ATLANTA - Out of commission since Jan. 2 after a second calf injury prevented her from running, point guard Krista Gingrich eased her way into a game for the first time in better than a month last night at Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
Although her two points and six minutes of action in the first half of Duke's 74-54 victory over the Yellow Jackets made a minimal impact, the former top recruit delivered what was perhaps the wake-up call the Blue Devils needed to recover from last week's loss to Florida State. Two days ago in practice, the only member of Duke's junior class took the helm of the Blue Devils' scout team and did her best impression of the Yellow Jackets' Niesha Butler, the 1999 ACC rookie of the year.
The result was slightly disconcerting, as the-Butler-impersonating Gingrich turned in her best practice of the season by lighting up Duke's defense from the three-point range. Duke coach Gail Goestenkors joked that she approached last night's game hoping it was Butler who would be unable to impersonate Gingrich, but to captain Georgia Schweitzer it proved no laughing matter.
Schweitzer, the reigning ACC player of the year, clamped down on Butler and held the sophomore to one of her least productive games of her career. Duke's senior point guard contributed to Butler's early exit in the first half by baiting her younger counterpart into an ill-advised foul in the Blue Devils' backcourt. Only six minutes into what was still a three-point contest, Butler found herself on the Georgia Tech bench for the remainder of the half.
"I did [consider keeping her in the game], but Niesha is so valuable for us," Georgia Tech coach Agnus Berenato said. "When she got those two quick fouls, it was hard because of the way they were called, but we held our own. I thought we bought time with her on the bench."
Berenato's decision to preserve Butler for the second half sealed her star's fate-there would be no outpouring from the dangerous guard who entered last night averaging better than 16 points per game. Instead, Butler would suffer through a frustrating second half in which Schweitzer and the rest of the Blue Devil defenders kept her out-of-sync until the final buzzer.
With her team down only nine points at halftime despite her conspicuous absence, Butler had Goestenkors on edge slightly to begin the second half, but her typical charge for the Yellow Jackets never came to fruition. The Blue Devils swarmed to Butler every time she touched the ball, and the 5-foot-8 guard ended up being the prime culprit of miscues with five of her team's 25 turnovers.
Although Tech's season-leader in personal fouls avoided fouling out in the second half, she only played 20 minutes, a full 10 less than her typical allotment. In that span of time, she was limited to single-digit scoring on an abysmal 2-of-6 shooting performance.
"It was really hard for me," Butler said. "I don't think I've ever played basketball with six shots in the whole game."
Understandably disappointed, Butler could only watch as the point guard who had helped Duke scout her perfectly wrapped one arm around Goestenkors and smiled. As contrasting as their post-game reactions on their respective sidelines may have been, the real contrast between Gingrich and Butler was visible on the offensive end of the floor.
One found a way to expose Duke's defense, and the other only served as an exposé on the value that can be derived from scout teams.
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