Gingrich, VanGorp combine to rout Seminoles

For one night Wednesday, Duke's now-famous journey turned into a journey to the free throw line. The one-two punch of Michele VanGorp and Krista Gingrich-who led all scorers with 22 points apiece-forced the Seminoles (2-3, 0-1 in the ACC) to turn from trading baskets to trading hand checks with the 16th-ranked Blue Devils (5-3, 1-0), leading to a parade to the charity stripe in the second half of a 91-72 Duke win in Cameron Indoor Stadium. "I love it when [the offense is] working in all facets," VanGorp said. "You can either choose to shut down me and Payton [Black] or you can choose to shut down Krista and [Hilary Howard] and Nicole [Erickson]. Either way, we're going to hurt you." VanGorp and Gingrich keyed an 18-2 Duke run midway through the first half that broke open a tight game. A putback by VanGorp ran the Blue Devils' lead to 31-14 with 7:24 left in the half. FSU responded with a 16-2 run of its own thanks to 13 points from leading scorer Latavia Coleman. But after the Seminoles closed to within four at 33-29, Duke's inside-outside combo struck again, running the lead to a comfortable 14 points at the half. The two teams combined for 24 personal fouls in the first half, but the whistles truly came fast and furious after the break. Six Florida State fouls in a span of 1:17 put the Blue Devils in the bonus quickly, and Seminoles starters Coleman, Brooke Wyckoff and April Traylor all fouled out of the game. Despite shooting just 61.3 percent from the line, 24 trips to the line in the second half alone provided plenty of free points for the Blue Devils. Duke also contributed to the erratic pace by turning the ball over 15 times in the last 20 minutes, a fact not lost on Goestenkors. "We have to learn to be a lot smarter," she said. "The way we ended the game, of course, I was not pleased with. So that's something we'll work on." Amidst the chaos, the Blue Devils led by as many as 34 before a mini-run by the FSU bench gave Duke its final margin of victory. The Seminoles, who entered the game at the bottom of the ACC in scoring defense and three-point shooting, suffered from some familiar problems, allowing Duke to shoot 52.5 percent from the floor and hitting only 4-of-19 from beyond the arc. FSU also found itself out-rebounded by the league's worst rebounding team, in large part because Wyckoff's one board fell far short of her ACC-best 10.8 per game average. If that weren't enough, coach Sue Semrau said her team's cause was also hurt by the tight officiating. "We're not used to it, and I don't think anybody is," she said after watching her team almost pick up as many fouls (26) as it had field goals made (28). "I think that all of us coaches are really trying to adjust, but when three of your starters foul out, when you have eight fouls with 14 minutes to go in the second half, it's difficult to adjust." Coleman led four Seminoles in double digits with 18 points while grabbing nine boards. Duke's Erickson churned out 15 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Peppi Browne led her team on the glass with nine rebounds. Now riding the wave of a four-game winning streak, the Blue Devils find themselves facing the biggest test a team can face: a date with superpower Tennessee at the Honda Elite Four Classic in Orlando. It's a foe Duke knows well-both VanGorp and Gingrich have played with Vols' players in the past-and the biggest measuring stick in a season that has already forced the Blue Devils to take inventory. "It's a tremendous opportunity; it's a tremendous challenge," Goestenkors said. "This team has responded very well to challenges. Sometimes we haven't enjoyed the outcome, but we've gotten better every game that we've played. I think this is the greatest challenge we can ask for, and I think we're very excited about the opportunity."