CLEMSON, S.C. - Last Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke's women's basketball team rallied from an eight-point deficit with 1:24 left to tie the game on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Kira Orr. Sunday afternoon at Clemson's Littlejohn Coliseum, the team found itself in a similar situation and almost pulled off the same feat.
However, the key word is almost. Orr's three-point shot from the corner fell just short, and Duke (17-7, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell to No. 22 Clemson (16-8, 7-7 ACC), 72-69. The winning effort by the Tigers was spearheaded by sophomore guard Itoro Umoh, who led all scorers with a career-high 29 points.
Umoh also set up the game-winning basket for teammate Natasha Anderson with 16.4 seconds to play. Anderson found herself free after Orr left to help Duke's Naz Medhanie double-team the ball, and Umoh was able to find her for a short jumper to break a 69-69 tie.
"It seemed like that ball was going to bounce up there forever before it fell through," Clemson coach Jim Davis said. "That might be Itoro's biggest assist ever at Clemson."
Even after Anderson's shot, the Blue Devils found themselves with chances to win or tie. Duke coach Gail Goestenkors set up a play off an inbounds with 7.2 seconds left, but her players got their signals crossed, and a pass by Medhanie floated harmlessly across the court and out of bounds.
"We ran a double screen for Kira to come to the ball," Goestenkors said. "[Duke center] Payton [Black] was running a fade screen for [guard Hilary Howard] for the skip pass if they double-teamed
The turnover forced Duke to foul to get one last shot. Clemson's Calesha Corder hit the front end of a one-and-one, extending the lead to 72-69. The Blue Devils had to travel the length of the court, but Orr was still able to get a good look for her attempt at a second straight last-second shot.
Orr started slowly but played a determined second half, scoring 12 of her 17 points after the break. But she struggled from the outside, converting only 1-of-10 three-point attempts. Goestenkors revealed that Orr was the second option in the game's final seconds, but she didn't seem to mind seeing the ball in the hands of her dynamic senior.
"It should have been Hilary," Goestenkors said. "The ball did go to Hilary, but she passed ahead to Kira because she was open. At that point in time we thought that Kira would be covered but she wasn't.
"It doesn't matter to me if Kira misses 10 shots. She usually hits the clutch shots."
Neither team had a lead larger than five points until the Tigers put together a run late in the game. After a layup by Duke's Peppi Browne tied the game at 50 with 9:17 to play, Clemson went on a 12-4 run behind the scoring of Umoh and post player Jaci Stimson.
The lead was still seven points at the 1:38 mark, but Duke was within three in just eight seconds on two Tye Hall free throws and a steal and layup by Browne. After free throws by Orr narrowed the margin to two points, Browne knocked the ball away from Jeanette Davis. In the ensuing scramble Browne was whistled for her fifth foul, and Davis scored her only points of the game from the line to put her team ahead 69-67.
Clemson also had a second-half lead in the first meeting between the two teams in Durham on Jan. 24. The difference between that game, a 70-61 Duke win, and Sunday's game was mostly Umoh, who managed just six points in the first contest.
"Obviously, Itoro Umoh we could not stop," Goestenkors said. "She did a good job working her way inside and going up for that little jumper.
"Our defense was horrendous. We could not stop penetration, and Clemson really took advantage of it."
Another change from the first game was the production of Payton Black. Duke's center was third on the team in scoring and put up 19 against the Tigers in their initial meeting. At Clemson, Black played just 23 minutes because of foul trouble and finished with 6 points on 0-for-3 shooting.
"We did a much better job on the post players today than we did in Durham," Davis said. "Tye Hall kind of got loose on us, but we did a much better job keeping Payton Black in check."
Duke's remaining schedule doesn't get any easier. With games still to play against No. 9 Virginia and at No. 5 North Carolina, Goestenkors will look for a more complete effort from her players.
"[Clemson's players] looked like they wanted to win the game more than we did," Goestenkors said. "I thought we played hard for about the last five minutes of the game. Against a great team like Clemson, that's not going to do the job."
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