But it was the second half play of true freshman Haley Peters that added a huge sprak to the Blue Devils efforts.  Peters knocked down 5 of 6 free throws and scored 14 points, second most on the team to go with 4 rebounds.

“I thought that was the greatest screen  on that play along the baseline where Jazz hit a three and she got the call,” said McCallie on a play which Thomas nailed the three and Haley was fouled, went to the line, knocked down two free throws for a 5 point play which in hindsight was a dagger.

“When you sit on the bench, sometimes it’s helpful because you can see whats going on out there and see your teams attitude.  When I came in I tried to be an energy player,” stated Peters.

Duke had their hands full with Jessica Breland who scored a game high 27 points to go with her 7 rebounds. “I thought we had done a good job on Breland  until I saw here stat line,” said McCallie in praise of her play.

Duke had a big lift from the players off their bench, mainly due to the aformentioned Peters where they outscored the Tar Heels 28-12.  The Blue Devils also won the battle of the boards holding a 38-27 edge.

Once again, McCallie utilized here deep bench where 11 Blue Devils got minutes.  This seemed to be a strategic move for the Tar Heels wore down a bit during the stretch run.

“I;m very, very proud of our team, our seniors and the leadership exhibited out there throughout this tournament, said McCallie.  She continued, “We’re very excited  to represent Duke and be able to be together and have so much fun.”

Karima Christmas joined Jasmine Thomas on the first team all tournament team while Chelsea Gray was named to the second team.  Had the votes not been taken early, you would have likely seen Haley Peters name as well.

Duke won their seventh tournament title, all since the year 2000.  Duke now holds a 5-3 advantage when playing North Carolina for the title.  The Blue Devils have also played in 10 of the last 12 finals, a testament to the programs strength.

The win pushed the Blue Devils record to 29-3 on the season and they were rated as the second best team in the RPI rating before the game. Duke must now wait two weeks for the NCAA selection show to learn of their next opponent and that game will be played in Cameron Indoor Stadium where Duke hosts a first round regional.

Official Box Score    Quotes from Coach P and Players

The Yellow Jackets cut a large Duke lead down to 2 with 7:10 left, but Duke bounced back on back to back baseline buckets from Karima Christmas and Haley Peters  and then another Christmas lay in and then one from Thomas which sparked an 8-2 run and that edge carried the Blue Devils through to victory.

Karima Christmas had a monster game for the winners throwing in a team high 20 points to go with 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists.  When Duke needed a bucket or a play she seemed will to take on that role.

The Blue Devils came out red hot in the first half shooting an impressive 68,2% from the field and that effort ranks 7th in the schools history.  Duke enjoyed a 13-5 edge off turnovers as well despite the Yellow Jackets vaunted press.

Jasmine Thomas added 12 points, while Chelsea Gray tossed in 10 as the only double figure scorers save the aforementioned Christmas.  Once again, Coach P played 10 players but her bench got a bit shorter via minutes played for some players which is a combination a shortened bench and match ups.

With the win Duke goes to 28-3 on the season and they play the winner of the North Carolina-Miami game at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.  That said, let’s have a nice turnout to support the Blue Devils in Greensboro tomorrow.

Check back for videos.  We had a hard time downloading them in Greensboro but will try when we get to Chapel Hill for tonight’s men’s game.

Jasmine Thomas, photo Rick Crank for BDN

The Duke Women earned a share of the ACC Regular Season Championship with a 66-58 victory over arch rival North Carolina before a sold out crowd in Cameron Indoor Stadium.  The win pushed the Blue Devils overall record to 26-3 going into this weeks Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

While this would not be Karima Christmas, Jasmine Thomas and Krystal Thomas’s last game in Cameron due to hosting the first round in the NCAA Tournament, it was their last regular season game.  That meant senior day speeches and as always they were heart felt and emotional. 

The Blue Devils also took turns cutting down the net as they celebrated the victory but you could tell this wasn’t the net they coveted and Coach McCallie otherwise known as Coach P, alluded to that on the post game press conference.

As for the game itself, the Blue Devils found themselves trailing at the half to the pesky Tar Heels who rolled out to an early 15-8 lead.  Duke settled down after the half and their defense allowed them to take a 38-37 lead on a Karima Christmas three pointer and the Blue Devils never trailed again.

Jasmine Thomas gave Duke a commanding 56-42 lead on a three pointer of her own at the 9:42 mark and that allowed them to cruise to a 66-58 win.  Thomas led Duke with 17 points and 5 assists to go with 2 steals.

But it was Karima Christmas who posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds and 6 assists of her own.  Fellow senior Krystal pulled down a game high 13 rebounds and you’ll see her in the videos below.

Duke got a spark from Allison Vernerey too, where she tossed in 11 points making and grabbed 6 rebounds and swatted back 2 shots on her birthday.  Shay Selby played with an edge adding 7 points as did freshman Tricia Liston.

Chelsea Gray who is healing an ankle sprian tried to make a go of it but wasn’t successful.  She is now day to day but expected to play in the tournament.

