WBB: Duke 81, Clemson 37

[DU82]

The Duke women play tonight down at Littlejohn against Clemson. The Tigers, 5-14, are 1-5 in ACC play, but that one was a huge upset (well, actually I wasn't upset) at Carolina.

Our team needs to not look past this game to Monday's home contest against UConn, and take care of business. Hopefully, Maryland losing last night to VT will reinforce the message to not take any team for granted.

The game is on RSN, which in Durham is carried on Fox Sports South. I believe it's also on ESPN3.

[wandalee]

Duke up 40-24 at the half. Started slow, but then started to dominate.

[sagegrouse]

Duke up 40-24 at the half. Started slow, but then started to dominate.

An absolute rout of Clemson on its home court. Impressive. -- sage

[burnspbesq]

So much for the potential trap game. Duke wins, 81-37.

Liston leads the way with 16. Lots of minutes for Scheer and Johnson, and a Frush sighting.

Does Duke bus to Clemson? If so, I'd venture a guess that the ride back will be a UConn film session.

[SupaDave]

40-17 in the second half? Now that's how you put a foot on your opponent's neck.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I didn't see it but after reading the boxscore I have to believe this was a statement game. The women weren't overlooking anybody.

[Dukehky]

Clemson's last field goal was at 13 minutes to go in the second half. d-d-d-dang

[uh_no]

I didn't see it but after reading the boxscore I have to believe this was a statement game. The women weren't overlooking anybody.

I think the women would much rather their statement game come on monday instead of against clemson. And even if not, winning by 44 against horrid (clemson is 5-13 for goodness sake) opponents is commonplace for top women's teams (and should be expected by elite teams...which Duke certainly is on the border of, and can establish themselves as with a good performance if not a win on monday), and while I'm sure they are happy with their performance, I'd hope they realize (and i'd be largely disappointed if they didn't) that there are way bigger fish to fry to consider this win any sort of statement.

[-bdbd]

I think the women would much rather their statement game come on monday instead of against clemson. And even if not, winning by 44 against horrid (clemson is 5-13 for goodness sake) opponents is commonplace for top women's teams (and should be expected by elite teams...which Duke certainly is on the border of, and can establish themselves as with a good performance if not a win on monday), and while I'm sure they are happy with their performance, I'd hope they realize (and i'd be largely disappointed if they didn't) that there are way bigger fish to fry to consider this win any sort of statement.

Geez uh_no, I think I detect a tone of nervousness in your voice there.... Trying just a little too hard to minimize a statement game result heading into hosting U-con in three days in an obvious match-up of top-ten elite teams?? It sure is nice to see Duke WBB hitting on all cylinders and riding all of that momentum into Monday. (What would have been the angle if Duke had "only" won by 15-20? That "this Duke team is 'stumbling' at exactly the wrong time and surely has no confidence or momentum heading into a top-10 matchup" with your beloved Huskies? As a Duke fan I really can't wait for our ladies to attack this coming opportunity. And with U-con's occasional offensive execution issues this year against quality opponents/defenses, I sure am anticipating fun things if/when the same Duke D from tonight's thrashing shows up on Monday.

I did get to watch the game, and it just seemed like Clemson's body language for most of the second half was saying, "oh sh*t, what next?!" The Duke D was particularly stifling. And they seem to be finally gaining some offensive rhythm too. Things are all coming together at the right time... All systems are a "go" for Monday. :eek: :D ;) :p

[Kedsy]

This Duke team is a lot of fun to watch. Great defense. Balanced offense. Sharp passing and execution all around. Monday's game will be a great barometer of where we really are, though. A quick start would help.

[jjasper0729]

This Duke team is a lot of fun to watch. Great defense. Balanced offense. Sharp passing and execution all around. Monday's game will be a great barometer of where we really are, though. A quick start would help.

I definitely agree with the last sentence. I watched the game against the tigers and we started slow. If we do that on monday that game will be over before we realize it

[roywhite]

This Duke team is a lot of fun to watch. Great defense. Balanced offense. Sharp passing and execution all around. Monday's game will be a great barometer of where we really are, though. A quick start would help.

Agreed about the way this team is performing. Looking at some stats year to date:
48.2% FG shooting vs 35.6% for opponents (amazing disparity)
41.6 rebounds per game vs 31.6 for opponents

Turnovers, which had been a big issue, are coming down, and assists are going up---23 assists vs 12 turnovers last night.

Starters Tricia Liston, Chelsea Gray, Richa Jackson, and Haley Peters are sophomores, and Elizabeth Williams is a freshman.
Something special is brewing.

[uh_no]

Geez uh_no, I think I detect a tone of nervousness in your voice there.... Trying just a little too hard to minimize a statement game result heading into hosting U-con in three days in an obvious match-up of top-ten elite teams?? It sure is nice to see Duke WBB hitting on all cylinders and riding all of that momentum into Monday. (What would have been the angle if Duke had "only" won by 15-20? That "this Duke team is 'stumbling' at exactly the wrong time and surely has no confidence or momentum heading into a top-10 matchup" with your beloved Huskies? As a Duke fan I really can't wait for our ladies to attack this coming opportunity. And with U-con's occasional offensive execution issues this year against quality opponents/defenses, I sure am anticipating fun things if/when the same Duke D from tonight's thrashing shows up on Monday.

