COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Murray State may be the Racers, but the Blue Devils and their stifling defense slowed them down to a grinding halt.
Even after the Blue Devils built a 20-point lead in the middle of the second half, their tenacity on the defensive end never relented. As the Racers attempted to break Duke's press with 12 minutes left in the second half, junior Carrem Gay and sophomore Keturah Jackson double-teamed Shaleea Petty into calling a timeout to avoid a five-second violation. When the whistle blew, Gay let out a triumphal scream, "Yeah, baby!"
"We've always been a team that gets our offense started off of the press," point guard Jasmine Thomas said. "We love to run and we love to get those easy baskets. We just get a lot of energy from our press."
In the first half, the four-guard lineup of Murray State seemed to frustrate the Blue Devils, who were used to heavy post play in the ACC. By spreading the floor and flashing into the paint, the Racers exposed Duke's vulnerability to cover the middle. Although the Blue Devils had a 12-point lead going into halftime, Murray State fought back to get within five points of Duke, bringing the Maryland-infused crowd to their feet.
For a moment, another Blue Devil defeat seemed on the horizon. Instead of forcing shots to regain the momentum, however, Duke settled down and immediately erased any thought of a Cinderella story.
"We were doing some silly things defensively," head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "It was a combination of losing our poise on defense and offense for a couple of minutes there."
Thanks to their renewed poise, the Blue Devils harassed the Racers into committing 13 turnovers. Those errors translated into 14 fast-break points for Duke, compared to only six by the Racers.
Using both their trademark man-to-man as well as a zone defense, the Blue Devils overwhelmed Murray State out of their halfcourt sets. The Racer guards who once had easy access to the lanes were forced to take longer shots. Murray State finished the night shooting an abysmal 34.5 percent from the field, including 30.8 percent from behind the arc.
Duke was not without its faults, however. The Blue Devils' one blemish on defense may have been their inability to stop Murray State guard Ashley Hayes, who torched Duke for 26 points, including six treys.
"That No. 23-she got the best of us because we didn't do anything to stop her," McCallie said.
Fortunately, the Blue Devils were able to stop the rest of the Racers. No other Murray State player finished with double figures.
For the rest of the game, Duke never eased off its pressure, contesting every Murray State shot until the final buzzer, much to the chagrin of the crowd.
For the Blue Devils, their impressive performance on the defensive end may not have come at a better time.
"You've got to play great defense to advance in this tournament," McCallie said. "Obviously you want to score a lot of points.... But the bottom line is, can you stop people?"
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