NORFOLK, Va. - Outmatching and dominating Southern in every aspect of the game, Duke used its opening round matchup to mentally rebound from its late-season losses and to give its hard-working reserves a taste of the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils did not march into the NCAA Tournament on a high note. After they firmly established themselves as the No. 1 team in the country in a 93-51 blowout victory over Virginia Tech Feb. 22, they struggled down the stretch. In losses in two of its last three games to North Carolina and Maryland, respectively, Duke no longer exuded the poise it wanted for a run at the NCAA Championship.
The once-shaken confidence, however, was restored against the Jaguars.
"I think it was good for us mentally," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We haven't blown a team out in a while. I think it was good for our confidence. We've been coming off some tough games and some losses, and we've been working really hard. Confidence is such a fleeting thing, and I think, honestly, this game was better for us mentally than physically."
The Blue Devils established themselves early. Instead of having to struggle and scrap for scoring opportunities like they had against tougher ACC opponents, the Blue Devils set the pace of the game by patiently swinging the ball around the three-point line and taking their time to find the open shot.
Early in the game, freshman guard Abby Waner started the Blue Devils motion offense when she passed the ball to junior center Alison Bales who had set herself up at the free throw line. Bales subsequently turned to the basket, looked down low and fed the ball to senior forward Mistie Williams who finished the play with a layup to put Duke ahead, 9-0.
Not only did the weaker opponent allow the Blue Devils to reinvigorate their game, it allowed head coach Gail Goestenkors to play her whole bench. Although Emily Waner, Laura Kurz and Carrem Gay saw substantial playing time early in the season, they only combined for an average of 21.7 minutes per game in ACC games.
Once the Duke starters took control of the game against Southern, Goestenkors did not hesitate to put the three on the floor. Sophomore guard Emily Waner said she was just waiting for the opportunity to play in an NCAA Tournament atmosphere. In 13 minutes of play, she helped shut down Jaguar point guard Tiffany Jones, who led her team in scoring with seven points.
While at times the three showed some of their inexperience and had to quizzically look toward the bench for what to do, they effectively implemented the Blue Devils' scheme and helped propel the team to its 59-point win.
In the final minutes of the game, Gay confidently took a pass from Abby Waner, drove from the free-throw line and came under the basket for the layup. Kurz did one better by following a layup with a three-pointer on the next trip down the floor to build the Blue Devils lead to 89-25. Emily Waner finished the game by knocking down a three from four feet behind the arc off a pass from sister Abby.
"The NCAA Tournament is the real thing," Kurz said. "When I first stepped out on the floor, I thought, 'Wow, I'm playing in the NCAA Tournament on one of the best teams in the country.' Just having the opportunity to play on this team and in the NCAA Tournament is awesome in and of itself."
Even though it would have been easy for the Blue Devils to sit back and cruise to a first-round victory, they maintained their poise. Throughout the matchup with Southern, Duke worked on all aspects of its game in preparation for tougher upcoming opponents.
"We worked a lot on pushing the ball up the floor," Lindsey Harding said. "There were times at the end of the season in which we would set up a little too soon instead of just running and running a play."
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