Jasmine Thomas may have stolen the show on offense Thursday night against Ohio State, but the Blue Devils’ defensive performance against Buckeye standout Jantel Lavender was equally important in Duke’s upset victory.
The two-time defending Big Ten Player of the Year seemed primed for a big night after scoring 33 in a victory against California Sunday. Although she posted a team-high 20 points against the Blue Devils, Lavender never found a comfort zone under the basket because of Duke’s unrelenting defensive intensity.
“She had 20 points, but I felt like she had to earn every single one of those points that she scored tonight,” junior center Krystal Thomas said.
When one takes into account the fact that eight of those 20 points came as a result of foul shots and a 3-pointer in the game’s final seconds, the 6-foot-4 center’s numbers seem much less impressive.
Thomas played an integral part in taking Lavender out of the game and made her look far from deserving of the All-American status she received in the preseason. Thomas blocked Lavender twice during the game and forced her into awkward shots from the opening tip.
Lavender’s first basket was indicative of her performance as a whole. She scored the Buckeyes’ opening points of the game but did so on a short jumper that banked off the glass and rolled on the rim before finally dropping through the net.
Lavender scored only six points in the paint on the night, whereas Duke racked up an impressive 46 as a team. The Blue Devils frequently double-teamed her when she received the ball down low, which often led to open 3-pointers for the Buckeyes. Ohio State made 7-of-14 deep balls in the second half, but Duke was willing to allow attempts from long range simply because the Blue Devils, especially Jasmine Thomas, always seemed to find an answer on the offensive end.
The stifling man-to-man defense on Lavender was even more noteworthy given that senior forward Joy Cheek, the team’s most experienced post player, went down with an ankle injury about five minutes into the game and only returned for a brief period in the second half.
“It was a little surprising—Joy’s not a person that gets hurt ever,” Jasmine Thomas said. “When she did come in [again in the second half] and she was a little bit unstable, I just knew that our post players were going to have to take it over.”
Head coach Joanne P. McCallie also occasionally employed a zone to keep the Buckeyes guessing. And indeed, Lavender said she was surprised at how poorly her team reacted to the changes in Duke’s defensive schemes. Ohio State’s lack of awareness was compounded by the Blue Devils’ renewed commitment to staunch defense after giving up 95 points to Texas A&M in their only loss of the season.
“After Texas A&M it was definitely a big lesson learned—how important defense is,” Krystal Thomas said. “It’s something that we’ve stressed ever since that game and that’s what won us the game tonight. I thought everyone worked very hard on their assignments. Everyone defended, everyone rebounded and it’s just been a mindset all throughout practice and it showed tonight.”
Lavender shot 7-of-18 from the field on the night, well below the 55.6 percent shooting clip she had averaged in her first eight games. Even though she grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds, only three of them came on the offensive glass, further demonstrating Duke’s defensive dominance in the post.
And in shutting down the best player on a national powerhouse, the Blue Devils learned another lesson: If they can limit the effectiveness of their opponent’s primary scorer, they can compete with any team in the country.
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