Duke outscored North Carolina 26-16 in the paint and outrebounded their rival 52-46.  The win was the 23rd in a row in Cameron Indoor Stadium where Duke went undefeated this season.  Duke will now take on the winner of the Virginia-Wake Forest winner  having won the tie breaker and earning the number one seed.

Check out the raw but emotional videos below -

Thomas kniocks down a season high 24 points to lead Duke past Kentucky. Rick Crank Photo/BDN

DURHAM – Make no mistake about it, the third ranked Blue Devils win over tenth rated Kentucky wasn’t pretty to watch but the result was all roses for Coach McCallie’s troops.  Much like the Xavier game, Duke fought hard on defense and hung on to defeat another top ten club while playing one the the nations toughest early season schedules.

An early 8-0 first half run put the Blue Devils up 16-10 but the Wildcats put it back together and went on a run of their own to tie the game up but Duke pulled ahead again with a late first half run giving them a 31-22 lead.  That momentum was lost when Kentucky came out and outscore the home team 8-2, putting them back in the game.

Kentucky tied the game at 44 apiece on a Maegan Conwright free throw with 3:51 to go, but Jasmine Thomas, who led Duke with 24, knocked down a jumper.  But Kentucky’s star Victoria Dunlap answered with two free throws on here own at the 3:13 mark.

Kentucky then took a late lead on a A’Dai Mathies lay in and the Cats were up 48-46 with under two minutes in the contest.    That’s when Duke reached deep and Jasmine Thomas hit  nothing but net from around the free throw stripe tying the game up with 1:33 left.

The Blue Devils defense then forced a turnover and found Chelsea Gray for a runner on the baseline which put the Blue Devils up for good at 50-48.  Kentucky had a chance to tie the game after Thomas hit one of two free throws, but the senior guard recovered and made a key block on Mathies who then gave her a bit of a shove in frustration.

After that play the Kentucky Coach Mathew Mitchell was hit with a technical foul and Duke held on for a 54-48 win and in the process go to 14-0 on the season while Kentucky falls to 11-2.

Duke was as always led by their senior All American Jasmine Thomas whose season high 24 points were also a  game high.  Thomas has a way of rising to the occasion in close ball games of late and here block may well have been the play of the game.  Thomas had three blocks over the last six minutes of the game.

Chelsea Gray added 11 points for the Blue Devils as their only other double digit scorer.  Gray had a team high 5 steals.

Kentucky was led by Keyla Snowden with 15 and Victoria Dunlap with 10.  Dunlap is Kentucky’s leading scorer and the Duke defense held here to her second lowest point total of the season, but the previous low of 7 points came when she went out with an injury.

In fact, as sluggish as the offenses were for both schools, the defense was stellar.  Especially for the Blue Devils who held Kentucky to their lowest scoring output of the season, a team that averaged 80.6 ppg coming into the contest and was held 32 points shy of that average.

The Blue Devils were originally supposed to play this game on Monday night but ESPNU required them to shift the game to Tuesday.  That means Duke has less than two days to prepare for rival Maryland and ACC play which begins Thursday evening.  Tickets are still available for the game by visiting GoDuke or picking them up at the door on game night.

Sidebar – Duke held a 13-5 edge on 2nd chance points and a 22-2 edge off the bench.  Kentucky outscored Duke in the paint 14-13 and 11-6 on fastbreak points.  The 14-0 start is the best start for Coach P in her 19 years of coaching and she is now 48-4 in Cameron. Allison Vernerey had a season high ten rebounds but went just 1 of 10 from the field.

Jasmine Thomas helped Duke slip past Xavier - Rick Crank Photo for BDN

DURHAM – A marquee match up between third ranked Duke Blue Devils and the fourth ranked Xavier Musketeers took place in Cameron Indoor Stadium in a game which oddly had  no television coverage.  With a partial band and lack of cheerleaders due to the Christmas break, the team had to at times reach for emotion and that made the Blue Devils homecourt edge less intimidating.

But in the end, there was plenty of emotion as Duke made a fuirous late 6-0 comeback run down the stretch to defeat their game opponent 46-45.  Duke is now 12-o on the season while Xavier falls to 10-1.

Duke senior Jasmine Thomas blocked  a shot at the buzzer to secure the win and Cameron which went nuts as did Xavier Coach Kevin McGuff who had to be restrained by another coach as security moved in.  The refs then went to the scorers table to check the monitor and afterwards they called it a game and Duke escaped with an exciting win.

“That is truly one of the best plays I have ever seen in 19 years of coaching. As we got back and we all went, apparently for the ball – I’ll have to look at it on film to really know – it’s a good lesson to staying matched up in transition. Of course, they got it deflected out, which of course was a tremendous benefit to them, and all of a sudden you see this lightning bolt out of nowhere block a great shot,” said Duke Coach Joanne McCallie

The Blue Devils had no answer for Amber Harris who ended the game with 22 points, 15 rebounds and 6 blocked shots but they made up for it with 21 steals filling the passing lanes all night.

During the post game press conference, Coach McCallie admitted it was an ugly game and that her team which went for almost 7 minutes in the second half without a point struggled to find good shots.  But she then made this statement, “If you find a way to win ugly, you can win them all.”

