With under a minute left in the game and time slipping from the shot clock, Duke appeared to have a dead possession on its hands.
Jasmine Thomas had other plans.
The senior, who overcame a mistake-filled first half to score 13 points in the second, made a sensational, contested jump shot in the lane that would give the Blue Devils the lead. Although the Aggies had a possession to try and regain the lead, and then seconds later another to tie the game, they were unable to convert, giving Duke a 61-58 statement win at Cameron Indoor Stadium last night.
“The shot that Jasmine put up was nothing short of amazing, relative to the pressure she had on her,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
Last year, Duke fell to Texas A&M in a 95-77 shootout that humbled the Blue Devils early in the season. In this year’s Jimmy V Women’s Basketball Classic, though, Duke got its revenge. But it wasn’t easy.
The No. 5 Blue Devils stumbled out of the gate, falling behind 19-10 7:30 into the game. Many of their early struggles stemmed from poor ball control, contributing to eight turnovers in as many minutes, three of which were committed by Thomas.
Duke (9-0) did not stay far behind for long, however, due to a strong first half from Karima Christmas. Her aggressive play from the wing resulted in seven points and six rebounds in the first half, which left Aggies’ head coach Gary Blair very impressed.
“Karima Christmas was just a beast on the boards the whole night,” he said. “We could not block her out, and you give a lot of credit to that kid.”
The Blue Devils finished the half leading 28-27 despite being outshot 39-25. Keeping them in the game was their hard-nosed defense and No. 7 Texas A&M’s willingness to settle for contested jump shots. The Aggies (6-1) finished the first half shooting 28 percent from the field.
The second half was largely a similar story, with the physical play of the game causing both teams to struggle offensively. Between the two teams, there were 10 fouls in the first five minutes of the half, but Duke was able to out-muscle Texas A&M when it counted, outrebounding the Aggies by nine.
“This team deserves a lot of credit for fighting out a very difficult game,” McCallie said. “[It was] a very physical game, outrebounding A&M, an excellent rebounding team.”
Much of the physical battle was fought down low, with a clear focus for the Blue Devils being the containment of center Danielle Adams, who entered the game scoring over 20 points per contest. In the second half in particular, McCallie used both of her 6-foot-5 centers, Krystal Thomas and Allison Vernerey, to control the paint.
“I think they did a great job out there together. You know Krystal’s been steady and had an excellent game no doubt, and Allison has been coming on strong,” McCallie said. “When you put the two of them out there together, defensively, that becomes much more of an issue for somebody like [Adams]... so it was the right time for that.”
The lineup worked, with Adams going 5-for-18 from the field in a performance where she struggled to find any rhythm below the basket.
With top players such as Adams, the Texas A&M game was one of Duke’s marquee out-of-season matchups for the first half of the season. It was for Blair, too, who came out of the game pleased despite his team’s loss.
“This was as good of a ballgame as Connecticut and Baylor played,” he said, referencing the top-ranked Huskies’ one-point victory over No.2 Baylor. “You have four teams like ourselves that are willing to risk and play each other on home-and-homes... we need more of this.”
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