I did get to watch the game, and it just seemed like Clemson's body language for most of the second half was saying, "oh sh*t, what next?!" The Duke D was particularly stifling. And they seem to be finally gaining some offensive rhythm too. Things are all coming together at the right time... All systems are a "go" for Monday. :eek: :D ;) :p

I mean should uconn consider their 41 point win against syracuse as statement? or the 44 point win against depaul before that? I'd hope not. Should our duke men consider a blowout against Penn a statement win? Again, I'd hope not.

Clemson was far overmatched (again they are 5-13). Its a statement win as much as an 8th grader beating up a 5th grader would be a statement. Our girls should be happy they played well and executed while realizing that bad teams get blown out all the time. For example, clmeson lost to WF (2-5 in the acc WF) by 29 in their previous game. You think ND's statement win was a 76 win over pitt? or a 7 point overtime win over uconn.

I guess what i mean is if Duke gets blown out by uconn, then the win against clemson is meaningless...and if duke plays uconn close and wins, then the win against clemson is meaningless...so regardless of the outcome against uconn, the clemson game ends up being meaningless....and how can it be a statement if no one cares about it?

Statement wins come against big teams, and I'm sure the women are going to try to accomplish that.

As to "nervousness," I am hardly nervous over the outcome of a basketball game, it is what it is. What I do think, though, is that this uconn team is as vulnerable as its been in the past 4 years. This duke team is a lot better than it has been the past few years. They've finally shown the ability to score some points against quality opponents. They had ND until the end. Uconn (like duke) is very young and doesn't have that killer player yet (no diana taurai, tina charles or maya moore).

I think in women's basketball you can really only determine the quality of a team by their performance against the elite teams. We know uconn is good. They were up on baylor near the end, and took ND to overtime. DUke's only such game was against ND, in which, yes, they performed admirably. But I would also argue that ND has improved tremendously since the duke game. Anyway, it comes down to a lack of data points for duke, and I can see this being a game, and I can see this being a blowout. Either way, it will be fun to be there, and as I've said, I hope the duke women play to the best of their ability and that they shoot for the skies of being one of the Uconn's of the world rather than being another team that can blow out 5-13 clemson.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Statement wins come against big teams, and I'm sure the women are going to try to accomplish that.

Sometimes they do, but not always. I called last nights win a statement game because that's exaclty what it was. I guarantee you the women paid attention to the Md-VT results, and there were plenty of vocal musings that Duke better not be looking ahead to UCONN or the same fate could await them. They definitively said they are not looking ahead to anyone, and that they are a team playing high caliber basketball. That's a statement. And one I bet UCONN understands.

[Verga3]

Agreed about the way this team is performing. Looking at some stats year to date:
48.2% FG shooting vs 35.6% for opponents (amazing disparity)
41.6 rebounds per game vs 31.6 for opponents

Turnovers, which had been a big issue, are coming down, and assists are going up---23 assists vs 12 turnovers last night.

Starters Tricia Liston, Chelsea Gray, Richa Jackson, and Haley Peters are sophomores, and Elizabeth Williams is a freshman.
Something special is brewing.

Absolutely right...something special is brewing. We can all be proud of this team. I'm glad not to see more comments on our offensive ineptitude. Guess that 48.2% talks. Thanks for the stats.

[Duvall]

This Duke team is a lot of fun to watch. Great defense. Balanced offense. Sharp passing and execution all around. Monday's game will be a great barometer of where we really are, though. A quick start would help.

I hope so, though I'm concerned about all that passing against UConn's clutch-and-grab defense.

[killerleft]

I think the women would much rather their statement game come on monday instead of against clemson. And even if not, winning by 44 against horrid (clemson is 5-13 for goodness sake) opponents is commonplace for top women's teams (and should be expected by elite teams...which Duke certainly is on the border of, and can establish themselves as with a good performance if not a win on monday), and while I'm sure they are happy with their performance, I'd hope they realize (and i'd be largely disappointed if they didn't) that there are way bigger fish to fry to consider this win any sort of statement.

I would be amazed if Duke considered this to be a statement of anything except that they certainly didn't overlook Clemson. As Coach K would say, "C'mon!"

[-bdbd]

I mean should uconn consider their 41 point win against syracuse as statement? or the 44 point win against depaul before that? I'd hope not. Should our duke men consider a blowout against Penn a statement win? Again, I'd hope not.

Clemson was far overmatched (again they are 5-13). Its a statement win as much as an 8th grader beating up a 5th grader would be a statement. Our girls should be happy they played well and executed while realizing that bad teams get blown out all the time. For example, clmeson lost to WF (2-5 in the acc WF) by 29 in their previous game. You think ND's statement win was a 76 win over pitt? or a 7 point overtime win over uconn.