After a back and forth first half where there were five lead changes, the Musketeers defense kicked in and Duke which started hot went cold from the field.  As the second half started Duke scored just two points in the first five minutes before they fought their way back into the game after going down by eight points.

Duke tied the game back up on a Krystal Thomas lay in at 40 apiece with 9:00 to go, but Xavier star Amber Harris answered putting the Musketeers back up and the two teams then grinded it out defensively where neither team could find the basket.  But then Harris scored inside and was fouled and Xavier clinged to a 43-40 lead.  Another Harris jumper made it 45-40 with just 2:42 to go but that’s when the Blue Devils woke up and found their groove just in the nick of time.

Jasmine Thomas cut the lead to three after a lay in and Duke then forced a turnover where Allison Vernerey made a key steal and then Duke found Krystal Thomas  under the basket and she was fouled, making one of two and tying the game at 45 all with 31 seconds left on the clock.    Karima Christmas then tipped the ball out and Jasmine Thomas came up the ball on the baseline and was fouled with 2 seconds left and hit 1 of 2 free throws giving Duke a single digit lead.

That’s when an amazing sequence took place.  Xavier set up a great play and the ball went to a wide open Special Jennings and Jasmine ran full speed from about the scorers tabel recovering to block the shot which set off an emotional outburst from the Xavier as we mentioned.  After the dust cleared, Duke walked away with an ugly but substantial victory.

Coach P, Jasmine Thomas audio below – Just press play.

Sidebar - The point total was the lowest for Duke since they lost to Purdue 62-45 in 1999 yet they still won.  Duke outscored Xavier 22-9 off turnovers and the lead changed 6 times although it seemed like more.  Duke shot just 26.8% from the field a season low and held Xavier to 1 for 12 from the three point stripe.  Duke won it’s 14th straight game in Cameron and 14th straight over Atlantic 10 teams.  Jasmine Thomas 2 steals moved her to 6th place on the all time list.  Coach P is now 46-4 in Cameron since she arrived.    Duke will next play Temple at home on December 30th.

The Duke defense held BYU to 27.9% from the field and won their opener 69-54

DURHAM – The fifth ranked Duke Women’s team settled in after a slow start to defeat a pesky Brigham Young team 69-54 in the season opener for both teams.  Karima Christmas led the way offensively for the Blue Devils tallying 20 points to go with 7 rebounds.

Jasmine Thomas started the game 0-7 from the field but hit the first two buckets of the second half and the rest of the Blue Devils played off her spirited play. Thomas finished the game with 14 points and scurried her way to a team high 11 rebounds.

Duke opened up a double digit lead early in the half, but BYU refused to fold cutting the lead to 6 with just over 12 minutes to go. But Chloe Wells and Jasmine Thomas sparked a run and suddenly Duke was up 60-43 with 4:04 to go.  That sealed the deal for Duke who coasted to a win after wearing down the visitor.

The Blue Devils dominated the paint where they out-rebounded the Cougars by a 52-37 margin and 28-2 scoring edge.  Duke also got help from Kathleen Scheer who scored 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.  She switched positions in the off season and looks at home in the power forward slot for Coach P’s team.

Sidebar -The Blue Devils are nursing several injuries and Shay Selby sat out the contest.  Coach P was pleased with her teams defensive effort during the post game press conference and the play of true freshman Chloe Wells.  Duke next takes on Southern Cal this coming Monday in Cameron Indoor Stadium with seat available.  Coach P said that aggressive play and making things happen would earn players time on a deep team.  Coach also said that Duke will be better against the press as the season progresses and that she was excited about this teams potential.

Game Notes – Duke won it’s 19th straight season opener and improved to 2-0 all time against BYU.  Jasmine Thomas posted her third career double-double.  Kathleen Scheer got her first collegiate start and had a career high 8 boards.  Chloe Wells and was the first Duke freshman since Abby Waner to start as a true freshman.  Karima Christmas scored 20 or more points for the 4th time in her career.  All five members of the #1 rated recruiting class played in the game for the Blue Devils.

On freshman transition from high school to college.  What is one thing you are emphasizing?
“Just really keeping them attacking all the time on defense and on offense. I think they understand attacking on offense better than they understand attacking on defense. So we are really trying to get that aggressiveness up. It’s really important that they make aggressive mistakes versus passive ones. You know aggressive mistakes are ones that you can coach and live with.  Passive mistakes don’t get you very far and don’t allow you to develop. So that is the biggest thing I can say for our young players is to just to be really getting after it on both sides of the ball and to be understanding of value of both sides of the ball. In high school, often there is not that value simply because kids dominate with offense. But these young folk know that they are going to be going against junior and seniors, I mean that is pretty much what is going to happen.  So it’s important to be thinking like a junior or senior a little bit and trying to push yourself to take those steps.”

