On an election night where returns were too close to call in many parts of the country, the results from Cameron Indoor Stadium were clear from the onset. The only question plaguing the minds of the Duke fans who watched the women's basketball team in its first exhibition of the season was whether or not the Blue Devils would join the century club.
They did, with the final points coming on a three-point play by forward Iciss Tillis. Her jumper in traffic and the ensuing free throw brought No. 1 Duke to 100 with 5.7 seconds left in the contest, trumping the Premier Players' 51 points in a landslide victory that began from the opening basket.
The game closed with an auspicious note for the Blue Devils' season, but it opened badly for the team.
On the opening tip, the ball went to guard Monique Currie, who began a drive to the hoop, but collapsed, holding her left knee. Currie, an All-America candidate, was helped off the court and did not play for the rest of the game.
Coach Gail Goestenkors looked at the bright side of this injury to her star.
"It makes me happy that we have the depth that we have this year," Goestenkors said. "Because we know there are other people that can step right in."
The game was scoreless for the first minute, with senior Sheana Mosch striking first with a pull-up jumper at 18:52. Lindsey Harding scored on a jumper bookended by two three-pointers from preseason All-American Alana Beard.
These two treys were the Premier Players' first exposure to a Duke barrage from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils shot 12-for-20 for the game from three-point range, with Beard a perfect two-for-two and junior guard Vicki Krapohl getting all nine of her points from downtown.
With a little more than twelve minutes left in the half, Beard showed why she was the only unanimous All-America selection. Grabbing a long rebound of a missed Premier Players shot, Beard took the ball from baseline to baseline, finishing with a strong layup to extend the Duke lead.
"I was just focused," said Beard, "and I wanted to get the team going defensively."
The half wound down with Duke extending its lead with its depth. Of Duke's 46 first-half points, 16 came from the bench, including Mosch, who replaced Currie, going four-for-four for eight points.
At the half, Duke led 46-27, just missing two more points when Tillis' buzzer beater sat on the rim for several seconds before rolling off.
In the second half, Goestenkors gave her reserves, especially the freshmen, plenty of minutes. Every player save Currie saw more than ten minutes on the hardwood and scored at least three points. Harding, Mosch and Jessica Foley each contributed eight points to the Blue Devil cause, and freshman Mistie Bass tallied nine points.
The freshmen performed well in their first game, accounting for 36 points.
"They were pretty nervous, and you can't blame them," Mosch said, "coming and playing their first college game in Cameron.... But we're really proud of how they played tonight."
The crowd found amusement in taunting Premier Player and former UNC guard Nikki Teasley, whose shorts fell down in front of the Cameron crowd.
La'Keishia Frett of the Premier Players nailed a jumper to bring the score to 59-36. This was the only score the visitors had for a period of 8:58, as Duke went on a 20-2 run. This streak was highlighted by a trio of three-pointers from Harding, Matyasovsky, and Foley. By the time the score was 72-36, the run was over and in many ways so was the game.
"[The run] shows how effective our depth can be," said Goestenkors. "At the end of the halves, we should be able to take advantage of their fatigue."
Tillis, Foley, and freshman Caitlin Howe all nailed threes late.
With less than six seconds to go, Tillis stuck the jumper, and sank the free throw to give Duke a margin of victory anyone could envy on Election Day.
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