GREENSBORO - At halftime yesterday afternoon, it looked like it might go down to the wire.
But then Duke opened the second half with a 14-1 run that lasted 10 minutes. Aided by several such second-half runs and tenacious defense, the top-seeded Blue Devils (27-3) beat fourth-seeded Florida State (18-11), 72-56.
"I'm very proud of our team and the way they defended," coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I thought we played great defense and rebounded very well."
The win puts Duke in position to defend its conference tournament title tonight against N.C. State.
Although the Blue Devils won by a decisive margin, the Seminoles, who beat Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium last month, posed a significant challenge as they led for much of the first half.
But after a halftime pep talk from Goestenkors, the Blue Devils came out to play the second half with a mission. The 38-36 halftime lead left a lot to be desired for Duke, and for the first 10 minutes of the half, the Blue Devils sought successfully to put more points between themselves and their opponents.
In addition to scoring, though, Duke put emphasis on its defense and rebounding in the second half, nagging Seminole ball-handlers and fronting Florida State's shooters.
"We were not pleased with the way we played against Wake Forest," said senior Rochelle Parent, referring to Duke's 75-68 overtime win against the conference's last-place team Friday. "It was not a good showing of Duke basketball. We wanted to improve in all aspects of the game. Today we really focused on playing great quarter-court defense, boxing
Sophomore Michele Matyasovsky, having just earned her starting position with only two games remaining in the regular season, opened the second period with a three-pointer.
In the next 10 minutes, Florida State missed eight shots-exactly the number of shots it took-and grabbed no offensive rebounds. The Seminoles' only production during this time was one made free throw by Levys Torres. Duke, meanwhile, was also missing shots, but the Blue Devils countered their misses with makes, scoring 11 more points off layups and jumpers. Torres finally ended Florida State's drought with a jumper, but by then Duke had already opened a 13-point lead.
Some may have thought there was no way Duke would allow Florida State to come back after a near-miss overtime battle with Wake Forest Friday night.
But after a missed jumper by Duke's Rometra Craig, the Seminoles rebounded and on the other end of the court, Iciss Tillis fouled Florida State's Shinikki Whiting. The senior guard made one of two free throws. Whiting then stole the ball from Alana Beard as she drove and passed to the rarely used Molly Beal. Making the most of her minutes, Beal knocked down a three-pointer for the Seminoles. Whiting scored two quick buckets, and all of a sudden, Duke was the victim of a 10-1 run, during which the Blue Devils' only point came from the foul line.
"We started taking quick shots," Goestenkors said. "One thing we showed today was great patience. In that stretch, we started shooting after one pass. We talked about getting back to what was working for
With the lead cut to six, Georgia Schweitzer simultaneously hit a trey and stole the momentum. A minute later, Schweitzer stepped to the arc again for a triple and dropped in a two for good measure with 5:35 remaining in the game. Schweitzer's personal run gave the Blue Devils a double-digit lead that swelled and ebbed in the game's final minutes, but the margin never dipped below 11.
While Florida State starters Brooke Wyckoff and April Traylor denied feeling winded during the game's late moments, Goestenkors hoped Duke would be able to wear down the Seminoles, especially since they had played Saturday while the Blue Devils enjoyed a bye.
"We realized that pressure defense might not pay off in the first half, but it would in the second," Goestenkors said. "We wanted to wear them down. We knew we would be the fresher team."
And while Schweitzer once again led the offensive campaign with a player-of-the-year-buzzworthy showing, her classmate Parent continued to boost Duke defensively with 13 rebounds and three drawn charges. Parent had left Friday's game late with a strained hamstring, but after icing the hamstring and resting during Saturday's practice, she was able to start yesterday and play 34 minutes.
Although both of their first two ACC tournament games have featured deficits and leads, the Blue Devils seem to have found a rare offensive and defensive sync thanks to the leadership of their two seniors. Tonight, Duke will attempt to repeat as conference champions in what has been, to the Blue Devils, a most venerable host arena.
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