The Blue Devils captured yet another Duke Classic Championship Sunday.
Handily taking down Arkansas State and Auburn, the women's basketball team won its 14th Duke Classic title this weekend in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
After struggling with the slow tempo Auburn set at the start of the game, the Blue Devils (5-0) picked up their full-court press after the break. Taking advantage of Tiger turnovers, Duke scored 22 unanswered points in less than six minutes on its way to defeating Auburn, 69-37.
"[In the first half,] we played their tempo," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I thought in the second half... we really changed the tempo of the game, which is what we wanted to do, and we became much more aggressive on both ends of the floor."
The Tigers (3-2) passed half court only once in nearly two minutes, as Duke forced turnovers on inbounds passes after every basket, leaving Auburn head coach Nell Fortner no choice but to call a timeout to try to regroup her team.
"We were just trying to get the ball down the floor," Fortner said. "Nobody really wants the ball when you have that kind of pressure."
But their efforts could not stop the Blue Devils, who racked up seven offensive rebounds and four steals on the 22-0 run.
Toward the beginning of the run, tournament MVP Lindsey Harding, who finished the game with eight points and seven assists, chased after a loose ball Mistie Williams had swatted away from Auburn's basket. With Tiger Whitney Boddie on her tail, Harding picked up the ball and sank a basket, while being fouled. She made the free throw to give Duke a 14-point lead that would only grow.
The Tigers, who trailed by only 10 points at the half, could not keep up with the Blue Devils' fast pace and intense pressure, Boddie said.
"It was hard getting open, trying to get the ball, and when you did get the ball, they just sandwiched you," Boddie said. "I couldn't really see over the defense. Honestly, they did rattle us a little bit. We lost our composure, but I think we'll learn a lot from this game."
Duke initiated a stronger full-court press and a quicker pace after the break because Auburn had limited the Blue Devils' first-half possessions and kept them to only 33 points over the first 20 minutes.
The Tigers made a conscious effort to keep the ball in their hands for as long as possible in that period, Fortner said.
"That was the only way I felt like we could stay in the ball game with them, to try to limit their possessions," she said.
Auburn walked the ball down court and consistently ran the shot clock down to single digits throughout the game. By slowing things down, the Tigers kept Duke to its lowest scoring output of the season.
Freshman Abby Waner and senior Monique Currie led the Blue Devils with 14 points each.
The Duke trio of Currie, Williams and Harding was named to the All-Tournament team, along with Arkansas State's Adrianne Davie and Auburn's Boddie. Davie led the Indians with a career-high 29 points against George Mason Sunday and 13 points against the Blue Devils.
Duke routed Arkansas State (3-1) Saturday, 110-56, as five Blue Devils scored in double digits. Harding and Laura Kurz led the team with 19 points each, and Duke dominated the paint with 62 points inside.
The Blue Devils have captured the Duke Classic in all but two years since 1992. Duke did not host the tournament last year and lost in overtime in 2001 to South Carolina.
NOTES:
The Blue Devils won their second straight Duke Classic against Auburn.... Bales finished with a career-high five steals to go along with six rebounds, two blocks and one assist Sunday.... Duke finished with a season-high 18 steals Sunday.... Goestenkors improves to 83-7 against non-conference opponents in Cameron Indoor Stadium during her 14 years at Duke.... Duke finished with a season-low 69 points and 40.9 field goal percentage. It marks the first time this season the Blue Devils have shot under 50 percent from the field.... Duke will travel to Texas for a pair of contests next weekend, including a showdown with the No. 18 Longhorns Friday.
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