After a surprising loss to Florida State last week, the women's basketball team has been revitalized in its last couple games, defeating both opponents by considerable margins. Last night's contest against Wake Forest (10-13, 3-9 in ACC) demonstrated just how strong Duke (19-3, 10-1) is both offensively and defensively. The team shot 50 percent from the field and collected 14 blocks and 12 steals. Alana Beard and Iciss Tillis combined for 45 of the team's 80 points, en route to an 80-55 defeat of the Demon Deacons.
In Tillis's first game since February 2nd against Clemson, when she suffered a concussion during the first half, she scored the first points of the game off a jumper. She sank half of her shots from the field and all of her free throws, giving her 22 points. The Oklahoma native also contributed to last night's win with four blocks, three steals and seven rebounds.
"I felt good [tonight]," Tillis said. "I was really excited. You never know how much you miss the game until you can't play."
With four minutes left in the first half, the Demon Deacons were within four points of Duke, keeping the game relatively close. That was until the Blue Devils went on a 12-2 run to close the half. Wake Forest was led by guard Elizabeth Strunk and forward Erin Ferrell, who scored all but three of the Demon Deacons' 25 first-half points. Because it relied so heavily on these two players, Wake Forest struggled when Duke strengthened its defense on the duo with more on-the-ball pressure. Strunk and Ferrell only scored five points apiece in the second half.
The Blue Devils dominated both offensively and defensively in that period, shooting 52 percent from the field and outrebounding Wake Forest 22-11. Lindsey Harding also reached double digits, scoring 10 points to go with her eight assists and six rebounds. Duke outscored Wake Forest by 20 points in the paint because of superior vision, as the team's ability to pass well and anticipate movement allowed many free opportunities to score.
Defensively, Duke showed no sign of passiveness in the second half. The team avoided taking the charge and attacked the ball, thereby recording 14 blocks, a school record. Duke also attacked the boards better in the second half after Wake Forest pulled down more than the Blue Devils in the first 20 minutes.
"I thought we were not nearly as aggressive as we needed to be [in the first half]," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. " Sometimes our defense helped to create our offense but we didn't seem to get out on transition the way we normally do in the first half. We blocked shots but they ended up getting a lot of offensive rebounds so I think we took ourselves out of a lot of plays where we needed to box out and get the rebound. But we came out much more aggressive in the second half and did a better job."
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