In a surprisingly close game and after a tough start, the Duke women's basketball team (21-0, 13-0 in the ACC) defeated the Clemson Lady Tigers (14-9, 6-6) Sunday 77-69.
The win extends the Blue Devils' undefeated streak against ACC teams and clinches outright the ACC regular-season title
The Lady Tigers showed up to Cameron Indoor Stadium with intensity and aggression that caught Duke by surprise. The extremely physical game was sometimes sloppily played by both Duke and Clemson. Because of the closeness of the game, the Blue Devils hardly treated their victory as a milestone win.
"I give Clemson a lot of credit, and I'm obviously not happy with how we played. I think they played very good defense, very outstanding," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "They came here very prepared and very focused. They had five players in double figures, which tells me they're focused."
The first few minutes were tough for the Blue Devils, when they got outscored 8-0 until Duke forward Iciss Tillis made a three-pointer five minutes into the game to put the Blue Devils on the board. That initial surprise, however, affected the Blue Devils throughout the rest of the game.
"We came out aggressive,
With a minute-and-a-half left in the game, Duke's lead over the Tigers was only four points. Duke junior Michele Matyasovsky missed a crucial jumpshot and Clemson forward Leah Roper grabbed the rebound to give her team possession of the ball.
The Lady Tigers had four subsequent possessions in which they could have made a run on Duke, but they did not capitalize. Clemson was called twice for traveling violations and lost hope of pulling off the upset when Scott fouled Duke senior Krista Gingrich. Gingrich made her two foul shots to increase the Duke lead to 75-69 with 22 seconds left.
"Things were going really well for us at the end, and we just didn't execute," Davis said. "Our achilles heel was our rebounding. I think the girls were ready to play mentally, were ready to play physically and were ready to play technically. I think [the team] really played with confidence."
For the Blue Devils, Tillis was the one who kept her cool throughout the game. The sophomore scored 22 points total, 13 of which came in the first half alone. She also went 9-of-13 in field goal attempts.
"We came out very finnicky and hyper," Tillis said. "I knew we would calm down, I just let things come. I didn't rush my shots. I just let the game come to me."
Tillis' presence on the court also helped the Blue Devils defensively, as she shut down players she covered.
Duke sophomore Monique Currie was right behind Tillis with 15 points. Currie hit the final shot of the game in dramatic fashion, which gave Duke its final margin of 77-69.
Tillis' presence for the Blue Devils was matched by Scott's presence for the Tigers. Scott went 7-of-8 in field goal attempts and finished the game with 19 points. She led the Tigers in forced turnovers, of which Duke had 26.
"Twenty-six turnovers is inexcusable," Goestenkors said. "This is not acceptable for a championship team. We needed a physical game like this one. We have a week get through our weaknesses and just get back to the basics."
Clemson did not want to repeat what happened when the two teams met earlier this season. Their preparedness almost gave them a win, but the Lady Tigers fell short to the Blue Devils' talent.
"We were going to come in ready to compete," Davis said. "We weren't going to roll over and play dead."
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