Oh, what a difference one week can make.
Exactly eight nights after Duke's hard-suffered loss to Maryland, the women's basketball team returned to Cameron Indoor Stadium and got back to winning.
Perhaps it comes down to one sentence.
"It's been a long, hard week of practice and I think it really paid off," coach Gail Goestenkors said.
On paper, Georgia Tech should have been a marginally tougher ACC opponent than Maryland. Yet, the Blue Devils took a decisive win against the Yellow Jackets by a 32-point margin. Duke is coming back strong, trying to approaching its level of play before Peppi Browne's injury. Behind the numbers, however, there are a variety of elements at work.
First, the team has regained a steady rhythm on the court. In contrast to some awkward bumbling plays a week ago, the Blue Devils dazzled Georgia Tech with rapid-fire passing, modified with more confidence and intensity.
"Especially with Georgia Tech's zone, you have to work the ball a little bit, penetrating and skipping and just ball movement in general," point guard Krista Gingrich said. "[Goestenkors] said we could have an open three at any given time, but
Duke's defense was also very strong Friday night. After being destroyed by Terrapin gunners Tiffany Brown and Marché Strickland last week, the Blue Devils saw the need for a versatile and aggressive defense.
Against Georgia Tech, Duke showed that it could adapt on defense after leading scorer Danielle Donehew nailed three treys in six attempts during the first half. In the second half, the Blue Devils allowed her only three attempts from behind the three-point line, none of which made it through the basket. Donehew was limited to only one successful jump shot in 14 minutes of action during the second half.
With the defense clamping down on Donehew, Duke held the Yellow Jackets scoreless for more than five minutes as it went on an 11-0 run midway through the second half.
"We worked all week on defense," Goestenkors said. "We started all over, just like we did in preseason and just built it back up. There was such a strong emphasis on defense and on pressuring and on trusting one another that there would be help if you got beat on penetration. I was just really proud of the way they came out and got in their face a little bit on defense."
One player who was getting very much in Georgia Tech's face was Rochelle Parent, whose six points and 10 rebounds do little justice to her role on the court. In her 26 minutes, Parent was scrambling and diving all over the court with unparalleled intensity.
"Rochelle is probably the greatest warrior on our team," Goestenkors said. "We all recognize that and we all appreciate it. I know it doesn't show up in the stat sheets, but she makes all of the hustle plays. She gets all the tough rebounds and she does so many things for this team emotionally with her hustle and with her heart."
Offensively, the team shined bright as well. Gingrich's 21 points were her season high, as were her five three-pointers. Georgia Schweitzer scored more than 20 points for the first time since the first week of January. While the team made only 43 percent of its field goals, it had only 10 turnovers, only two of which were in the second half.
"I think as a team, we ran when we needed to run and then we executed when we needed to slow it down," Gingrich said. "Overall, I think we did a fairly decent job offensively."
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