Duke pulls out 70-49 win despite injuries to Beard

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - After a 13-0 first half spurt pushed the women's team's lead to 35-21, Duke used the theory of containment in the cold shooting war that was the second half to defeat Florida State (15-11, 7-8 in the ACC) to the tune of a 70-49 Blue Devil victory.

Although the final score hints at a blow-out, the Blue Devils (27-1, 15-0) were all but comfortable in the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center after Alana Beard mildly sprained both ankles and the team shot an uncharacteristic 33.3 percent in the game's final twenty minutes.

Beard first went down in pain in the first half when she landed awkwardly on her right ankle after knocking down a fade-away jump shot to tie the game at four with 18:24 left in the game. But she knew her injury was not serious.

"It wasn't like, 'Oh, my God, I'm out for the season' or anything like that," Beard said.

Duke held on without its star, as Iciss Tillis hit two turn-around jump shots, Sheana Mosch converted on a lay-up while fouled, and Michele Matyasovsky nailed a three-pointer to give Duke a 13-13 tie, Beard was then able to check back into the game with 15:03 remaining in the half.

Beard appeared 100 percent healthy upon her return, particularly after she stole a pass, leading to a three-point play to give the Blue Devils a 17-14 lead. Despite the courage displayed by Beard, it took a jump shot by Seminole Genesis Choice to shrink Duke's lead to 22-21 to kick the Blue Devils into high gear.

After Choice's shot, a Vicki Krapohl three-pointer started a 14-1 Blue Devil run, which was highlighted by four Duke steals.

Things did not continue to be easy for the Blue Devils, however, because after Beard scored 13 points following her initial injury, she sprained her left ankle while flying out-of-bounds after an off-balance shot missed with 7:39 left in the second half.

Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors claimed the second half defense of freshman Lindsey Harding on Florida State's star Tasheika Morris - who scored 18 points but only shot 2-of-8 from the floor in the second half - and the scoring of Mosch were the reasons Duke won without the normal performance from its stars.

"Sheana Mosch has been playing very well for us lately, and I felt she did a good job," Goestenkors said. "And Lindsey, I felt played tremendous defense on Morris in the second half. I really felt that she did a great job denying and limiting her touches."

With her 13 points, it was Mosch's fourth consecutive game in double figures, shooting 5-for-7 from the field.

Shooting 50 percent in the second half, Mosch was one of the few players from either team to find her stroke in the last twenty minutes.

After Duke and Florida State shot 53.1 and 47.8 percent, respectively, in the first half, the two went 33.3 and 27.3 percent in the second.

"They made everything difficult for us. We got no easy looks, no easy baskets," Goestenkors said.

It was the seventh consecutive game Duke held its opponent under 40 percent shooting.

But it was the Blue Devil's ability to get to the free-throw line eleven more times than the Seminoles - who were playing without regulars Lauren Bradley and Laquinta Neely - in the second half that allowed their lead to never dip below nine in the closing 20 minutes of play.

"We've got to get to the free-throw line," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "We're settling too much for the outside jump shot. Obviously when they go to the line 23 times they're doing a much better job on penetration."

In a dreary half where spurts were few and far between, Duke ended the game on a 25-15 run to end the contest with a 21-point lead.

"I'm proud of my team," Goestenkors said. "We had some adversity, but we always show great character through our adversity."