On team chemistry
“I think as a coach you can try and help it with the combinations and the different things you do but in reality I think that it occurs during game play and experiences together to. You have to let the team have experiences together, but I think we can help it along as coaches, different subbing patterns that we do at various times. It’s kind of an exciting part of developing a team because you, essentially you do start all over again. No matter what you did the year before, we had some really great experiences last year.  Those are terrific memories but you have to create new ones and your back to creating them all over again.”

On the skills of the freshmen:
“We hope they are going to be extremely aggressive, help us with our offensive rebounding. We also hope they are going to help us spread the floor a little bit with their shooting ability to — so [that will] give us more spacing relative to what they can do offensively. And we also hope that they enjoy playing together and finding what I call our shot — you know the best shot for our group at the moment. We are learning that as you can see from the Blue/White.  I mean we have rims in our eyes and springs in our arms and make no mistake about it, 40 three’s going up so I think we had to get that out of our system, which is I think I will just shoot at any time. That mentality, we’ve got to have a little bit of a plan behind what we do and we have to work together to create what I consider our shot and we haven’t done that yet.”

On the offensive priority:
“The priority is to play great basketball which is move the basketball — play inside out sure, get it into the paint. Paint shots are very important, as a matter of fact, championships are pretty much won on paint shots. Perimeter shots are very important to, so as I call it an equal opportunity, everybody on the floor, I think we’ve got five people in five different spots that can create and the judgment piece and the maturity piece is what will be needed as where the ball should be.”

On the post player’s condition:
“We are in great in three ways and not in great shape in one way. Haley Peters and Kathleen Scheer are really providing us with some quickness, some shooting ability and Krystal [Thomas] is rock solid. After Ali [Allison Vernerey] hit her head in practice you know — a couple of things; a hit to the nose and the next day [she] smacked her head pretty good on the ground.  We are taking it really slow with her. So I would say that we are not full.  We are not full but we have three folks with Karima [Christmas] as well dabbling in a floor spot also.”

Senior Krystal Thomas

How do you think you’ve evolved this season? Can you talk about your growth?
I’ve definitely made it a point to be in the best condition that I can. I’m just really making sure that I run as much as I can. I’ve also gotten a lot stronger, which always helps. So that, even when I’m out there, I’m not out there getting pushed around — I can fight back. Also, just working on my face up game, being able to pass better, as well as hit the open outside jumper.

What is this team’s identity? What do you guys do best?
Right now I am not exactly sure, come back and ask me in a few weeks. Right now we are just so balanced, so versatile, that it is hard to tell what is going to be our strength. Last year we were a very defensive minded team and that is something we definitely want to carry over to this year. We also want to add to that, we also want to add the offensive component so that teams can’t label us as a one dimensional team.  So that we can attack in many different ways.

What is your comfort level with Allison [Vernerey]?
It’s definitely grown a lot. The beauty of playing with Allison is that she is very easy to flow with. We complement each other very well because we are very opposite. She can get down there; run the floor with the guards, whereas I am much more the power, more physical post. I can play on the perimeter; she can play on the outside. We can complement each other. It works really well to have two bigs offensively and defensively in the lane.

Freshman Haley Peters

What skills do you think the freshman class brings to the offensive scheme this year?
I think we have a balanced class, in terms of offense. We definitely have some good shooters and an attacking mindset. We have two great point guards who can handle the ball and are great passers. As I said, it’s a great balance I think.

How do you see yourself working with Krystal and Allison, when she’s healthy?
I’ve grown a lot just in practice, playing against them, because they are so physical and strong. I think that I can add a little bit of outside shooting, but KT [Krystal Thomas] can really shoot the ball from outside now. I’ve just been learning from them every practice, what they do and the moves that they use.

Freshman Tricia Liston

Coach P said that all of the freshmen bring something different, what do you bring?
I think the ability to score and shoot outside.

Have you always been an outside shooter? Who taught you? How young did you start?
My dad taught me. I started as soon as I could hold a basketball because my three older sisters played and I was always tagging along and my dad always coached them.

Were you always a pure shooter?
Right at a young age I got the form down and that is usually the hardest thing for a young kid to learn, not using two hands. Once I got the form down I loved the game so much that it just kind of came when I was little.

You had option, why did you choose Duke?
It was competitive in the classroom and with athletics. Every year you hear about Duke Women’s basketball, Duke men’s basketball and the atmosphere here is centered on basketball. Everyone here is a huge basketball fan, which I have been since I was a kid — both watching and playing. Also, just being on a team that has the potential to do really great things and win a lot of basketball games.

When was the first time you can remember paying attention to Duke women’s basketball?
As a kid, every girl who plays basketball here is about Duke, UConn and Tennessee so it started off more as a dream to me, as a dream school.

Did your parents influence your decision?
They pretty much left it up to me. They knew that what made me happy, made them happy. Also, since I’m the last one, they are going to get to travel and see all of my games.

Shooting is your first skill; defensively did you have to do some work?
I definitely have had to do some work and I still have to continue to work.

What is the biggest difference?
The speed and also every girl that you are defending can potentially score. In high school, you can be guarding somebody that you can’t expect to put the ball in the basket even once.

