NEW YORK - Playing in the Maggie Dixon Classic, held to promote awareness about sudden cardiac arrest, Duke was playing as if its own offensive heartbeat was fluttering.
The Blue Devils committed 29 turnovers in Saturday's contest at Madison Square Garden and were on the verge of dropping their fourth game in five tries.
But Duke was resuscitated by the strong play of forward Joy Cheek. The sophomore, who scored 16 of her team's 51 points- and 13 after halftime, gave the final shock to a pesky Pittsburgh team that wouldn't go away.
With 1.2 seconds left, Cheek pulled down a Chante Black miss and put it in to win the game for the Blue Devils, cementing her place as the hero for the afternoon.
"Joy was a difference maker," head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "She showed great leadership on the floor and had a lot of confidence."
With just more than one minute left in the contest, the Panthers knotted the score at 49, erasing a seven-point Duke lead. After both squads were unable to score on their next two chances, McCallie called a timeout with 12.5 seconds remaining to set up a play. Coming out of the break, the ball was thrown inside to Black, who had a good look at a jumper. The ball bounced off the rim, right into the hands of Cheek, who got the easy putback that allowed her team to celebrate its victory on the court.
For Cheek, it was simply a matter of executing what she learned in practice.
"We have an eight-second drill where you drive through the defense to see who can score," Cheek said. "You have to shoot so that your buddy can get the rebound, and today, I was the buddy."
Cheek's contributions also kept Duke afloat in the second half when the rest of the offense was struggling.
With just less than 13 minutes remaining in the period, Pittsburgh surged ahead 33-30 on one of Salvonte Zellous' six field goals, sending the gold-and-black fans at Madison Square Garden into a frenzy. The Blue Devils, however, answered when Cheek coolly stepped behind the 3-point line and swished one of the squad's four treys. On Duke's next possession, the forward nailed another bucket to give the Blue Devils the lead again.
With more than nine minutes left, Abby Waner drilled a three, and it looked as if the Blue Devils were poised to break the game open. But the Panthers refused to fade away and whittled Duke's lead down to two at 42-40, when guard Jania Sims connected on the team's only hit from beyond the arc. Again, Cheek responded on the other end, extending the Blue Devils' advantage to four and keeping the Panthers at bay. The sophomore's score was part of a 5-0 run that gave Duke a 47-40 lead that seemed as if it would last with only six-and-a half minutes remaining in the contest.
But when that advantage disappeared, Cheek again came through in the clutch.
Cheek's play was critical on an afternoon where Duke's more heralded offensive stars, Waner and Black, struggled. Black dealt with foul trouble all game and finished just 3-of-9 from the floor for seven points. Waner, meanwhile, was harassed by the Pittsburgh defense and finished with 10 points, only three of which came after halftime. The junior shot a mere 2-of-6 from beyond the arc, where she typically thrives.
In the end, though, the Blue Devils were able to escape with a win from Saturday's slugfest because Cheek's elevated game transcended the team's otherwise sloppy offensive performance.
"I thought our press was amazing today, and it really caused them problems," Pittsburgh head coach Agnes Berenato said. "But [Cheek] made a big shot."
And despite those 29 turnovers, missed open looks and struggles from its stars, Duke was able to come out of the Big Apple with a win. Joy Cheek made sure that at the end of the game, it was the Blue Devils' heart that beat loudest.
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