Tag Archives: Duke Women

#4 Duke Women defeat Maryland 68-65 on “Big Monday”

Duke defeated a pesky Maryland team 68-65 in a a game that was televised nationally by ESPN.  The network came in for "Big Monday" and the Blue Devils came out with a big win to go to 2-0 in the

Queen of the floor burn, Waner has 20 steals in her last four games
Queen of the floor burn, Waner has 20 steals in her last four games

ACC and 14-1 overall.

The teams opened the game trading blows which is to be expected in this rivalry.  There were 17 lead changes in the game and 15 of them were in the first twenty minutes of play.  Once Duke took the lead 21-20 on a Joy Cheek lay up, they took control to take a 40-29 lead into half time.

There were two key factors in their first half success.  One was Joy Cheek who had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.  In fact, Cheek had 9 of Dukes first twelve points and ended the game with14 points and 11 rebounds after returning to the starting lineup.

The other factor was Waner and Thomas defensive effort on Kristi Tolliver who was held scoreless. 

Thomas was four of four from the free throw stripe in the final eight seconds.
Thomas was four of four from the free throw stripe in the final eight seconds.

But Toliver and the  Terps warmed up in the second half and at the 8:38 mark, took the lead 55-54 on a Wiley-Gatewood three point shot.

Just after that play Abby Waner came back with an assist to Chante Black to take the lead back.  Waner later hit a layup which stretched the lead to 64-60, but Marisa Coleman cut it to two with a lay up of her own at the other end at the 1:00 mark.

The Duke defense played tough and Maryland couldn't find the mark as Toliver missed a long three in front of the Maryland bench with 13 ticks on the clock.  The Terps then fouled Jasmine Thomas who went to the line and calmly dropped two in to give the Devils a 66-62 advantage.

One might have thought the game was sealed, but Tolliver drained a quick three to make it a 66-65

Duke got a good efforts from multiple players
Duke got a good efforts from multiple players

Duke lead.  Tolliver immediately committed a hard foul on Thomas with two second left, but the sophomore stepped to the line and knocked down both helping the Devils to a 68-65 win.

“That was just great man-to-man defense by our team. We wanted to make sure she was contested in a multiple fashion, if possible, because you can’t get the ball out of her hands, so you have to do something to direct the shot as much as possible,” said McCallie on the play of her defense in the final seconds.

Waner added, "I pulled Jas [Jasmine Thomas] aside and told her ‘Make this free throw because trust me it matters’. There are certain things that you learn from losses and I will never take a three-point lead with a few seconds to go for granted."
 

Thomas had one of her better games of the season scoring 15 points and despite being one of the

A seson high 7550 cheering fans were in Cameron
A seson high 7550 cheering fans were in Cameron

teams worst free throw shooters she went 6 of 7 from the charity stripe.

Chante Black was strong in the second half and ended the game with 13 points and a career high 14 rebounds.

Abby Waner grabbed 8 rebounds, 7 on the defensive end scored 13 points and dished out 4 assists and 3 steals, both team highs.  Waner has now had a phenomenal 20 steals in her last four contests.

"The plays Abby made down the stretch were huge, fun to watch really, plus her eight rebounds were absolutely important to us," Said Coach McCallie during the post game press conference.

 

Duke got a lot of energy from Bridgette Mitchell off the bench.  Mitchell had 6 points and 6 rebounds.  Another key contributor was Krsytal Thomas who tallied 4 points and 4 rebounds in just seven minutes of play.

The Terps were led by Marrissa Coleman with 14 points, Lynetta Kizer who suffered with cramps 12

Tolliver hit a huge shot to pull Maryland within 1 with seconds left in the contest
Tolliverhit a huge shot to pull Maryland within 1 with seconds left in the contest

points, Toliver 12 points and Anjale Barrett with 10 points.

Duke handily out rebounded the Terps 56-39 and overcame 25.6% shooting from the field in the final half to win.  Another huge plus in the win was the Devils going 12 of 14 from the free throw stripe.

Sidebar Comments -

How big is this win for Duke?

It's plenty big.  Big win on a big Monday.  This is the best start of McCallies career and she has her most talented team ever.  Duke has adjusted to her coaching style which is aggressive physical play and good defense.  Duke proved before a

Blue Devil games are fan friendly
Blue Devil games are fan friendly

national audience that they definitely deserve their #4 ranking.

Jasmine Thomas -

This game should go a long way with concerns to her confidence.  The second year guard is becoming more consistent, but Coach P made a telling comment when she said, Jasmine played well in spots.

Senior leadership -

Chante Black showed up big when it counted and Abby was a true leader on both ends of the floor tonight.

Duke depth -

Coach P has done a good job at build her depth and there seems to be a lot of players able to step

Black had a career high 14 boards
Black had a career high 14 boards

up on a given night.  This will be especially critical come tournament time.

The Box -

                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
13 Demauria Liles...... f  3-10   0-0    0-0    5  5 10   4   6  2  2  0  1  35
25 Marissa Coleman..... f  6-14   2-3    0-0    3  2  5   0  14  3  2  0  3  31
12 Lynetta Kizer....... c  5-11   0-0    2-6    7  6 13   2  12  0  2  0  1  30
02 Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood g  3-10   3-5    0-0    0  1  1   0   9  0  1  0  1  26
20 Kristi Toliver...... g  5-16   2-9    0-0    1  3  4   3  12  6  4  2  3  38
10 Anjale Barrett......    4-6    2-3    0-0    0  4  4   1  10  4  0  0  0  25
14 Yemi Oyefuwa........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
24 Drey Mingo..........    1-3    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   2  0  1  0  0  14
   TEAM................                            2  2                       
   Totals..............   27-70   9-20   2-6   16 23 39  11  65 15 12  2  9 200
 
