RALEIGH - Some of the ACC's highest-scoring frontcourt players have found the points a little harder to come by against the women of Duke.
The list of players stymied by the Blue Devils includes Georgia Tech's Kenya Williams, Florida State's Brooke Wyckoff and even Virginia's Player of the Year candidate DeMya Walker, all of whom managed 11 points or less when they went up against Michele VanGorp, Peppi Browne and company.
N.C. State's Summer Erb was added to that list Sunday, as the 6-foot-6 center was held to 11 points-less than half her 22.3 points per game average entering the game-in a 67-62 victory for Duke (15-4, 7-0 in the ACC) at Reynolds Coliseum.
Even without Erb's usual offensive output, the Wolfpack (9-7, 3-4) found enough scoring from Tynesha Lewis and LySchale Jones to hang with the Blue Devils for 25 minutes. Two straight pullup jumpers by Jones gave State their largest second-half lead at 46-41.
A three-pointer by Hilary Howard cut the lead to two, and on Duke's next possession, a three-point play by Payton Black gave Duke the lead and sent Erb to the bench with her fourth foul.
"I think that was the biggest play of the game" said Howard. "It gave us momentum. State is a different team without Summer."
Lacking Erb's defensive and rebounding presence as well as her scoring, the Wolfpack fell victim to six straight points by VanGorp in the midst of a 10-2 run that effectively finished them off.
"When Summer came out of the game, that gave Duke a lift," said N.C. State coach Kay Yow. "Summer has the potential to score every time she gets the ball in the blocks-you have to pay attention to her down there."
State trailed by 10 with 45 seconds left, but threatened to make things interesting when Kristen Gillespie and Monica Bates scored on consecutive possessions and Howard missed three straight free throws. A turnover with two seconds remaining sealed the Wolfpack's fate.
Nicole Erickson led all Duke scorers with 17 points in her return to the starting lineup, and Browne led all players with nine rebounds. Black, Krista Gingrich and Lauren Rice saw the only playing time off the bench for the Blue Devils, outscoring the Wolfpack reserves 21-11.
Lewis' 20 points and four three-pointers were tops in both categories. Jones finished with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
Yow blamed herself and her staff for the loss, explaining that she felt her team was unprepared for the Blue Devils' 1-3-1 zone and a few other defensive wrinkles. She also appreciated Erb's willingness to pass out of double and triple teams and recognized Duke's strategy of trying to tire her center out by having its post players run the entire floor hard.
"I think every single team we play thinks that way," she said, citing similar efforts by North Carolina and Florida State. "We understand that because it happens every single game."
Erb, who entered the game ninth in the nation in scoring, said her low output was due more to Duke's defensive strategy than fatigue.
"They were just doubling and tripling down a little bit harder," she said.
The Blue Devils enter Friday's game at UNC's Carmichael Auditorium on the verge of finishing a perfect first half of the conference season for the first time ever. Ten straight wins appear to have Duke confident in its place in the ACC driver's seat.
"I don't feel like there's any pressure," said Duke coach Gail Goestenkors. "Half the time I'm not even sure what our record is."
Notes: After going 0-for her career at Reynolds before last season, Sunday's win was the second in a row for Goestenkors.... Erickson was named ACC women's basketball Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 points per game with 10 three-pointers against N.C. State and Clemson. The award was the second of the season for Erickson, the only Duke player to win it so far.... Rochelle Parent did not dress for the second straight game with a high ankle sprain. Goestenkors hopes to have her available for the UNC game.
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