WBB Duke 107, UNCW 45

[Tappan Zee Devil]

I little surprised that nobody has already noted this but the women destroyed UNCW tonight. Not a challenging game, but still impressive coming off of exams and although I could only follow it by ESPN's game tracker it appears, THEY MADE THEIR LAYUPS. The women shot 57% and the bigs scored. Vernerey had 22 and Williams 16. This is a young team that is growing

[Verga3]

Nice result tonight before a brief Christmas break. Liked the offensive output AND defensive intensity. This young team looks to grow into something special.

[jimsumner]

I little surprised that nobody has already noted this but the women destroyed UNCW tonight. Not a challenging game, but still impressive coming off of exams and although I could only follow it by ESPN's game tracker it appears, THEY MADE THEIR LAYUPS. The women shot 57% and the bigs scored. Vernerey had 22 and Williams 16. This is a young team that is growing

This was a pretty impressive win. UNCW is considered a decent mid-major. They beat ECU by 11 earlier this season. Carolina beat ECU by four tonight. NC State beat UNCW by 19. The 107 points was the most ever allowed by UNCW.

Duke's offense was very efficient. Great spacing, great ball movement, great passing. Duke had 36 assists on 48 field goals. That equals the school record for assists. Duke had 28 steals and forced 40 turnovers. UNCW's starting guards combined for 22 turnovers by themselves. Duke had 31 fast-break points, most off turnovers.

UNCW's best player--Alisha Andrews-had 13 turnovers and shot 2-7 from the field. Andrews, btw, is listed at 5-2 but I doubt whether she's any bigger than
4-11. She couldn't pass over Duke's defenders, couldn't dribble around them and didn't have any other options. Duke just swallowed her up.

Duke played Williams and Vernerey together more than any other time and they displayed a nasty high-low offensive game. The duo combined for nine assists against four turnovers, pretty good for post players. McCallie said Duke is working on developing this part of the game. Haley Peters got into early foul trouble but both she and Kathleen Scheer are spending more time on the perimeter. The nominal "post" players played 97 minutes. Put one of them on the wing, Williams and Vernerey inside and Gray and Liston at guard, and you've got a huge team that doesn't sacrifice quickness or skill.

The highlight of the game came late when Durham walk-on Jenna Frush drained a 3 for her first points of the season. The crowd loves her and went crazy when she scored.

The women showed none of the early sluggishness displayed by the men last night. It was 14-1 less than a minute into the game. A very nice way to go into the holiday break.

FWIW, Selby's status will be evaluated soon.

[burnspbesq]

Good to hear that Williams and Vernerey are spending more time on the court together. The last time we had an effective high-low set, we rode it all the way to the national championship game.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I didn't realize that UNCW's coach was Cynthia Cooper-Dyke...wow, talk about a powerhouse player in women's basketball. As a player she was in 3 Final Fours, and won 2 of them with USC. She also won a gold medal in th '88 Olympics and a bronze in '92. In the WNBA, she helped the Comets win four straight titles and was named MVP 4 times. In 2010, she was inducted in the Naismith Hall of Fame. This is her 7th year coaching, she's won the CAA coach of year 3 times. (At Prairie View.)
Her resume must be the size of a book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Cooper

[jimsumner]

I didn't realize that UNCW's coach was Cynthia Cooper-Dyke...wow, talk about a powerhouse player in women's basketball. As a player she was in 3 Final Fours, and won 2 of them with USC. She also won a gold medal in th '88 Olympics and a bronze in '92. In the WNBA, she helped the Comets win four straight titles and was named MVP 4 times. In 2010, she was inducted in the Naismith Hall of Fame. This is her 7th year coaching, she's won the CAA coach of year 3 times. (At Prairie View.)
Her resume must be the size of a book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Cooper

Normally the coach of a visiting team coming off a 62-point loss would get a question or two at the postgame media conference and then get out of Dodge. We kept Cooper-Dyke there for a good 10 minutes. Just wanted to hear what she had to say, I guess.

Interesting.

[bird]

I little surprised that nobody has already noted this but the women destroyed UNCW tonight. Not a challenging game, but still impressive coming off of exams and although I could only follow it by ESPN's game tracker it appears, THEY MADE THEIR LAYUPS. The women shot 57% and the bigs scored. Vernerey had 22 and Williams 16. This is a young team that is growing

I had to laugh a bit after reading "THEY MADE THEIR LAYUPS." My family has a running conversation dating back for what seems like decades now concerning layups, and the perceived lack of efficiency of the Duke women in converting the same.

[Lid]

Really, a great game. The passing. Oh, the passing! The layups! All very exciting; the women clearly came with focus and aggression, and it was a blast to watch them execute.

FWIW, Selby's status will be evaluated soon.

Thanks for noting this, I thought I remembered there was the potential for a reassessment at the break. I've been wondering how it would impact the team if/when she comes back.