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-37 35.1%   2nd Half: 14-33 42.4%   Game: 38.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-7  28.6%   2nd Half:  7-13 53.8%   Game: 45.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-3  33.3%   2nd Half:  1-3  33.3%   Game: 33.3%    1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: #5/10 Duke 14-1 (2-0 ACC)
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 Joy Cheek........... f  5-16   1-5    3-4    7  4 11   3  14  2  1  1  1  27
31 Keturah Jackson..... f  0-4    0-0    0-0    1  5  6   2   0  1  1  0  2  17
11 Chante Black........ c  5-15   0-0    3-3    8  6 14   3  13  3  4  3  2  35
04 Abby Waner.......... g  4-11   2-5    0-0    1  7  8   1  10  4  3  0  3  37
05 Jasmine Thomas...... g  4-10   1-3    6-7    0  1  1   2  15  2  1  0  0  34
03 Shay Selby..........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
13 Karima Christmas....    2-4    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   2   4  1  1  0  0  21
15 Bridgette Mitchell..    3-9    0-0    0-0    6  0  6   2   6  0  0  0  0   9
30 Carrem Gay..........    1-2    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   0   2  1  3  0  0  11
34 Krystal Thomas......    2-5    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   0   4  0  0  2  0   7
   TEAM................                         1  1  2                       
   Totals..............   26-76   4-13  12-14  26 30 56  15  68 14 14  6  8 200
 
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-37 43.2%   2nd Half: 10-39 25.6%   Game: 34.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 30.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-5  100 %   2nd Half:  7-9  77.8%   Game: 85.7%    3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Eric Brewton, Dee Kantner, Edward Sidlasky
Technical fouls: #12/15 Maryland-None. #5/10 Duke-None.
Attendance: 7550
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
#12/15 Maryland...............   29   36  -   65
#5/10 Duke....................   40   28  -   68
 
Points in the paint-MARYL 28,DUKE 36. Points off turnovers-MARYL 7,DUKE 11.
2nd chance points-MARYL 11,DUKE 15. Fast break points-MARYL 6,DUKE 4.
Bench points-MARYL 12,DUKE 16. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-17 times.
Last FG-MARYL 2nd-00:04, DUKE 2nd-01:27.
Largest lead-MARYL by 3 1st-14:08, DUKE by 13 1st-00:44.

Christmas leads Duke Women to a 73-58 win in their ACC opener

[private]The Duke Blue Devil Women scratched out a 73-58 victory over Miami on Saturday before a season high 7310 fans in Cameron Indoor Stadium.  It took a second half surge and a career high 21 points from Karima Christmas for the Devils to win their ACC opener and go to 13-1 on the season.

Duke jumped out to a 28-15 lead, but then went cold and Miami took advantage making a 13-0 run to tie the contest 28 a piece at the 2:32 mark of the first half.  Former Duke player and Miami coach

Abby Waner (3 steals)  and Karima Christmas (6 steals) hit the floor
Abby Waner (3 steals) and Karima Christmas (6 steals) hit the floor

Katie Meyer had her women fired up and while Duke regained the lead, a Latoya James jumper sent the teams in to the locker room where the heavily favored Blue Devils held a slim two point lead.

In the second half, Duke resorted to their trademark which is defense holding the Canes  to 31.4% from from the floor.  Of course dominating the boards to the tune of 48-27 helped their cause as well.

Pressure defense was vital to the Devils run and several steals allowed for big plays and brought the crowd alive.  Miami hung in most of the game with their pressure as well, scoring 26 points off turnovers.  The youthful Canes were led by Epihany Woodson with 16 points, but their leading scorer Shenise Johnson was held to just 3 points.

Chante Black was once again steady tallying 17 points and 12 rebounds.  Joy Cheek chipped in with 12 points and Jasmine Thomas with 9 points.

But it was indeed Karina Christmas's night where she seemed very much in the flow of the game going 7 of 10 from the field to go with 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 steals.  Christmas also had a career high in three point buckets with three and her six steals were also a personal best.

“I think I’m just eager to get into the game, to try and make something happen, try and feed off my teammates, and make them feed off of me. I’m just motivated when I get in the game," said Christmas after her performance.

Miami Coach Katie Meyer stated, "Karima Christmas blew our scout – we don’t have her scouted for some of the stuff she did tonight, and that makes Duke a very tough team if she’s going to shoot the ball like that.  That was not a good Christmas present."

Christmas had a career night against Miami

Abby Waner was saddled with foul trouble and played only 18 minutes.  She eventually fouled out going scoreless, but managed 4 rebounds and 5 assists and 3 steals when in the game.  In fact, she is now second in the all time Duke record book for steals with 272, where she passed Iciss Tillis.  Her first half defense also slowed down Miami's Woodson before she had to go to the bench.

Duke also continued to show off their depth in that the Devils bench outscored the Canes 41-12.  It was the fifth time in the last six games that the bench scored 40 plus points which is quite an accomplishment.

The 13-1 start is also Joanne P. McCallies best start in her 17 years as a coach. 

The Blue Devils take an 11 game winning streak into Monday evenings contest with Maryland.  When asked if she was already think about Maryland, McCallie responded,

“We start thinking about them now. All the games matter, there are 14 conference games and every one of them is of equal value. I know that there are rivalries but as coaches we do the same thing for every one."

Maryland (1-0 ACC, 13-2) has become quite the rival after several key match ups in the past few years.  Just over 7000 tickets have been sold for the game, but there are some good seats still available according to Duke SID Lindy Brown.  The game will be televised ESPN 2 with the ball being tip off at 7:30 EST.[/private]