NORFOLK, Va. - Alison Bales made it clear that the Trojans were not going to stop the Blue Devils in their quest to advance to their ninth straight Sweet 16.
With Duke up 4-2 early, USC center Chloe Kerr drove from the top of the key but her shot came nowhere near the hoop. Bales overpoweringly rejected Kerr's layup attempt and sent her crashing to the floor. The block, one of six for Bales during the game, set the tone as the first-seeded Blue Devils (28-3) trounced the Trojans, 85-51.
Duke's victory over USC (19-12) propelled the Blue Devils into the third round of the NCAA Tournament where they will face fourth-seeded Michigan State Sunday in Bridgeport, Conn. The winner of that game will meet the victor between second-seeded Connecticut and third-seeded Georgia.
"For me, it is always defense because I get so excited about blocked shots, and I think the team does a great job in encouraging that," Bales said. "If I block a shot, I know I have a chest bump coming."
The rest of the team responded to Bales' stellar defensive effort on the other end of the court, shooting a precise 43.8 percent in the first half as Duke took an early lead.
Unable to penetrate USC's interior zone defense early in the game, Harding flung a skip pass across the floor to an open Abby Waner. She buried her second three-pointer of the game with 13:40 left in the half, giving the Blue Devils a 15-4 lead. The basket set the Duke record for most three pointers for freshman in a season.
From thereon, the Blue Devils ran the ball up and down the floor to wear down the Trojans and generated 20 fast-break points.
"We want to be a running team, regardless," junior guard Lindsey Harding said. "We are at our best when we are running, and we made a lot of effort to do that because we were up by so much. We wanted to try things because we know they only played seven deep so there are times at the ends of each half when they are exhausted, and our coach is putting in fresh legs."
Not only was Bales' defensive effort key for the Blue Devils, she fueled her team on the offensive end of the floor as well. Weary of Bales' size advantage down low, Kerr refused to jump out to guard the junior when she received the ball outside the key on the first possession of the game. Unchallenged, Bales calmly sank the jumper.
On the ensuing possession, Kerr was reluctant again to step out on Bales as she sank an open, base-line jumper from the left side to put the Blue Devils up 4-0. After the first two makes, the forward not only continued to sink outside jumpers but penetrated inside for layups and drew fouls to earn trips to the free-throw line. Bales set a career-high with 22 points, shooting 8-for-9 from the field and 6-for-7 from the charity stripe.
"On the stat sheet it looked like I did pretty well, but I think those first two shots set the mood and opened up the lane so much," Bales said. "We had a couple high-low shots and inside moves."
Senior guard Monique Currie was not as sharp as Bales from the floor against the Trojans, hitting only four of her 13 shot attempts. But she managed four assists on the game, making her the first ACC player in history to record 2,000 points, 800 rebounds, 400 assists, and 200 steals in a career.
Unwilling to allow the Trojans to claw their way back into the game after a 39-22 halftime advantage, the Blue Devils relentlessly worked the Trojans defense as they rapidly swung the ball around the three-point line.
Though the Blue Devils held a comfortable lead for the entire game, they poured it on later with scoring from their bench. Sophomores Laura Kurz and Emily Waner combined for three three-pointers to push Duke to a 34-point blowout of USC.
"They have a great inside game, and play around the perimeter real well," head coach Mark Trakh said. "They are built for this tournament right now. That's why I think they can go pretty deep."
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