The No. 16 women's basketball team accepted an invitation to the Preseason National Invitational Tournament with hopes of facing a tough opening opponent.
Instead its opponent, Virginia Commonwealth University, suffered what Rams' head coach Peggy Sells called "an old-fashioned butt whipping," as the Blue Devils slaughtered the Rams 93-51.
The key for Duke was its stellar first-half defense, which caused 17 Ram turnovers and garnered 10 steals. That defensive performance turned the usually tough Rams into a bunch of lambs.
"I though the first 20 minutes we played exceptional defense," Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I think we played one of our best halves of defensive basketball since I've been here. We had great pressure on the ball, great help-side defense. We did the job on the boards. I felt we did a tremendous job."
VCU called its first timeout at the 17:26 mark in the first half, with Duke up 7-2. After the players retook the court, a Kira Orr three-pointer ignited a 24-10 run, which ended at the second official timeout with 7:47 left in the first stanza.
But the romp did not stop there. The Blue Devils then started another 20-7 run, with the half ending on a long-range, last-second shot by Orr. It was reminiscent of Orr's antics late last season against Virginia and Alabama.
"I looked up at the clock, and there were about five seconds left when I crossed half court," Orr said. "The girl just backed off, so I just shot it. I was surprised it went in."
Goestenkors said VCU entered the game with the reputation of having a very stellar offensive game plan. About halfway though the first half, that game plan had evaporated, as it were only able to point 19 points on the board.
"I was very disappointed in the intensity of my team," Sales said. "I thought we were taken out of everything we wanted to do in the first half. I thought we played intimidated. I thought we played scared."
The key for the Blue Devils was their completion of plays. Duke scored 19 of its points off of VCU miscues. Orr was 4-for-5 from beyond the three-point arc, while Tye Hall was a perfect 5-for-5 in the half.
"I think when we came out, we jumped all over them from the start," Orr said. "That threw them back on their heels, and got them second-guessing themselves. We executed real well on offense too, and we just played a really good half of basketball. Unfortunately, we didn't continue into the second half."
With a 51-19 lead, the Blue Devils relaxed their intensity, something Goestenkors was not pleased with. The Blue Devils only outscored the Rams by ten points in the second half, but part of the sloppy play was due to Goestenkors' constant substituting. Junior Windsor Cogggeshall, who has been nursing a strained back for the past two weeks, played at point guard for Orr. It was only the second time she had been on the floor since her injury.
"I felt like we had many mental lapses," Goestenkors said. "I also believe that because the score was a 30-point margin at that point, I think the kids relaxed a little bit, and that's something that we cannot afford to do. I don't think there will be many games where we are up as much as that at halftime."
Still VCU was never able to get closer than 30 points at 72-42 with 7:30 left in the game. The Rams Maria Albertsson scored 17 points in the second stanza, but she would have needed to score around 50 to overcome the Duke attack.
The biggest question for the Blue Devils was their bench. With an abundance of television and radio timeouts, Duke was able to rest its players often. Freshman Payton Black came off the pine and scored 14 points in just 18 minutes. Still, Goestenkors isn't ready to call the bench a strength for the team. With two potential starters injured, Duke had to start freshman Nazrawit Medhanie.
"I think our bench will be a strength for us--come ACC time," Goestenkors said. "Right now, it's not a strength, its a weakness with the injuries we have. Naz wasn't going to be a starter, but she's really come into her own because she's had to. She's been put in a tough situation, and she's just getting better and better. It will be a strength, but its not right now, and I think that showed today."
Duke will now hit the road, or more appropriately the air, tomorrow morning as it flies to Texas A&M to take on the Aggies in the second round. The reason Duke is being forced to travel is because it had a smaller attendance tonight than in College Station, Tx. A paltry 600 fans had room to lay out in Cameron Indoor Stadium, this despite the fact the Duke Book Store bought 500 free tickets for students. Goestenkors was quite disappointed with the fan support.
"I think we have a good basketball team and we're exciting to watch," she said. "We really needed the support of Duke University students, of Durham, with the understanding they could help us have a second-round game, which is so important in a 16-team tournament. I don't understand why they couldn't watch us and support us, especially when they understand that they could help us."
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