STORRS, Conn. — It wasn’t hard to find flaws in the Blue Devils’ game Monday night against Connecticut. Most areas did not go Duke’s way, but the Blue Devils’ struggles on the offensive end were where the game was lost.
From the start of the contest, the Huskies brought a defensive onslaught, setting the tone for the rest of the game and creating problems in the half-court offense. Connecticut held Duke to 1-for-20 from the field, and 0-9 from beyond the arc, in the game’s first 13 minutes.
This initial defensive surge was spurned by the Huskies full-court pressure, which resulted in a 14-to-6 advantage in fast break points as a team. This strategy not only forced turnovers, but also took away a lot of time off the shot clock, making it increasingly difficult for the Blue Devils to run a set in their half-court offense.
“We knew we had to have a really good start, because when you have a really good team in your place, you don’t want them to think they can get in the game,” said Connecticut’s Maya Moore, who scored 29 points in the winning effort.
Even Duke’s top guns could not escape a poor shooting night. Senior leader Jasmine Thomas led the team with 13 points, but shot 25 percent from the field. The starting five shot a combined 28 percent from the field, 12 percentage points lower than their season average.
The Huskies’ speed on the defensive end made it difficult for Duke to get open on offense. Although the Blue Devils attempted 13 more shots in the game, they had nine different possessions where there wasn’t a shot until there were 10 seconds or fewer left on the shot clock.
The poor shots put up by Duke had an effect on perhaps the most important statistic in the game: the rebounding differential.
The shorter amount of time on offense hurt the shooting accuracy of Duke, which resulted in several defensive rebounds for Connecticut. The Huskies had 34 defensive rebounds, allowing them to run out the clock for most of the second half to put the game away.
Overall, Duke was outrebounded 49-28. Connecticut freshman center Stefanie Dolson had a game-high 12 rebounds along with eight points to help the cause. Karima Christmas was the lead rebounder for Duke with seven, followed by Krystal Thomas with six. According to head coach Joanne P. McCallie, the poor effort on the glass as well as the lack of consistent ball movement was the breaking point for the team.
“Games are won with rebounds and assists,” said McCallie.
Statistically, Duke was outplayed in nearly every category, struggling on both sides of the ball. The mechanics and game planning can both be fixed, however, the true test for this Blue Devil team will be how they recover emotionally, after suffering large deficits in back-to-back games.
“We didn’t come out ready to play,” Jasmine Thomas said. “We dug ourselves a hole, and we didn’t stay together to get out of it.”
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