Senior Karima Christmas
You have a difficult non conference schedule this year right off the bat. How will you prepare for that and the tournament in April?
I think really just playing your game. Not trying to change and do something different. A lot of players when they first come in try to do too much. It’s just do what you know how to do and do it to the best of your abilities. Anything that you do, and contribute is going to help us out in the long run.

What have you noticed about Krystal Thomas during workouts this year?
I think her conditioning, especially after being out as a result of her surgery. Just being conditioned is enabling her to stay out on the floor for more minutes. I can note it from last year to this year, how much more conditioned she is, how much longer she can stay out there and be a threat.

Have you seen her (Thomas) work at it? Passing drills and extra practices…
She’s definitely stayed after practice and put in extra reps — did extra agilities just to try and get back a little extra.

What does it mean to have her be able to stay in there for more minutes?
It’s about depth. Her and Allison will probably rotate in and out for each other. But her ability being able to stay out there more will allow them to play together more, giving us more subs to come in for them. Since they can stay in longer it won’t be a big deal to play them for long stretches of time together.

Freshman Chelsea Gray

On what she did this summer to prepare herself mentally and physically for college ball?
“Mentally, I just knew that I had to come knowing I’m going to be surrounded by great people.  I just had to come in here knowing that I had to work hard non-stop.  I just knew coming here that I had to adjust to everything — the speed, the tempo, everybody.  I had to come working hard every day.  In the summer, we came here as a collective group and did some things with our conditioning coach that really helped a lot.”

Junior Shay Selby

On recovering from injury:
“It still gives me a little bit of a problem when I do certain things, but it’s mostly back to normal.  The brace helped me back a lot, especially on defense and quickness.  It was hard to move, cut, stuff like that.”

On confidence:
“It’s alright…getting up there.  It’s hard coming off an injury and then being hurt for a while.   But right now, I’m healthy and I just need to focus on doing everything right.”

On the non-conference schedule:
“I think our schedule is pretty good this year.  We have a lot of teams we played last year and unfortunately lost to.  So, hopefully we’ll have a payback year and we can put everything together and make it all the way to the top. ”

On growth of freshmen on team:
“I think they’ve grown a lot so far.  Once we get into games and they have to deal with pressure situations, I think it will be good for them.”

Comparing this year’s team to last year’s:
“We have more offensive threats with the freshmen coming in.  A lot of them look to score and distribute the ball.  I think that it will be to our benefit.  Like last year, we struggled shooting and handling zones.  Having more threats from the perimeter will help us tremendously.”

Senior Jasmine Thomas

On the upcoming season and this year’s team:
“I’m excited.  Definitely losing B [Bridgette Mitchell], KJ [Keturah Jackson] and Joy [Cheek], you lose rebounding, you lose defense, and you lose scoring.  It’s good that we have five freshmen that can come in and fill all of the things that we lost.  It’s a very weird feeling to not have them around, but I’m also very confident in what we have on this team.  We have a bunch of scorers, we’re quick and strong, and we have the ability to defend just like we did last year.”

On Chloe’s [Wells] development under her guidance:
“I see a lot of myself in Chloe as far as how aggressive she is and how she can attack.  She shoots well which is something I admire about her and she can also set people up.  I’d like to take her under my wing if she’d let me.”

On her expectations for this year (personal goals):
“My personal goal is just to be the best that I can.  Whatever that takes me to — whether it’s another ACC Championship, a NCAA Championship, or All-America – that’s fine.  But I can’t focus on that because just because I get that doesn’t mean I’m the best I can be.  I don’t think I’ll ever get there, but that’s my goal – to keep trying.”

Freshman Chloe Wells

On adjusting to college ball:
“I’m having a lot of fun.  It’s a growing period for me.  I’m the smallest and the weakest so far, but I’m getting in the weight room.  I think the biggest difference is the pace of the game, but I feel like I’m learning that now.”

On how she was prepared to make this mental transition:
“Playing with my dad, he always had us play up.  Most of the girls I’m going to play against are juniors and seniors and I’ve already played up against different people, so I know that I need to bring it.”

On what she has learned from Jasmine [Thomas]:
“Her work ethic – whether we are on the court or off the court, she is always going hard.  She’s always first.  I admire that about her, especially on defense.  She’s just relentless, and that’s something I’m trying to do now.  And on offense, when she’s not looking for her shot, she’s looking to create for others.”

One thing that Coach P harps on?
“I have to talk.  I’ve got to lead.”

For more coverage visit GoDuke.com

Jasmine Thomas and Duke cut the nets

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The final buzzer sounded, and Duke’s Joy Cheek flung the ball toward the ceiling before locking fellow seniors Keturah Jackson and Bridgette Mitchell in a long, lasting hug.

Whoop it up, ladies. You’ve finally got an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title.

No. 9 Duke captured its first ACC championship since 2004 by beating North Carolina State 70-60 on Sunday behind 18 points from tournament MVP Jasmine Thomas.

Karima Christmas added 13 points for the Blue Devils (27-5), who forced 23 turnovers and outrebounded the Wolfpack 46-32 in claiming their sixth ACC title and first since winning five in a row from 2000-04.

“To have the opportunity to be here again, after having lost those three years, it was just now or never,” Mitchell said.

