WBB: Duke vs. USC

[CameronBornAndBred]

It is on FSN tonight at 11:00 EST. They advertised it was on the West affiliate, but it looks like all the FSN channels will have the game. It will be interesting to see how the ladies do in a true road game. If they play the same defense they did vs. Stanford they should be in control, hopefully their shooting is much improved. GO DUKE and best of luck ladies!

[loran16]

WHAT A COMEBACK!

Waner to tie it and send it to OT!

[CameronBornAndBred]

Just witnessed an incredible comeback from 14 pts down to go into overtime on a Waner shot with 3.2 seconds left. Lousy shooting again, but at least we've made them at the right time tonight. 5 min to play now, LGD!!!

[Stray Gator]

I got so frustrated watching the succession of ugly turnovers and even uglier shots that I was ready to throw in the towel when we fell behind by 17 with a little over 11 minutes left--at which point I believe we had already committed 21 turnovers. Glad I decided to hang in a bit longer and enjoy witnessing that comeback for the overtime victory. It's remarkable how the team experienced a complete reversal of form in the last 8 minutes of regulation and in overtime. Congrats to the women!

[terrih]

Good win for the ladies. Black had foul trouble, picking up her 4th with over 15 minutes to go in the second half. Good for Duke to win with a comeback like this, and into overtime even.

Nice finish in regulation for Abby. Hopefully that will spark her offense.

-Terri

[CameronBornAndBred]

Wow, what a game! Abby Waner, WOTM. She made 2 big threes in the second half, the second one was a monster. From way out under a double team, her shot put us in single possession territory, then down two, she spun through another double team down low and placed in an amazing shot for the tie. After OT, the momentum was all Duke.
Tied at the half, Duke got down by 14 twice due to horrible shooting and an abundance of turnovers, several of them unforced. I wish we had an answer for that, but one thing I've decided is our deficiencies are not due to coaching. Consider me a McCallie convert. Without Coach P's confidence and steadfast coaching, this game would have been a guaranteed loss. She did a great job working the ladies through their weaknesses to find a way to win. Not once did she ever appear desperate or upset at was happening on the court. I almost quit watching with 2 minutes left because I couldn't stand to see us lose, playing the way we were playing. I didn't give up though, and she never did. So hats off to her, and hats off to the team. Great job, this will be one we look back on come tourney time.

[gep]

I almost quit watching with 2 minutes left because I couldn't stand to see us lose, playing the way we were playing. I didn't give up though, and she never did. So hats off to her, and hats off to the team. Great job, this will be one we look back on come tourney time.

Interesting... I started watching at with about 2 minutes left... down by 6. Not knowing what happened in the first 38 minutes... ignorance is bliss, I guess. I wanted to watch... with maybe unrealistic optimism, but I stuck it out. Amazing comeback... equally amazing OT performance. GOOD JOB!!!

[JulesInLA]

Wow...was the an ugly win! Was there in person and am now hoping my voice comes back soon.

[DukieInKansas]

Wow...was the an ugly win! Was there in person and am now hoping my voice comes back soon.

Thanks for cheering in person - I think they could hear you a lot better than they could hear me from my family room.

Congratulations on the victory, ladies. Please don't make the next one quite so exciting!

[fadero]

good coaching... give me a break. We should have never pressed. It got us in foul trouble, gave them easy baskets, and open threes. Karima hardly played in the first half. Her substitution patterns are off the chart. Her offense is one of complete bewilderment. Duke's transition defense, once again was not good. Our defense was horrible. We foul way too much.

We should have beaten this team with ease. Stanford game was a gift and this one was a complete choke job by USC. Yes we took advantage of it, but it was not coaching. We could easily be looking at 3 losses right now. I will take it but she has a long way to go as far as coaching goes.

USC was no where near us , in size, athletic ability or basic talent, but yet a good coach who preaches fundamentals took us to the limit, as did Hartford.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Duke's transition defense, once again was not good. Our defense was horrible. We foul way too much.

Our defense was the reason we won. We are shooting terribly, so considering that we can't score (1-20 to start the second half) the only way we have kept ourselves in games is a smothering D.

[heyman25]

I hope to go to Siena game. I am going to support them,but shout at them to take care of the basketball.They waste so many possesions it is almost sickening to watch. They don't need to win this ugly if they would quit trying to make plays that aren't there.They really need to let the game come to them. I hope Waner starts hitting her shots from here on for the rest of the season.

[DukePA]

Wow, what a game! Abby Waner, WOTM. She made 2 big threes in the second half, the second one was a monster. From way out under a double team, her shot put us in single possession territory, then down two, she spun through another double team down low and placed in an amazing shot for the tie. After OT, the momentum was all Duke.
Tied at the half, Duke got down by 14 twice due to horrible shooting and an abundance of turnovers, several of them unforced. I wish we had an answer for that, but one thing I've decided is our deficiencies are not due to coaching. Consider me a McCallie convert. Without Coach P's confidence and steadfast coaching, this game would have been a guaranteed loss. She did a great job working the ladies through their weaknesses to find a way to win. Not once did she ever appear desperate or upset at was happening on the court. I almost quit watching with 2 minutes left because I couldn't stand to see us lose, playing the way we were playing. I didn't give up though, and she never did. So hats off to her, and hats off to the team. Great job, this will be one we look back on come tourney time.

Thanks for the recap. I turned off the television when we down by 11 and not much time left in the game. I knew for sure that I would wake up to a Duke loss. I am so pysched! Congratulations to our women!! They rock!!!

[DukePA]

Our defense was the reason we won. We are shooting terribly, so considering that we can't score (1-20 to start the second half) the only way we have kept ourselves in games is a smothering D.

I agree. Our defense is the reason we beat Stanford, too. Go Duke!!

[fadero]

USC scored over 80 points in regualtion. They back doored us, beat our press reguarly for easy baskets, shot uncontested 3s, known 3 point shooters were left wide open, and we committed silly, stupid fouls. I would hardly call it good defense. I will agree our free throw shooting defense against Stanford was excellent.

[burnspbesq]

It was nice to see Good Abby show up for the last four minutes of regulation. I'm not terribly fond of watching the impostor who's been wearing number for for the last season and a quarter.

Hopefully we will look back at the end of the season and see this as Jasmine Thomas' breakout game. And Shay also looked pretty good, except for one stretch in the second half when she had turnovers on consecutive possessions.

And there was a rare sighting of Carrem Gay, Ferocious Rebounder.

God, it was ugly. But it was not without its moments.

Now, to do something about the permanent hearing loss caused by a bunch of shrill, know-nothing USC fans that were sitting behind me.

[jv001]

Maybe this will be the game that finally gets Abby going with her shot and ball handling. She was clutch at the end. The turnovers(29) are killing this team. Just too many gifts that puts the pressure on the defense. Cannot blame the coach for the type to's we have. Good to see J. Thomas playing like she's supposed to. Go Duke!

[Ders24]

A win given the circumstances (playing an incredibly tough game against Stanford, leaving at 4:30 the next morning to travel to California), is great for the women. Clearly their offense has not been in sync, for whatever reason, but the defense has been great. I didn't see the USC game, but still, a win under any circumstances is great.