Identifying the best part of the Blue Devils' game is not hard.
It is, of course, Duke's defense-that swarming, unrelenting defense that continues to beguile opponent after opponent. Specifically, it is the full court press, which Duke used to clinically dismantle an overmatched Boston College Monday.
The Blue Devils came out cold after halftime, when they led by 16 points. A quick turnover by Joy Cheek led to an Ayla Brown jumper, and a Jasmine Thomas miscue allowed Carolyn Swords to hit an easy layup inside.
Then, Duke turned on its press, and the Eagles never recovered.
At the 17-minute mark, Abby Waner stole the ball from Jaclyn Thoman on the inbounds play. Carrem Gay hit a quick lay-in, and before the crowd had stopped cheering for Gay, she swiped it from Thoman again, leading to an and-one by Cheek that put the Cameron Indoor Stadium crowd into a frenzy.
Black registered a steal on the next sequence, and it was made clear, yet again, that the Blue Devils possess a defense that is difficult to overstate.
What made the entire sequence so impressive was that the Eagles never made it past Duke's 3-point line-each stop happened so close to the Blue Devil basket that buckets were easily attainable. The key to the turnovers was each player sticking to her assignment.
"We tried very hard to get one-on-one defensive stops," Gay said. "We tried to be aggressive and use this momentum for the rest of the season."
The statistics underscore Duke's continuing defensive mastery. The Blue Devils ended the game with 18 takeaways, notching double-digit steals for the 16th time this season. They forced 23 turnovers, with 15 coming in the first half.
The press may have saved the game for Duke, especially given the dominance of the 6-foot-7 Swords in the halfcourt. Swords did not miss a shot in the entire game, finishing 5-for-5 from the floor en route to 12 points.
Many times, though, she seemed frustrated with her teammates' inability to get her the ball. They were too busy trying to get it up the court.
When Boston College did break the stifling press, the physicality of Duke's defense stopped the hot hands of the Eagles' shooters, who finished the game a paltry 3-of-13 from beyond the arc.
"One of things we focus on is trying to be more physical and making contact with shooters," said Thomas, who held Boston College leading scorer Mickel Picco to 2-of-7 shooting from 3-point land. "There are always a lot of screens set for good shooters, so we were just focused on always staying physical."
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