WBB: Duke 71 Maryland 64

[CameronBornAndBred]

We're #3, they are #14. It's the opening of our ACC season. It's in Cameron. It's on TV.
Sound's like a great recipe for a big game.
I'm hoping beyond hope that we see some improvement on offense tonight, I'm confident our defense will be as strong as ever. We'll be in Section 21 (http://www.crazietalk.net/ourhouse/chat) chatting. Game is at 7 on Fox Sports South. GO DUKE!!

[CameronBornAndBred]

Maryland's zone is killing us, we aren't even trying to drive to the hoop.

[DU82]

Maryland's zone is killing us, we aren't even trying to drive to the hoop.

We've had some open threes,just missed them. After our shots, Maryland's beating us down the floor for easy baskets.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Argh, great play by the Twerps at the end of the half. Kudos to Duke for finally getting in the paint and back in the game. GO DUKE!! Down by 4 at the half.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Wow! What a win! Gut effort from everyone on the floor tonight. Jasmine was the leader, but it was a true team win. Haley Peters gets better every game.

[Duvall]

Meanwhile... (https://twitter.com/GTWBB/status/23198763690500096)

[30scheyer]

Grats to Duke! Jasmine for player of the match!

[-jk]

Well, MD was up, 60-58, with a couple minutes to go. We executed on both ends and they didn't on either end.

-jk

[CameronBornAndBred]

Meanwhile... (https://twitter.com/GTWBB/status/23198763690500096)
I love nights like this. :D

[burnspbesq]

Meanwhile... (https://twitter.com/GTWBB/status/23198763690500096)

Que lastima.

[GADevilFan]

Honestly, I enjoyed that game more than any of I seen all season. TOUGH. Peters is my new favorite player ... Ms. Hustle.

Clearly defense is ahead of the offense, but I guess defense wins championships. My only complaint ... far, far too many missed inside shots. If you have the ball in the paint, please score. But, truly great effort and great win.

[devildeac]

Meanwhile... (https://twitter.com/GTWBB/status/23198763690500096)

Always a good time for a rousing, GTHc, GTH.

[burnspbesq]

My only complaint ... far, far too many missed inside shots. If you have the ball in the paint, please score. But, truly great effort and great win.

Welcome to Duke women's basketball. Make sure your dental insurance is paid up, because you WILL be grinding your teeth. Been that way for many years, and no one understands why.

[DU82]

I've got to call the team the Cardiac Kids, for what they're going to give me one of these games!

Offensively, the team settled down and made some shots. It doesn't seem that 38% is good shooting, but it's a huge improvement over the past few games. There appreaded to be a decent flow and plan when we had the ball, moreso than any home game this year. The freshmen, especially Trisha and Haley, started taking shots, and making them. Overall, the shot selection was good, with less "throw the ball up towards the basket". Jasmine missed a lot of shots early, but was THE senior leader down the stretch with key plays and shots.

Defensively, we outrebounded the second best rebounding team (by rebound margin). Great boxing out for the most part. The first half, giving up a lot of easy fast break baskets, wasn't really good. The last play of the half, with a pass, turn and shoot in .8 seconds, was really bad. (Krystal, FRONT her in that situation!) The second half, of course, much better.

The stars of the game, as far as providing new impacts, were Trisha and Haley. Trisha, after getting buried on the bench earlier in the season, got 20 minutes of great play. Good decisions on offense, and didn't get lost on defense as she did earlier. Haley also made good decisions on offense, and pulled down nine rebounds.

Jasmine, of course, led the team all the way. A lot of forced shots early, but came around in the second half with some clutch shots. Great ball pressure, we forced 19 turnovers and "only" had 16 ourselves.

Krystal pulled down ten rebounds, eight in the first half, and played tough defense inside against the tall turtles, adding four blocked shots. Still not the greatest on expecting or catching passes, but some of the passes were forced (one hit her in her feet.)

Overall, a great game to pull out against such a familiar foe. Now one of only three undefeated teams left, and we have a week off to prepare to go down to Tallahassee, which is always a tough place to play.

[CameronBornAndBred]

The announcers said in the post game with unc going down that Duke is one of three teams left undefeated.

[msdukie]

Duke, West Virginia, Florida Gulf Coast are the 3 remaining undefeateds.

FGCU is a transitional Division I and is not eligible for the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship.

[miramar]

It seems that Duke played 40 tough minutes, but that Maryland lost their focus (or were worn down by Duke's defense) the last two minutes. Considering that Duke was coming off a tough game, it should have been the other way around, so the women showed a lot of character. And the shooting was better, especialy towards the end.