CLEMSON, S.C. - After an emotionally draining loss, it takes a strong team to come out dominating the next game, regardless of the caliber of the opponent. While there were no explosive minutes or complete breakdowns, the women's basketball team dominated Clemson tonight.
From the smiles and cheers of the Blue Devils even during warm ups, any on-looker could tell that Duke was not going to be broken down by a single loss. The team came ready to play their game, even with No. 1 Connecticut in the back of their minds.
"Since UConn, I think this past week we've had our best practices that we've had all season," Alana Beard said. "It has been three consistent, intense practices, and everybody came back focused and ready to play and learn from what we did wrong during the UConn game. It was very intense and I loved it."
Beard came out quietly, yet forcefully. The astounding Beard dismayed Tiger fans once in a while with hard drives toward the basket, including her opening jumper which swished through the net as she fell on the floor. The physical treatment of Beard would continue as many of her 21 points were from the free throw line where she went 9-for-10.
More notably, perhaps, were the abilities displayed by Lindsey Harding, a young freshman coming off of the same loss but a different position on the team: non-starting role. But partially because Harding started for the first time this year with the defensive intensity and offensive leadership of any Duke player that has started this year. With five steals, four assists, and four defensive rebounds, Harding took on the Clemson contest with intensity and experience.
"I thought we had good pressure on the ball," head coach Gail Goestenkors said about the offensive struggles of the Lady Tigers. "Having Vicki, Lindsey and Alana in the backcourt - they are all very quick and work very hard, so I think part of it was our defensive pressure."
Tonight's game against Clemson proved that a contest like the one against UConn is not going to leave Duke down for the count. Certainly the loss on national television dealt them a heavy blow, but the Blue Devils have the rest of the season to keep on blowing by teams with the same grace and dominance they've exhibited all season.
They may not have played like a No. 1 team tonight - maybe not even a No. 2 - but their ability to enter a game with a forceful attitude and a resilient determination exemplifies the qualities of a top-ranked team.
"Every time this team has been tested and we've had to deal with some adversity, we've always shown great character," Goestenkors said. "The Connecticut game was some adversity for us, and we did the best thing we could which was learn from that experience and show the character that we have and become a better team because of that game."
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