Head coach Joanne P. McCallie has seen the competitive fire in Jasmine Thomas' eyes before. But by torching her team's biggest rival down the stretch of an overtime nailbiter, Thomas proved her mettle to everyone else.
With 19 points in an 81-79 win against the Tar Heels Sunday in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke's sophomore point guard made it clear that she has the ability to put the team on her shoulders, scoring eight of Duke's 14 overtime points. That's when McCallie saw it---that fiery look of confidence.
"It was there [Sunday], and I knew it," McCallie said. "And that's why we kept [calling out for isolations]. It was sort of like stating the obvious to keep doing that and to keep calling that play. I tell you what, she was in that mind-set, and that mind-set is very important because she is a very skilled guard."
Against the Tar Heels, there were certain times when, no matter what the defense threw at her, Thomas would get to the basket-and during those moments, it seemed that every shot that found its way out of her hands hit the bottom of the net.
"I just wanted to be aggressive and keep attacking," Thomas said. "Sometimes in games I tend to settle for outside shots and not get to the paint enough....[My teammates] need me to be aggressive and get to the paint, and so that's what I did."
But when Thomas speaks about what she'd like to improve, the discussion quickly turns to dependability.
"There are things expected of me," Thomas said. "To take care of the ball, make better decisions, score when I need to and kick it out when I need to. I mean, just stepping into that leadership role.... Just being being vocal. I mean when you're the point guard, you know a lot about what's going on on the floor. And [it's about] asserting that you know."
As a freshman during last year's campaign, Thomas's natural athletic gifts allowed her to make an instant impact. The guard not only started in 20 of Duke's 35 games, but also averaged 7.9 points to go along with 2.3 assists. And Thomas showed an early knack to come up big when the stakes were highest, notching six assists in her first matchup against rival North Carolina. As her first season neared its end, Thomas started each of the year's final six games, averaging 10.2 points per game over that stretch.
But if freshman year was about flashes of brilliance, the theme of Thomas' sophomore year has been about stringing together quality performances game after game.
"She fights for consistency," McCallie said. "She's had some not so good games, and she has had some excellent games. She's trying to get to that place where she can be really consistent every game."
Big games against Stanford, Tennessee, Maryland and most recently North Carolina have helped the Thomas grow tremendously as a player. But as much as success fuels Thomas, sometimes her team's lowest points have driven Thomas to become a more dominant point guard.
At Maryland Feb. 22, the Blue Devils were run off the floor in a 77-59 rout, and Thomas had perhaps her poorest shooting game of the year, finishing 1-of-15 from the field and 0-for-7 on 3-point attempts. But knowing Thomas' approach to the game, it seems like no coincidence that in the next two games she scored 16 points and 19 points against Wake Forest and North Carolina, respectively.
"It's not just all the positives that fortify you," McCallie said. "It's the negative. I mean, we had a horrible game at Maryland, we had a not-so-good game at Florida State. [Thomas] tends to remember those, too."
This growth comes at a great time in the year for Duke as it closes in on the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. And although recollections of tough losses may motivate her, Thomas' emergence may allow her to create March memories she'll be much happier to remember.
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