BOSTON - Going into Sunday night's Final Four game against LSU, head coach Gail Goestenkors had a plan for the Blue Devils.
It worked.
Duke preyed on the Tigers' weaknesses, consistently clogging the middle of the floor to force LSU to take outside shots. And the Tigers, who shot just 29 percent from the field, just couldn't handle it.
"Several teams have played them in a similar fashion," Goestenkors said. "You know who the go-to players are on LSU's team. And we're not the first team to sag off of [Erica] White. She has seen that before. So we just tried to mix things up a little bit."
The Blue Devils were able to hold LSU's stars to minimal scoring on the night. Goestenkors said she gave guard Lindsey Harding the responsibility to double up on All-American Seimone Augustus, helping Wanisha Smith to shut her down. The pair was effective-Augustus finished the game with 14 points, nine points shy of her season average of 23, and failed to score during the first half.
"I just tried to get her to take some uncomfortable shots," Smith said. "Towards the end, she started to make some shots but that is what true All-Americans do."
In the same way, the Blue Devils used their center Alison Bales to double up with either Mistie Williams or Chante Black on LSU center Sylvia Fowles. With Bales' help, Duke held Fowles to 3-for-8 shooting from the field.
"Bales was in charge of double responsibility on Sylvia Fowles," Goestenkors said. "Lindsey had Seimone and Ali was responsible for doubles on Fowles. So a double with a 6'5" and a 6'7" person-probably they haven't seen that all year long because we do have that size, and we have got depth to continue to rotate fresh people on them."
The Tigers did, however, make a few runs that brought the game within reach. Midway through the first half, LSU went on a nine-point scoring streak that brought the score within five points. But even when the Tigers found ways to penetrate the Blue Devil defense, Duke turned around and found a new way to further frustrate LSU.
"I think once they become comfortable with whatever you're doing, then they're very efficient, and so that's why we did that," Goestenkors said. "But we also changed things up and ran some zones at them as well."
The Blue Devils started the game in a press, but switched regularly from zone to man defense and back again. Duke put pressure on the Tigers constantly, pushing them to attempt tough shots in the limited scoring windows they could get.
"We had some difficulties knocking down open shots," LSU guard Scholanda Hoston said. "We didn't execute our offense and didn't get good shots. The shots that we were trying to take were a little bit out of rhythm and out of character."
The rushed pace caused the Tigers' offense to slowly unravel in the second half. Duke was aggressive in the paint and under the basket, especially on defense.
As the last three minutes ticked off the clock, Duke's work had already paid off. With 2:39 to play, Bales left the court to a standing ovation from the Blue Devil fans. All-American guard Monique Currie scored two quick baskets and then slowed the pace of the game. When she brought the ball up the court for the final time seconds later, the senior paused as she dribbled and looked down the floor with a smile on her face. The game was in the bag.
"So I just give them tremendous credit," Williams said of her teammates. "They got a job and they nailed it. And it showed."
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