MIAMI — Despite enjoying warm weather in Miami, Duke was forced to overcome a frigid shooting spell to eke out a victory over the Hurricanes. The No. 7 Blue Devils (15-2, 3-0 in the ACC) extended their win streak to eight by sending Miami (13-3, 1-1) to its first loss in four games.
Fresh off of earning their first top-25 ranking since 2004 after an upset of then-No. 13 Florida State, the No. 25 Hurricanes stormed out of the gate, outmuscling and outhustling the Blue Devils. Sophomores Riquna Williams and Shenise Johnson—the top two scorers for the nation’s ninth-ranked scoring offense—average over half of their team’s points per game, and tallied 12 of Miami’s first 20 points en route to an early nine-point lead.
However, Duke’s 3-2 zone defense soon converged strongly on the two, and Williams was forced to settle for 10 points on 4-of-23 shooting on the night, while Johnson managed a modest 19 on a 7-for-17 effort.
“We’ve got two of the best scorers in the conference on our team, and that defines us,” Hurricane head coach Katie Meier said. “Duke did a great job of keeping us from scoring.”
Down low, though, the Blue Devils seemed uncomfortable with Miami’s ultra-physical style of play early in the game, and forced up many off-balance shots despite having solid post positioning. Ultimately, Duke’s leading scorers Joy Cheek and Jasmine Thomas never found their comfort zones, together putting up a meager 24 points on 7-of-36 shooting from the field.
In what came down to a rough-and-tumble contest between both teams’ role players, Duke’s skilled inside scorers willed the Blue Devils to victory. Junior Krystal Thomas led the way with 15 points and 12 boards, her third double-double of the season and second in the last four games.
“I loved the rebounding battle,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “Krystal was just money, tremendous game.”
The Blue Devils also saw strong contributions from forwards Karima Christmas and Bridgette Mitchell, who scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Duke warmed up in the early goings of the second period and gained a five-point lead and all the momentum behind a Shay Selby 3-pointer with 16 minutes remaining.
The Blue Devils would never relinquish the lead though the Hurricanes managed to enter the bonus with over 11 minutes left in the game, as the referees balanced out a lightly-officiated first half by calling a whopping 22 fouls in the second. Nevertheless, stiff defense kept Miami off the line for much of the period, much to Meier’s chagrin.
“I just wish we would have gotten to the line more, because we were making enough field goals to beat them,” Meier said. “We’ve got to get tougher.”
Despite a late, final charge by Miami that cut the lead to three with under a minute remaining, near-perfect foul shooting down the stretch helped the Blue Devils escape with a win.
“At the end of the season, it’s not about 20-30 point victories,” McCallie said. “It’s about digging out and sticking together as a team.”
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