For these Blue Devils’ seniors, their final game in Greensboro came with some fitting symmetry. They were freshmen in 2007 when Duke was undefeated, ranked No. 1 nationally and rolling toward an inevitable title when they were upset in the semifinals by an N.C. State team inspired by coach Kay Yow’s feel-good midseason return.

Duke made it to the championship in each of the three years that followed under coach Joanne P. McCallie, but the Blue Devils were stopped by powerful No. 1 seeds in both 2008 and ’09. This time, the No. 1 seed belonged to them – and they took full advantage.

“We had this goal in mind, because three of us have seen us go to the ACC tournament championship and come up short,” Cheek said. “The balloons and the streamers, we had to watch them fall down for someone else. And so we didn’t want to have to see that happen again. It was an embarrassing feeling, and we just didn’t want to feel like that again.”

Nikitta Gartrell had 19 points to lead the sixth-seeded Wolfpack (20-13). They were denied in their bid to become the first team to win four games in four days here and were out for their third upset of a ranked team in eight days.

“I’m extremely proud of our team for so many reasons,” first-year coach Kellie Harper said. “But in that locker room … I was proud of them for wanting more. They’re hurt that they didn’t win this game, and I am so proud of that.”

Cheek had 11 points while Thomas, who averaged 16 points in the tournament, added six rebounds and six assists. Duke took the lead for good by reeling off 14 consecutive points during a 23-7 run midway through the first half, went up by 18 with about 8½ minutes remaining and refused to allow N.C. State to complete a second comeback in two days.

Brittany Strachan hit two 3-pointers in a 34-second span to pull the Wolfpack within 65-56 with just under 3 minutes left, but they couldn’t get any closer.

The Blue Devils’ reward: A banner to hang at Cameron Indoor Stadium and roughly two weeks off before they make 16th straight NCAA tournament appearance – on their home court, no less.

“It’s kind of like the appetizer before the big meal, and it’s a very, very good appetizer,” said McCallie, the first coach in Division I history to win conference tournaments in four different leagues.

Duke won the first meeting 70-39 on Feb. 11, and while it controlled the rematch throughout, this one was nowhere near that lopsided: The Blue Devils’ largest lead came when Cheek’s jumper made it 60-42 with 8:18 left.

Bonae Holston added 14 points for the Wolfpack, who reached the title game for the 14th time, but first since the 2007 team’s Yow-inspired run.

“Winning is a big part of how we’ve been acting lately,” Gartrell said. “Our confidence and everything has been sky high. We can’t drop our heads and let our confidence go away because we have NCAAs to worry about now.”

Three years after that unlikely ride, and a year after her death, and the late coach still was never far from anybody’s mind. Hanging from the rafters behind one basket was a banner bearing her name in pink, the color of breast-cancer awareness, with an inverted ribbon replacing the “Y” in her last name. Harper, her replacement, was trying to become the first first-year coach to win the women’s tournament.

She helped N.C. State rally from 10 points down to beat Boston College in the semifinals. Early on in this one, Duke’s full-court pressure put the Wolfpack in that unwelcome position again.

That aggressive defense wound up proving too much for N.C. State, especially during the first-half run that put the Blue Devils on their way to the title. They forced 15 turnovers in the opening half – 10 during that spurt, and many of those created by the press that continually frustrated the Wolfpack.

Courtesy: Duke Photography

Fans can also hear the Blue Devils on the Duke ISP Radio Network at www.GoDuke.com with Steve Barnes (PXP) and Morgan Patrick (Color) on the air. Duke is currently ranked No. 6 in both the Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today Division I Coaches Polls, while North Carolina is No. 9 in the AP and No. 15 in the coaches poll.

Immediately following the Duke/UNC contest, senior Joy Cheek will be recognized for reaching the 1,000-point mark on Jan. 29 against Florida State.

Noting Duke…
Duke has notched a 129-10 record at Cameron the last 10 years … during the first 11 games of the year, Duke only took five charges, but over the last 11 contests the players have taken 14 (Allison Vernerey – 4, Karima Christmas – 4, Shay Selby – 3) … the Blue Devils are the only team in the ACC to have beaten a ranked non-conference opponent this season (No. 3 OSU and No. 25 JMU) … the Blue Devils hold a 790-380 points in the paint advantage on the year … Duke has been listed in the top 25 of the AP poll for 200 straight weeks, which is the longest current streak in the ACC and third nationally.

A Look At North Carolina…
North Carolina enters the contest on Monday with a 16-5 overall and 4-3 league mark. The Tar Heels have lost two straight games in league play to Florida State and Miami. So far on the season, UNC is 2-4 in road games and are 1-2 in ACC road contests.

Leading the Tar Heels on the year has been Italee Lucas (16.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 38 treys), Cetera DeGraffenreid (13.2 points, 112 assists) and Chay Shegog (8.6 points, 5.8 rebounds). Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell is in her 35th season as a head coach and 24th year at UNC.

The Series With North Carolina…
The Blue Devils and Tar Heels will meet for the 77th time on Monday with North Carolina leading the overall series 45-31. Duke has won 18 of the last 28 games.

