get her great shots. In the second half, she had just 2 field goals; however, one of them was a crucial drive when DePaul had cut the lead to 4. Jaz also drained 2 foul shots when DePaul had pulled within 4 a couple of minutes earlier. She capped the game off by blocking an attempted three that could have made things a little more interesting. I'll have more on this in the postseason, but Jasmine has truly become one of Duke's ten best players of all time. She added second-team Academic All-America to her many honors.

Chelsea Gray

Chelsea earned the starting nod and was fairly engaged the entire game. She scored off the dribble and with a short jumper in the first half and also picked off a pass. In the second half, she scored three key baskets. She finished in transition to push Duke's lead to 10, she scored off the dribble to make Duke's lead 11, and scored again off the dribble to push Duke's lead to 6 as DePaul was making a charge. Most importantly, Duke did not hesitate to get her the ball when it was time to make game-icing free throws. She did not fail the team in that regard. Other than a couple of sloppy turnovers, Chelsea was impossible to stop.