The women's basketball team felt there was no better scenario than a home opener against an unimpressive club team from Russia to present its two coveted transfers for the first time. Apparently, the Russians didn't take a liking to that plan.
What was supposed to be a coming-out party to showcase the talents of Purdue transfers Nicole Erickson and Michele VanGorp instead turned into a comedy of Blue Devil errors. Youlia Skopa's turn-around jumper over Peppi Browne at the buzzer propelled Moscow-Dynamo past Duke 68-66 Friday in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
With the game tied at 66 and 23.3 seconds left in the game, Duke had possession and the opportunity to salvage a win. VanGorp took a feed from Erickson, but her baseline jumper sailed over the rim, giving the Dynamo a chance for the improbable victory.
"I don't even know why or how this happened," Erickson said. "We were way better than the other team. The only positive I'm going to take away from this game is that it will be a kick in our [butt], and hopefully we'll learn from it."
The same Moscow squad that had lost by 10 points to both Virginia and North Carolina State in the past week played fundamentally sound basketball against the apparently unmotivated Blue Devils. Center Elena Minaeva took advantage of the porous Blue Devil defense and led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting.
"We showed no emotion, and we had no intensity on the defensive end of the floor," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "Our defense ignites our offense. If there's a lack of intensity on our defense, it tends to happen on the offensive end too. I thought we were very complacent defensively. That's my number one concern right now."
If Duke's defense ignites its offense, it can apparently defuse it as well. The Blue Devils turned the ball over 23 times, 14 of which occurred in the second half. Moscow took full advantage of the Duke miscues, outscoring the Blue Devils 23-13 off turnovers.
Although VanGorp scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds in her Duke debut, she also contributed to the sloppiness on offense with a team-high four turnovers. Duke's other post threat and leading returning scorer, Payton Black, looked rusty, scoring only four points, but more conspicuously, hauling down only two rebounds and committing three turnovers.
"There are some players who are still learning the system, so our timing is not where it needs to be," Goestenkors said. "But some of [the turnovers] were just a lack of concentration."
Guards Hilary Howard and Erickson led Duke scorers with 14 points each. Howard was perhaps most impressive of all the Blue Devils, hitting 6-of-10 from the field and recording five assists.
With her two-year backcourt mate Kira Orr gone, Howard looked much more aggressive offensively, cutting to the basket with greater frequency than in years past. Even Howard, however, could not rally the team in the final minutes, as the Russians closed out the game with a 6-0 run.
"The thing we're most disappointed with is our effort down the stretch," Howard said. "It seems like we ran out of gas and this was our first exhibition game, that should not have happened. The other team played harder than us in the last couple of minutes."
Browne was the only other Blue Devil to score in double figures, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Freshman Georgia Schweitzer played as one would expect a freshman to play in her first collegiate game-off and on. She drilled two three-pointers, but threw the ball away three times.
"I was kind of glad that we did lose this game," Erickson said. "If we had won, we still played terrible. We're so much better than what we showed."
Notes: Sophomores Missy West and Jennifer Forte are still out with long-term injuries. Freshman Rochelle Parent sat out the game with a tender foot.
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