As of late, it has been a series of streaks since 2000 — Duke won 12 in a row, UNC won five in a row, Duke won two in a row and UNC won four in a row before the Blue Devils won the last meeting in Cameron Indoor Stadium. In games played in Durham, N.C., the Blue Devils own a 18-13 overall record and have won nine out of the last 12.

Duke and UNC will play each other for the first time since Feb. 21, 1997 when the two squads are coming off losses. North Carolina won that contest, 81-61. The first time they played after coming off losses was on Jan. 29, 1981 as the Tar Heels won 77-65. The last Duke win with both teams coming off losses was on Feb. 15, 1989 with a 58-56 victory at home. UNC holds a 7-1 advantage all-time when both teams are coming off losses.

Blue Devil Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie will face North Carolina for the eighth time over her 18 years as a head coach. McCallie has a 1-6 record against the Tar Heels. She lost two of those contests while as head coach at Maine. McCallie’s squad faced North Carolina in the 2000 NCAA Tournament in Santa Barbara, Calif., and fell 62-57 on March 18. The Black Bears also lost, 68-52, on Dec. 28, 1996 on a neutral site. Since joining the Blue Devils, McCallie has notched a 1-4 mark.

Storylines/Other Blue Devil Notes…

• When Duke is the higher-ranked team in the series with UNC, the Blue Devils own a 18-9 record. UNC owns a 19-5 record when it is ranked higher. The higher ranked team has won 37 of 51 games.
• The Blue Devils will look to avoid back-to-back ACC regular season losses on Monday for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign when Duke fell to Virginia and Maryland.
• Junior Jasmine Thomas will go up against her former AAU teammate, Chay Shegog. Thomas is from Fairfax, Va., while Shegog is out of Stafford, Va., and they played for the Fairfax Stars.
• Duke has won 11 straight ACC games in Cameron Indoor Stadium, which dates back to the 2007-08 season.
• In three out of the last five games, Duke has registered only one double-figure scorer, which was Jasmine Thomas. In those games, the Blue Devils have notched a 1-2 record with the victory coming at Maryland (other games were UConn and BC).Even though senior Joy Cheek has struggled shooting from the field recently, she has been making up for it on the boards as she has averaged 7.0 rebounds the last six games. She pulled down 11 boards at Miami, had 11 at Maryland and posted nine against Florida State in that stretch.
• Over her first three years at Duke, senior Bridgette Mitchell registered eight double-figure scoring games, while this year the 6’0 wing has collected eight games with double-digit scoring.
• In her three years at Duke, junior Jasmine Thomas has increased her field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, free throw percentage and scoring each year.
• During the month of January, junior Karima Christmas struggled with a finger sprain on her right pointer finger. This happened in practice following the Temple game and she reinjured it at Clemson on Jan. 7. She scored in double-figures only one time in January.
• Senior Keturah Jackson has a career high with five three-pointers made in a single season. Over her four years, she has hit 10 treys. She hit her fifth of the year at Boston College.
• To show how tough Duke’s schedule has been this year, the Blue Devils went up against eight undefeated teams this season — Connecticut (17-0), Ohio State (8-0), James Madison (7-0), Stanford (7-0), Western Kentucky (3-0), Georgia Southern (1-0), Houston Baptist (0-0) and Texas A&M (0-0).
• In three years at Duke, Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie has notched four victories against top-five ranked teams — #3/3 Ohio State in 2009-10, #3/4 Stanford in 2008-09, while knocking off #4/3 Rutgers and #5/4 Maryland in 2007-08.
• Duke is currently ranked No. 6 in the latest RPI by Jeff Sagarin — Connecticut (107.84), Stanford (100.81), Nebraska (98.89), Tennessee (97.64), Notre Dame (96.98) and Duke (95.31). The next closest ACC school is Florida State at No. 14 (88.73).
• Junior Jasmine Thomas has hit 43 three-pointers in only 22 games this season. As a freshman, she hit 24 in 35 games and as a sophomore she hit 28 in 30 games.
• Junior Krystal Thomas has moved into eighth place on Duke’s all-time blocked shots list with 111. She is 19 blocked shots shy of seventh place all-time on the Blue Devil charts.
• The Coach P Radio Show will next take place on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 6:00 p.m. The show will be stationed at Satisfaction Restaurant in Durham at Brightleaf Square. Make sure you get there early to secure a seat.
• Follow DukeWBBSID on and CoachPDuke on Twitter to get the latest updates on Duke women’s basketball. Also, join the “Official Duke Women’s Basketball Group” on Facebook to get the latest video, pictures and more. Join both now as they are free! You can win free prizes each week on both Twitter and Facebook so make sure you follow closely.

What Happened Last Time We Met…
Jasmine Thomas scored 19 points and Abby Waner hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 45.8 seconds remaining in overtime to lead No. 10 Duke past No. 9 North Carolina 81-79 on March 1, 2009, in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Karima Christmas had 18 points, Carrem Gay added 15 points and 12 rebounds and Bridgette Mitchell finished with 13 points for the Blue Devils (24-4, 11-3 ACC), who snapped a four-game losing streak to their most hated rivals in dramatic fashion, won for the fifth time in six games and clinched the No. 3 seed in this week’s ACC tournament.

