Elizabeth Williams

After the game, Lander coach Kevin Pederson came up to Liz and said, "You are special." She certainly is, demonstrating immense talent and yet plenty of room for improvement. When she's on balance and takes her team, no one can stop her one-on-one. When she rushes her shots or her free throw attempts, she pushes through just a bit too much--just enough for her to miss shots by a hair. Williams wound up with 17 and could have easily had 30, if she hadn't missed so many close-in shots. That said, she finished plenty of shots quite nicely and once again demonstrated that unstoppable spin-move drive from the top of the key. Defensively, she was a terror, blocking 5 shots, grabbing 3 steals and even taking a charge. One of those blocks was an out-of-nowhere erasure on Jasmine Judge--one of only two threes that she missed. Liz did get beat to some defensive rebounds by smaller players and wound up with a shockingly low 1 defensive board and just 5 rebounds for the game. Williams is already a game changer, but she has unlimited potential. I am eager to see her match up against big opponents.

Haley Peters

Haley was so efficient in this game that I'm not sure I understood why she played just twenty minutes. She and Williams make a formidable team, as Peters rebounded several shots that Williams blocked and was there to pick up some of the shots that Williams missed. Peters scored on a post=up, a drive and a short jumper and missed a couple of other jumpers. Haley was also quite unselfish, passing to Williams three times for scores. The only negative stat in her line was those 4 turnovers; a couple of them were errors of commission as she was trying to find Williams, and one of them was a questionable travel call. On this team, Haley is the ultimate complementary player.

Shay Selby

After two great early season showings, Shay came a bit back down to earth in this game, missing all of her jump shots and scoring on a transition play and an inbounds play (along with a free throw). She did dig out a couple of offensive rebounds, including one that she converted into an assist for Haley Peters.

Chloe Wells

Chloe continued to reaffirm her status as the team's most improved player in emphatic fashion, with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 charge taken. Part of her performance is reflected in her greater overall confidence and understanding of the game and its speed. Part of that is starting next to Gray and allowing herself to be Gray's complement. The duo said that they switch off point guard duties depending on where the ball is on the court, and they are comfortable with that arrangement. This allows Gray to hunt her shot when she feels the need but also allows Wells the chance to drive or pull up for three. Early in the game, Wells played the role of passer, finding Gray for a three and Selby in transition. When Lander pulled within 20-15, Chloe drained a 15' jumper, and then found Gray for a three. Wells drove and was fouled, nailing both to put Duke up by 10. Later in the half, Gray was running the floor with her and finding Chloe on two drives. In the second half, she dropped in a couple of threes and scored on a couple of drives. On her to do list is containment defense in addition to regular pressure defense.

Chelsea Gray

In terms of total focus, Chelsea was at maybe a 5 out of 10, which once again illustrates how ridiculously talented she is. 18 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals and a block against a good opponent is a great line, especially when one sees that she was 8-11 from the floor. She had to dial her own number quite a bit in this game, blowing by Lander's guards thanks to her size and strength. When she decided that she wanted to score, Lander had no chance of stopping her one-on-one. She preferred to set her teammates up whenever possible, leading them with some great passes. She found Peters on a post-up, Williams on a dish-off after a drive, Wells on a lead pass twice, and Selby on a simple inbounds play. Chelsea did try to get a tad too fancy a few times, mis-timing a couple of lob passes and trying a couple of behind-the-back numbers that didn't connect. The craziest was when she dove to the floor for a steal and whipped a behind the back pass while sitting down that flew out of bounds (see our photo gallery!). In the second half, she scored off the dribble on three straight possessions to really put the game away. I can't wait to see her match up against an elite opponent.