GREENSBORO, N.C.--Individual players cannot win games. Individual players can, however, change games.
In the span of about thirty seconds late in the first half, sophomore Abby Waner made her presence felt on both ends of the floor.
With 4:42 left in the first half, Virginia, trailing by 12, had the ball and a chance to trim the lead to single digits. Instead, Waner stole the ball from Virginia's Monica Wright and ran down the court.
Duke ran its offensive set and got Wanisha Smith at the three-point line at the left elbow, but she lost control of the ball and it went bouncing to the side. Suddenly, with two Cavalier players around her, it seemed certain that they would steal the ball and break open the game.
Fortunately for the Blue Devils, Waner scooped up the loose ball and had about three seconds left on the shot clock. With both Virginia players guarding her, all Waner could do was force up a desperate, leaning three point shot.
Like her four other three pointers of the first half, it swished through, and the Cavaliers would not get any closer than 10 as the Blue Devils romped over Virginia 79-58 Friday afternoon in Greensboro Coliseum.
For the game, Waner shot 9-17 and 6-10 from three-point range to finish with 24 points, easily the game high.
"I don't know if Coach G[oestenkors] wants to hear this, but most of the time I don't think of where I am," said Waner when asked about her three-pointers. "It's a mentality I have."
Up to that game-changing stretch, it appeared as if Virginia might stay competitive, keeping the game within single digits as late as the 5:32 mark. However, once the game began to creep away from them, the Cavaliers could not establish an offensive flow late in the game, with several shots drawing the front of the iron or running into the outstretched arms of Alison Bales, who finished with six blocks.
"Fatigue did become a factor," Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan said. "When they've got the lead it makes it very difficult to change things up."
One thing that Virginia did do well, to the surprise of many, was defend Lindsay Harding well. The front-runner for National Player of the Year had just two points on 1-6 shooting in the first half and wound up with only six points, just one point higher than her season low.
With the lanes clogged and thus little room for penetration, Harding and Wanisha Smith dished it to the perimeter, usually to an open Waner-whether it was Abby or Emily, who hit two three pointers in the first half that helped kill any hope of keeping the game close.
"We just always see what teams give us, and we're going to take what teams give us," Goestenkors said. "I think that feels really good for Lindsay to know that she doesn't have to bear the burden of being a great scorer for us every night."
Duke will next play N.C. State, a team that it beat 65-51 at N.C. State, tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
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