Rashanda McCants had 24 points to lead the Tar Heels (25-5, 10-4). They shot 45 percent but slipped to the No. 4 seed in the league tournament because they couldn’t overcome 33 turnovers.

And Waner – who had missed 14 straight shots during her final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium – cashed in on the most important one.

Joy Cheek stole Cetera DeGraffenreid’s pass to the block and hustled up court before dishing off to Waner in the left corner, and the senior swished a 3 to put Duke up 78-76.

Thomas, who scored eight points in overtime, hit two free throws on Duke’s next possession and Christmas added a foul shot to make it a five-point game with 10.8 seconds left.

Duke Players Vs. North Carolina…
Over the last three games against UNC, junior Jasmine Thomas has averaged 15.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals. She has notched double-digit scoring in three consecutive games (16, 10, 19). In the last contest, Thomas hit 8-of-17 field goals, had four rebounds, three assists and two steals. She scored 10 out of Duke’s final 16 points in the second half/overtime to give the Blue Devils the victory.

In the last game against the Tar Heels, Bridgette Mitchell notched a career best 13 points as she hit 6-of-10 field goals. Junior Karima Christmas is coming off posting 18 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two assists in 27 minutes.

Home Sweet Home…
Duke has registered a 10-1 overall record at home this season and are outscoring opponents by a 21.1 margin in those contests. The Blue Devils are averaging 4,331 fans at home this season, which ranks second in the ACC.

The Blue Devil defense is holding the opposition to only 35.9 percent shooting, forcing 23.1 turnovers and pulling down an 11.7 rebounding margin.

Jasmine Thomas is averaging 17.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.4 steals at home this year, while hitting 40.7 percent of her three-pointers. At home against ranked opponents, Thomas is averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals. She has hit 9-of-19 treys for a 47.4 percentage.

Cheek Nets 1,000 Points…
Senior Joy Cheek became the 25th player in Duke history to register 1,000 career points on Jan. 29 against Florida State. She has appeared in 123 games and missed only one in her career, while playing in 110 straight contests.

Cheek will be recognized immediately following the Feb. 8 home contest against North Carolina for reaching the milestone.

Junior Jasmine Thomas is also approaching 1,000 points as she is 58 shy of hitting the milestone.

DURHAM, N.C.

Jasmine Thomas scored 24 of her career-high 29 points during the second half and the 11th-ranked Blue Devils routed No. 3 Ohio State 83-67 on Thursday night in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Duke (6-1) outscored the Buckeyes 24-8 during a 6-minute stretch of the second half, then led by 19 while pulling away late and turning its 18th straight home victory into an unexpected blowout.

“Everything about the second half was much more aggressive,” coach Joanne P. McCallie said.

Jantel Lavender had 20 points and 18 rebounds for Ohio State (8-1), which beat its first eight opponents by an average of 27 points but was held to fewer than 83 points for the first time this season.

These kinds of punishing performances became commonplace at Cameron three years ago when Harding ran the show and led Duke to a 30-0 start and a No. 1 ranking.

This time, Harding watched from the stands while her protégé, Thomas, put on a show and Allison Vernerey — a 6-foot-5 freshman who wears the same No. 43 jersey that star center Alison Bales wore during Harding’s era — teamed with 6-4 Krystal Thomas inside. Vernerey finished with a season-high 13 points in her first home game of national significance.

“That’s the kind of game I came for,” Vernerey said. “You don’t come for easy games.”

There isn’t much about the remaining schedule that’s easy for Duke, the only team to face the top three schools in The Associated Press Top 25. But the Blue Devils can’t help but like their chances against No. 1 Connecticut and No. 2 Stanford if their junior point guard keeps playing like this.

“I just decided to attack the basket more,” Jasmine Thomas said. “I really didn’t get anything inside in the first half, so that was just a change in my mentality.”

Thomas, who had a triple-double last time out against Marquette, started the decisive burst with a 3-pointer, scored 10 points during the run and went coast-to-coast for the layup that gave the Blue Devils their first double-figure lead, 59-49, with 11 minutes left.

“We should have made her take some tougher shots,” Buckeyes coach Jim Foster said.

After Bridgette Mitchell‘s jumper capped the burst and made it 61-49 with 10½ minutes left, Ohio State didn’t get closer than five the rest of the way.

Karima Christmas had 10 points and Krystal Thomas finished with 13 rebounds to help the Blue Devils win their fifth straight.

Tayler Hill scored 13 points, Brittany Johnson and Sarah Schulze had 11 apiece and Samantha Prahalis finished with 10 points for the Buckeyes. But the Buckeyes led twice for a total of about 3½ minutes, turned it over 21 times, were outscored 46-10 in the paint and got just two points from their bench.

“I just think they came at us, with just an attitude, like, ‘We were going to win this game,’” Prahalis said. “For whatever reason, we didn’t come back at them.”