GREENSBORO, N.C. — After a roller coaster season of mental struggle and resultant lackluster play, Iciss Tillis may have finally turned her senior year around—just at the right time. On an afternoon when Alana Beard scored only nine points, Tillis opened the ACC Tournament with a 26-point performance to lift top-seeded, No. 3 Duke (25-3, 16-1 in the ACC) over the ninth seed Wake Forest (12-17, 4-13) 77-59 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
“I want to do anything and everything possible for these last nine games,” Tillis said after the game, talking candidly about her season, the causes for some of the highs and lows and the nine games the team would need to win to claim the ACC Tournament title and programs’ first National Championship.
When the Blue Devils broke the game open with 12 minutes remaining, Tillis was the catalyst. She scored six points in 57 seconds to give Duke a 59-46 advantage. The Blue Devils then held the Demon Deacons scoreless for the subsequent six minutes, as they pushed their lead to 24 before Porsche Jones hit a three-pointer to end the Wake Forest drought.
The Demon Deacons appeared to be out of gas and unable to challenge the Blue Devils down the stretch. Head coach Charlene Curtis’ team escaped with a 61-59 victory over Georgia Tech in Thursday play-in game and could not muster the energy to stay with the Blue Devils.
Especially during the second half, Duke took advantage of its size in the post. Although neither Mistie Bass or Brittany Hunter shot well inside, the pair dominated the smaller Demon Deacon defenders. Hunter, who appears to be hitting her stride after an early-season knee injury, has scored in double figures each of her last three games.
“I thought in the second half we showed a little bit more patience and really looked into the post,” head coach Gail Goestenkors said.
The Blue Devils started slow, as Wake Forest took an early 15-8 lead. The Demon Deacons hit a trio of three-pointers during that early stretch and continued to rely on shots from beyond the arc through the contest, attempting 34 three-pointers. When Duke fell behind during the opening minutes, Goestenkors altered her strategy on both ends of the court.
“That was when we went to our big lineup,” Goestenkors said. “We put our three post players in there together, and we went to our point zone and put Iciss at the top of the zone. They hit the three against the man-to-man, and we thought we could actually defend better out of the zone.”
After missing nine of its first 11 shots from the field and turning the ball over numerous times, Duke finally got its offense rolling after a pair of easy transition layups at the midway point in the first half. The Blue Devils built a 10-point lead which they took into halftime.
The Demon Deacons were also plagued throughout the game by 26 turnovers. The Blue Devils recorded 11 steals, some of which came when the team sporadically utilized either a full-court or half-court press. Fortunate for Goestenkors’ team, many of the steals resulted in fast-break buckets. Duke also rebounded well, again taking advantage of its size, pulling down 41 boards.
“We got some tips and some rebounds and that really ignited us on the other end,” Goestenkors said.
The Blue Devils will not have long to prepare for their next opponent. Sunday at 1 p.m. Duke will face the winner of the game between fourth-seeded Maryland and the fifth seed Florida State which is to be played Saturday night.
The Blue Devils lost at Florida State earlier this year, snapping their long ACC winning streak. An athletic Maryland team also played the Duke tough this season. Still, attempting to win its fifth consecutive ACC Tournament, Duke will be heavily favored to advance to Monday nights’ championship game facing either opponent.
“I think we put in a championship effort today,” Goestenkors said. “We can’t worry about Monday because if we don’t give a championship effort every night there will be no Monday.”
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