WASHINGTON -- The Duke women's basketball team seems to have shrugged off the losses of Crystal White and Rometra Craig like so much dead weight. The squad did not appear to be seriously hampered as it rolled over Virginia, 107-73, in its first ACC game of the season Thursday, two days before disposing of Georgetown (5-1), 89-54. The victories concluded a four-game road trip highlighted by the Blue Devils' (7-2, 1-0 in the ACC) victory over seventh-ranked Louisiana Tech Dec. 2.
Duke coach Gail Goestenkors now sees only three Blue Devils when she glances at her bench during a game. But every player on the eight-person squad contributes, at least when the team is firing on all cylinders as it was Saturday against the unranked Hoyas. Six Blue Devils scored in double figures, and junior Vicki Krapohl added nine.
Alana Beard said she was not surprised by the number of Blue Devils scoring so many points.
"It would be awesome if we could get all eight players in double figures," she said.. "Every time we can do that we know we're gonna win."
Although the Hoyas never gained the lead, they were able to consistently answer the Blue Devils' scoring spurts in the first half. The lead reached double digits only once, at 4:50 remaining in the half, when Sheana Mosch sank a free throw after draining a three-pointer
The margin remained at 10 for only a few seconds, however, as Lesley Walker responded with a three for Georgetown, followed by a quick layup seconds later. Walker then grabbed a defensive board with 3:27 remaining, leading to another Hoya three-pointer and cutting the Duke lead to two, at 33-31.
It was as close as the Hoyas would get, and the last time they would score in the first half. Duke stretched the lead to nine in the final three minutes on a three from Beard and two baskets from hometown favorite Monique Currie, who attended The Bullis School a few miles from Georgetown's McDonough Arena. With the onset of the second half, the Blue Devils began to show their athletic superiority, beating the Hoyas to nearly every rebound on both ends of the floor. Duke finished the game with 45 rebounds to Georgetown's 22, grabbing 14 more boards than its opponents in the second half alone. Combined with five three-pointers to zero by the Hoyas, the Blue Devils had all the offensive firepower they would need.
Goestenkors was particularly happy with Duke's rebounding effort. "I thought we did a great job on the boards.... It was a team effort," Goestenkors said. "To have Sheana Mosch go in there [for 10 rebounds]..., this was our best rebounding effort of the season."
The Hoyas began to stretch themselves thin, as the lead expanded and then quickly contracted for a few more minutes. Then, down 10 with 14:23 remaining, they snapped.
A layup by Michelle Matyasovsky began what would become a 13-0 run for Duke over the next three minutes. Although the Hoyas appeared to recover with two consecutive steals converted into short-range baskets, the floodgates had already opened.
Georgetown downed only three field goals in the final nine minutes of the second half, and the Blue Devils never looked back as they stretched their lead to 35.
Georgetown coach Pat Knapp bristled as he recounted his team's second-half collapse.
"We were outclassed," he said. "And our players can't be outclassed. That is a gut and a heart issue....What's disgusting about this is I gotta wake up tomorrow and relive this crap."
Goestenkors, by contrast, emphasized the difficulty of successfully completing a tough roadtrip at a stressful time of the year.
"I'm just really proud of the team," she said. "This is a tough road stretch for us, with finals coming up."
The Blue Devils will finally have an opportunity to rest--if it can be called that--with a week off for the final exam period. Their schedule resumes Sunday in Cameron Indoor Stadium against UNC-Greensboro.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.