ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- While humidity is nearly absent from the arid Albuquerque area, New Mexico was just too Mistie for the Georgia women's basketball team.
Freshman Mistie Bass scored 10 consecutive Duke points en route to a 10-4 second-half run that gave the Blue Devils a much needed five-point cushion in an extremely sluggish 66-63 win over fifth-seeded Georgia.
The outburst was far from predictable. Bass had been in one of the deepest troughs of her roller-coaster freshman season, connecting on just two of the last thirteen shots she had attempted, including two much-needed, point-blank attempts in the first half.
"Bass didn't let the easy shots she missed in the first half affect her finishing in the second half," Duke junior Iciss Tillis said.
Bass' poor first half play easily blended with rest of the Blue Devils. Duke shot just 32.3 percent in the first half, scoring just eight points in the opening 10 minutes along the way. The Blue Devils eventually went on an 18-6 run to take a 26-25 lead, but then faltered again as the Bulldogs took a 32-28 advantage to halftime.
Duke had obviously been affected by Georgia's famed zone defense. Consider, National Player of the Year Alana Beard attempted just three field goals in the game's first 20 minutes, and the Blue Devils connected on just five of their 17 three-point attempts.
"Their zone was really tight," Beard said. "They played a sort of Y zone, but it was really active and cuts would close up quick. I give them credit, they had a great game plan."
Despite Duke's first half struggles, the general mood of the Blue Devil crowd, which included President Nan Keohane and her husband Robert, seemed to believe the problems were only temporary and the start of the second half would give the Blue Devils a fresh start.
It did not.
Beard looked like her old self on the first two plays of the game, assertively driving to the hoop. But both of her very makeble shots clanged off the rim, and the All-American remained passive for the remainder of the game.
This is when anxiety set in. The Blue Devils were trailing a determined and athletic team, and none of its seemingly infinite options were producing results.
Mixing things up to breathe some life into Duke, head coach Gail Goestenkors substituted Wynter Whitley, Sheana Mosch and Bass for starters Tillis, Vicki Krapohl and Michele Matyasovsky with 12:52 remaining in the second half.
While the first 1:36 of this new line-up only produced a Georgia three-pointer, Goestenkors' gamble paid off, as Bass' post-positioning finally began to break down the Georgia zone. Bass connected on four layups and two free throws in the next four minutes, giving Duke a lead they would never relinquish.
"As far as the zone went, the back man got stuck to the outside," Georgia center Christi Thomas said about how Mistie was able to get open on the low-block. "One time I didn't get around to get a finger on the ball and deny. [Mistie] just played good in that little stretch and she did what her team needed her to do to win tonight."
In addition to the much needed points Bass' run put on the scoreboard for Duke, the 6-foot-3 Wisconsin native also acted as a catalyst. Up to Bass' streak, the Blue Devils had shot just 5-for-21 from the three-point line, but finished 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, including two from Tillis, who finished with an NCAA tournament career-high 21 points.
"They shot the ball a little better from three in the second half," Georgia head coach Andy Landers said.
Although Beard continued her sub-par performance after Bass' run, she did score the game's biggest points. With 53 seconds left in the game and 2.9 left on the shotclock, Beard spun into the lane and knocked down a short jumper.
Georgia was able to obtain possession of the ball with only a 66-63 deficit with 11 seconds remaining, but by this time Georgia was playing timid. Mosch stripped the ball from a wide-eyed Alexis Kendrick, and Duke had won 66-63.
"We're very happy to come away with a win," Goestenkors said. "Give so much credit to Georgia. I thought they played great heart and intensity."
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