With 6.1 seconds left in the game and a 60-59 lead against No. 8 Virginia on Monday evening, the No. 16 women's basketball team knew which Wahoo would get the ball. Head coach Gail Goestenkors even knew what play her coaching counterpart, Debbie Ryan, would call.
Yet even with all of that information, the Blue Devils still couldn't stop Tora Suber. The junior forward drove the length of the court and made a layup as time expired to hand Duke its second conference loss in its past two games.
"When they get in trouble, Tora Suber always takes over," Goestenkors said. "And she always goes to the basket. I told our kids she would go right to the basket. She did, and we just didn't stop her."
Twenty seconds before Suber's spectacular play, senior center Alison Day had a chance to give Duke the lead with the Blue Devils down 59-58. But she only made one free throw. Then with six seconds left, junior point guard Kira Orr went to the line with the game knotted at 59. Her miss on the second shot set up UVa's last play.
On the night, the charity stripe was very ungiving toward the Blue Devils. Duke missed six free throws in the second half, and were only 6-for-14 from the line the entire game. Goestenkors blamed the poor free-throw shooting as the main reason the Blue Devils couldn't come up with the win.
"I thought we had the game won," Goestenkors said. "You can't shoot 6-for-14 [from the free-throw line] against a great team and be successful.
"I thought our kids played very hard, very intense. They were very focused. We gave them a game plan and they stuck with it. We made the tough shots, but missed the free ones."
The Blue Devils' spectacular defense in the first half helped them take a seven point lead at 31-24 with just over two minutes left in the first half. Duke shut down UVa's All-American candidate, senior center Wendy Palmer, who was averaging over 14 points and 10 rebounds per game before Monday's contest. Day and junior forward Tyish Hall double-teamed Palmer, and the All-American candidate entered the locker room with only six points and three fouls. Day dominated Palmer, scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the first stanza.
"They did a really good job of shutting Palmer down," Ryan said. "It really did frustrate her and bother her to a certain extent."
The Blue Devils also did a good job shutting down UVa's other All-American candidate, sophomore guard Monick Foote, who had three points and three fouls at halftime. The one player Duke didn't stop was Suber. Suber scored the Cavaliers' first seven points on the way to her 13 points at halftime. Still, Duke had Virginia in a prime position, and a victory seemed within reach.
The problem in the second half was Duke could never put the Cavaliers away. The Blue Devils held an eight-point advantage at 47-39 with 13:41 left in the game, but would not score a point until five minutes later. The Cavaliers gained momentum and cut the lead to one at 47-46. Ryan credited her team with stronger defense combined with Duke's poor shot selection as the reasons the Wahoos were able to fight back. With the lead down to one, Goestenkors called a timeout, and the Blue Devils regrouped, holding a 52-46 advantage with 6:20 left in the game.
At that point, poor free throw shooting began to stymie the Blue Devils. Day had two consecutive chances to go the charity stripe, but missed the front end of both one-and-one opportunities.
"We missed some very key free throws," Goestenkors said. "We made the tough shots, but missed the free shots."
At the 1:18 mark, with Virginia holding the ball and down by one, Duke called its second timeout of the half. Cavalier freshman DeMaya Walker hit a short jumper to give the Wahoos their first lead of the second half. Day's free throw tied the game, and then a Virginia miscue on an inbounds pass gave the Blue Devils possession with 14 seconds left. Orr took the inbounds pass, drove the length of the court through an open lane and was fouled. On the last play of the game, Orr was guarding Suber, but the streaking forward went past her at half court. All Orr could do was scream "Help!" Suber's shot then shattered the Blue Devils' hopes of a second straight upset over the Cavaliers.
"It's devastating to our players," Goestenkors said. "I don't even feel that we came up short. We just lost the game.
"We felt like we owned the game. We played well enough to win the entire game. We always felt like we were in control. This is a tough loss for us, but we can't afford to keep our heads down. We just have to become a little more determined."
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