Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.
On Saturday night, the basketball women's team had a little bit of both to defeat the Florida Gators, 71-58. First the defense. The Blue Devils used a good mixture of man-to-man and different zones to confuse the Gator offense. Florida's best player, Muriel Page, who averages 19.3 points and leads the nation in rebounds with 13 a game, was held way below her average, scoring 13 and picking up just five boards.
Page abused the Duke defense earlier in the year when the Blue Devils tried to use the tall lineup of 6-foot-6 Michelle Van Gorp and 6-4 Payton Black. The Blue Devils instead decided to use the smaller and quicker Peppi Browne and also the more physical Lauren Rice to shut down the potent Page.
"I think the post players did a tremendous job on Page," junior Nicole Erickson said. "They did a great job of fronting her and denying her the ball. When she did get the ball, they would double down and keep her out of the box so that she had a tough shot. And then after the shot they did a good job of blocking out and keeping her away from the ball."
But defense wasn't the only thing that the Blue Devils did well.
Coming into the game Duke had to worry about the Gators' defense, particularly one aspect of it-the press. The Gators specialize in pressing other teams and forcing turnovers. Using a 2-2-1 trap and full- and half-court presses, the Gators thought that the Blue Devils would become impatient and give them the ball for easy points.
They were sadly
Other players, especially Georgia Schweitzer and even Rochelle Parent, who had started the past couple of games, used their quickness, ballhandling and presence of mind to keep the Florida press at bay. Erickson, who usually leaves most of the point guard responsibilities to Howard, stayed back and helped out against Florida's press.
"Our play against Florida's press was key," Erickson said. "Florida has a really tough press. They use a lot of different looks and pressure you at unusual times. We did a good job of not being rattled by their press. It was really a team effort.
"Hibby [Howard] was able to dribble through the press and passed the ball really well. The rest of the team did a good job of finding open spots and spreading the floor so that the traps would be less effective. It was just everyone working together and executing that got us through their press."
But perhaps most amazing, and not all to surprising, was the play of Erickson. Erickson, having had the familiarity of playing in New Arena many times during high school, seemed at ease during the game. Erickson adeptly dribbled though the traps and kept her composure as the Florida defense kept coming at her.
In men's basketball you have to worry about a 10-second backcourt violation, but in the women's game you don't. Erickson used that to her advantage as she often did her best Harlem Globetrotter impersonation by dribbling around in the backcourt until someone was open.
Erickson's contribution didn't stop there. Erickson, seeming to play with fire and intensity, scored 20 points in the game, 14 in the first half. How she scored was different. Known mostly for her three-point shot and not taking too many twos, Erickson went the whole game without making one three-pointer. She penetrated aggressively and either made the easy pull-up jumper or took it strong to the basket for a layup.
"That's what the defense was giving me." Erickson said. "I felt like I could have taken the three-point shot. But in the first half I didn't really feel like anyone was guarding me, so I just decided to drive. I didn't feel like I was being real aggressive or anything, it's just what they were giving me."
Erickson was limited to just shooting free throws in the second half, but she still continued to drive and it was her drive and pass to Howard with under two minutes left that helped to seal the win for Duke. Erickson finished with a game-high five assists.
The Blue Devils received an all-around team effort, and it was that effort that defeated Florida. The Blue Devils kept their poise to break not only Florida's press but their spirit, as they held Florida to 58 points and constantly had an answer every time the Gators had a run. The Blue Devils, if they can continue to play together, should have a great chance to go one more place they the have never been-The Final Four.
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