After a slow start in the exhibition game against Dynamo-Moscow last night, Duke cruised to victory after Sheana Mosch made a layup from a Monique Curry wrap-around pass with 1:39 left in the second half.
Dynamo-Moscow, a professional Russian league team in the middle of an American tour, featured a deceptively quick and skilled group of women who made a difficult matchup for Duke. While the game featured some high energy plays, Duke coach Gail Goestenkors noted that her team was only successful in spurts and will have to change that before Sunday's game against Texas Tech. Goestenkors also felt that the Russian team was good preparation for the upcoming contest.
"This was a great team for us to play," Goestenkors said. "They're somewhat similar to Texas Tech. They exploited some things we need to work on."
Specifically, Dynamo broke down Duke's defensive play with Natalia Zassoulskaya, a 6-foot-3 center who scored 23 points, and guard Alexandra Fomenko, who tallied 22. With Zassoulskaya's dominating strength and the quickness of Fomenko, Dynamo simply got around the Blue Devils and caused many breakdowns.
"[Zassoulskaya] looks like she'd be slow but she's got great footwork and fitness.... [She was] a tough match
Duke center Iciss Tillis felt that, although Zassoulskaya was a domineering player, Duke just did not have a strong game. She also noted that Duke should have been more used to playing against bigger people, since their practice players are men.
At halftime, Goestenkors told her team to pick it up on both consistency and the defensive rotations.
Mosch, who had only two points at the half, did not focus so much on offense but rather set out to better her defensive play.
"I knew where I was struggling the most was defensively.... That was where I was hurting my team the most," Mosch said.
Down 37-36 at halftime, Mosch and the Blue Devils played with more confidence and energy and gave a much better showing in the second half both offensively and defensively. Mosch, who was focusing on her defensive game in the second half, rallied for a total of 16 points. Tillis ended with 25 points, and had the only three-pointer for her team in the entire game.
After struggling for the lead through the first half and the first few minutes of the second, Duke finally tied up the game at 40-40 when Alana Beard scored off a steal from Michele Matyasovsky. From there on, the Blue Devils dropped the lead only once. Guards Alana Beard, Vicki Krapohl and Krista Gingrich had two, four, and five assists respectively.
Six-foot-two freshman Wynter Whitley, who started for the Blue Devils, and Monique Currie, also a freshman, demonstrated flashes of ability and intensity. Both players let their nerves come through, though, as they shot a combined 7-of-22 from the field.
Even with a good lead at the end of the game, Goestenkors and her team, who are ranked fourth in the ESPN/USA Today poll and fifth in the Associated Press poll, were not very pleased with the level of play and believe that it will need to change soon.
"We didn't run our fast break. We're a much better team when we run.... We were not seeing the whole floor [tonight]" Goestenkors said.
Concerning Duke's rankings, Goestenkors added, "it doesn't matter, it doesn't phase us in the least. We know we have to go out and play every game."
Mosch believes that the Blue Devils can step up their play right away.
"I think we're in a good position. We're executing great in practice.... Tonight we weren't focused enough, but we'll definitely fix that," Mosch said.
Duke plays Texas Tech Sunday at 1 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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