Sporting special-edition uniforms with pink trim for breast cancer awareness, No. 5 Duke got to the free throw line early and often to defeat Virginia Tech 67-45, giving the Blue Devils their second victory over the Hokies this season.
Unfortunately, Duke (22-3, 13-0 in the ACC) may have lost its third major contributor this season in the process. Midway through the first half, sophomore forward Richa Jackson was fouled on a fast break layup and had to be helped off the court. Jackson, who injured her left knee, did not return to the game will have an MRI tomorrow.
“For a team that’s taken a lot of hits, with different things happening, and now with Richa out, it’s starting to really get you fired up,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “That’s three starters out if you think about it, with Amber [Henson], Chloe [Wells] and Richa.”
Despite the lopsided final score, Virginia Tech (7-19, 3-10) gave Duke all they could handle in the first half. Junior guard Aerial Wilson’s superb shooting allowed the Hokies to even take the lead for a brief stint midway through the first half. Wilson was 3-for-6 from long range and had 15 of the Hokies’ 26 first half points, enabling them to go into the locker room only down by nine.
“I thought we handled their pressure pretty good early in the game,” Virginia Tech head coach Dennis Wolff said.
A pesky defensive scheme centered around double-teaming freshman forward Elizabeth Williams was effective in holding the 6-foot-4 post to just five points in the first half. With aggressive halfcourt defense and lack of interior size, though, the Hokies racked up 11 fouls in the first half, putting the Blue Devils on the line 20 times. Duke converted 14 of those, with six different players contributing from the charity stripe. Sophomore wing Haley Peters paced Duke offensively in the first half, scoring nine of her 11 points in the first half on mostly mid-range jumpers.
To begin the second half, Virginia Tech looked poised to take Duke to the wire, cutting the Blue Devil lead to five early on. Duke quickly responded however, as sophomores Chelsea Gray and Tricia Liston allowed the Blue Devils to pull away. The Hokies’ frequent doubling of Williams in the post created driving lanes for Gray and wide-open three point looks for Liston, whose back-to-back three pointers midway through the second half put Duke ahead by double digits. Gray and Liston finished with 15 and 17 points, respectively, to lead the Blue Devils.
Defensively, the Blue Devils’ zone defense never allowed the Hokies to get in a rhythm offensively, and they successfully neutralized Wilson in the second half, holding the 5-foot-8 guard to just four points on 2-for-12 shooting. With a thin bench, Duke smartly avoided foul trouble by only allowing the Hokies to shoot four free throws on the night, whereas the Blue Devils’ assertive mentality on offense led to 34 trips to the foul line.
“The second half was more of a focused effort,” McCallie said. “I love the fact that we were aggressive and we got to line a lot, that’s important. Chelsea’s leadership was terrific, along with Trisha, playing off each other.”
Duke’s balanced scoring attack was another promising sign as McCallie’s shorthanded squad gets set to travel to Maryland this weekend. Along with Peters, Gray and Liston, Williams finished in double figures. She overcame frequent double teams and constant contact to finish with 12 points and 8 rebounds.
“They’re getting very seasoned and experienced. I would call them a very seasoned bunch, and the adversity we’re facing is overwhelming,” McCallie said.
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