I guess what i mean is if Duke gets blown out by uconn, then the win against clemson is meaningless...and if duke plays uconn close and wins, then the win against clemson is meaningless...so regardless of the outcome against uconn, the clemson game ends up being meaningless....and how can it be a statement if no one cares about it?

Statement wins come against big teams, and I'm sure the women are going to try to accomplish that.

As to "nervousness," I am hardly nervous over the outcome of a basketball game, it is what it is. What I do think, though, is that this uconn team is as vulnerable as its been in the past 4 years. This duke team is a lot better than it has been the past few years. They've finally shown the ability to score some points against quality opponents. They had ND until the end. Uconn (like duke) is very young and doesn't have that killer player yet (no diana taurai, tina charles or maya moore).

I think in women's basketball you can really only determine the quality of a team by their performance against the elite teams. We know uconn is good. They were up on baylor near the end, and took ND to overtime. DUke's only such game was against ND, in which, yes, they performed admirably. But I would also argue that ND has improved tremendously since the duke game. Anyway, it comes down to a lack of data points for duke, and I can see this being a game, and I can see this being a blowout. Either way, it will be fun to be there, and as I've said, I hope the duke women play to the best of their ability and that they shoot for the skies of being one of the Uconn's of the world rather than being another team that can blow out 5-13 clemson.

We disagree on the meaning of "statement game." For most, it means just exactly that, did the game/performance/result make some sort of a statement?
If I'm an upcoming opponent, yes, them beating a conference foe on their own court by 40+, just 3 days prior to my arrival at their place, certainly makes a statement to me. (Who significant as U-con beaten outside of the state of CT??? Depaul? College of Charleston?) As in, these guys are serious, in no way light-weights. But CBAB certainly has the right to define this as a "statement game" in his mind. And given that statement, I suspect they got just a little more of U-con's attention. But importantly, whereas some Duke WBB teams in the past might have been looking forward to hosting a fellow-top10 opponent at CIS, this team is clearly focused and determined - importantly a statement to themselves possibly as well. (Beats the heck outta coming into this matchup surviving by 15 in a HOME game against"powerhouse" USF...)

As to the bolded part, what an ugly thing to say. Duke WBB are classier than that. Now, if you'd named one of the truly elite, such as Notre Dame or Baylor, well then maybe we could let it slide... But, to be sure, I don't see this program trying to be "like" anybody else, in any regard, rather than just being their own great selves.

This Duke team EXPECTS to win this game. And for good reason. Regardless of how much U-con fans want to spin things and downplay the momentum and toughness Duke's shown and is bringing into CIS in front of 9,000 loud home fans! Should be a lot of fun! :rolleyes:

[sagegrouse]

Sometimes they do, but not always. I called last nights win a statement game because that's exaclty what it was. I guarantee you the women paid attention to the Md-VT results, and there were plenty of vocal musings that Duke better not be looking ahead to UCONN or the same fate could await them. They definitively said they are not looking ahead to anyone, and that they are a team playing high caliber basketball. That's a statement. And one I bet UCONN understands.


I mean should uconn consider their 41 point win against syracuse as statement? or the 44 point win against depaul before that? I'd hope not. Should our duke men consider a blowout against Penn a statement win? Again, I'd hope not.

Clemson was far overmatched (again they are 5-13). Its a statement win as much as an 8th grader beating up a 5th grader would be a statement. .


We disagree on the meaning of "statement game." For most, it means just exactly that, did the game/performance/result make some sort of a statement?
If I'm an upcoming opponent, yes, them beating a conference foe on their own court by 40+, just 3 days prior to my arrival at their place, certainly makes a statement to me. (Who significant as U-con beaten outside of the state of CT??? Depaul? College of Charleston?) As in, these guys are serious, in no way light-weights. But CBAB certainly has the right to define this as a "statement game" in his mind. And given that statement, I suspect they got just a little more of U-con's attention. But importantly, whereas some Duke WBB teams in the past might have been looking forward to hosting a fellow-top10 opponent at CIS, this team is clearly focused and determined - importantly a statement to themselves possibly as well. (Beats the heck outta coming into this matchup surviving by 15 in a HOME game against"powerhouse" USF...)

As to the bolded part, what an ugly thing to say. Duke WBB are classier than that. Now, if you'd named one of the truly elite, such as Notre Dame or Baylor, well then maybe we could let it slide... But, to be sure, I don't see this program trying to be "like" anybody else, in any regard, rather than just being their own great selves.

This Duke team EXPECTS to win this game. And for good reason. Regardless of how much U-con fans want to spin things and downplay the momentum and toughness Duke's shown and is bringing into CIS in front of 9,000 loud home fans! Should be a lot of fun! :rolleyes:

maybe we should put the phrase, "statement game," on the same bus as "take it to another level" and push it over a cliff. -- sage