WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — After a disappointing week, senior Jasmine Thomas said that No. 5 Duke needed to demonstrate its competitive fire if it wanted to regain its momentum from earlier in the season.
Mission accomplished.
In a dominant 82-39 win over Wake Forest (12-14, 3-7 in the ACC) the Blue Devils (23-2, 9-1) fought until the end, even well after the game’s outcome had been decided.
“I think we were just trying to finish strong,” sophomore Allison Vernerey said. “We have been talking a lot about... playing the whole game, and whatever the score, we’re not playing the scoreboard. We’re playing for us to get better and to be aggressive through 40 minutes.”
That aggressiveness and Duke’s vaunted defensive pressure paid off in a defensive performance that left the Demon Deacons completely rattled by the game’s end. Wake Forest hit only three field goals over the final 18 minutes of the contest and compounded their inefficiency from the field by going 5-for-16 at the line in the second half.
The Demon Deacons’ frustration carried over to the postgame press conference, during which Wake Forest head coach Mike Petersen called out his team for its failure to execute on offense.
“We go 7-for-19 at the free-throw line. Now, that wasn’t enough to make the game close,” Petersen said. “But it’s a really good indication that we were not focused at all. That’s embarrassing. College athletes, 7-for-19 at the free throw line. Don’t tell me our focus was right.”
As good as the Blue Devils were on the defensive end, their offense was even better. Duke exploited its size advantage down low into a huge rebounding margin and an overwhelming 46-14 advantage in points in the paint.
“They got 46 points in the paint,” Petersen said. “If we all stand in the lane and hold hands in a circle, we get in their way enough that they don’t get to 46.”
Although the Demon Deacons’ lackluster defense contributed to Duke’s points in the paint, the Blue Devils’ emphasis on spreading the ball was the driving force behind their success.
“I thought everyone was ready to play,” senior Krystal Thomas said. “Everyone contributed throughout the game. And I think the unselfish play really led to everyone getting easy shots and having a team flow.”
All five starters hit at least half their shots from the field and generated more than 1.2 points per field goal attempt. Krystal Thomas was particularly efficient, scoring 12 points on only six shots from the floor and contributing 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year.
Head coach Joanne P. McCallie even thought Duke’s turnovers were a positive for the team in that they came from trying to share the ball and set up teammates for open looks.
“I always like to see the turnovers reduced a little bit,” McCallie said. “[But] there are different kinds of turnovers in my book. I thought we had some good turnovers tonight in the way that we were looking for each other and might just have missed a bit.”
That’s a valuable lesson for a team that shot a combined 32 percent in its two recent losses, and one that McCallie hopes will sink in as the team continues ACC play.
“I don’t think you have to lose to learn,” McCallie said. “Unfortunately we’ve lost a couple of games and I think all of us have been very motivated by that…. You have fire from what you learn and you do have to try to bring that in some way to the next opportunity.”
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