"I feel like that's always our point of emphasis--to always overpower the other team's post," Duke forward Mistie Bass said after dominating the paint all night against Maryland. "Last year we weren't as strong as we are this year and I feel like we really take pride in our offensive and defensive post play."
Taking "pride" in their inside efforts is just being humble.
The Blue Devils should be glowing from their inside performance Thursday night against the Terrapins. Duke pulled down double the number of offensive rebounds Maryland did in the first half and had scored 13 second-chance points to the Terps' four.
Within the first five minutes of the game, it was obvious that Bass, along with Monique Currie and Iciss Tillis, were going to make Maryland fight for every possession. Just three minutes into the game, Tillis pulled down a three-point miss from Currie, took a power bounce, went up for a contested layup and made the extra point. Then, at 16:35 the Terrapin's top scorer Shay Doron--who finished with 17 points--missed a layup rebounded by Bass. Bass made a lead pass to Alana Beard at half court, who missed on the drive to the basket. But Bass was there on the other end for the offensive rebound as well, Bass took a bounce and went right back up to make it a 12-8 game.
On the very next possession, Doron's frustrations continued as the double team by Currie and Vicki Krapohl pressured her into a turnover. Currie missed her breakaway layup off the steal but came down with her own rebound and put up a follow that fell for two.
"We've really placed an emphasis on our rebounding this season and in particular our offensive rebounding," a more-than-satisfied head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "The goal for the team that they set for themselves before this game was to get 20 offensive rebounds and they got 21. So really it's a huge focus."
Duke's focus on the boards continued to pay off in the second half. Runs like the 7-0 run at the beginning of the second period continued to bury Maryland's offense. The Blue Devils started a 16-0 run at the end of the first half that continued into the second half that put the final stamp on the Terrapins' defeat.
Numbers-wise, the team was perfectly consistent in the second half, doubling their second-chance points--tallying 26 overall--while Maryland gained only two more.
This is a perfect time for Duke's inside play to be hot. Tennessee, potentially the most dangerous team the Blue Devils will face this season, is an inside-powered team and Duke will need to win each matchup in the post to be successful.
"It's going to be a great matchup," Goestenkors said. "I think their post game is their strength. They have tremendous guards and great shooters as well but they run everything through their post."
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