KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Tradition can only take a team so far.
Despite boasting the most storied program in women's basketball, No. 13 Tennessee and its nearly 17,000 fans proved no match for the Blue Devils. No. 7 Duke never flinched, defeating the Lady Volunteers 62-54 Monday in Thompson-Boling Arena.
The mecca of women's hoops has been a good luck charm for the Blue Devils (21-3), who are now 3-0 here against Tennessee (18-7).
"If you look at the history of Duke Basketball, it's a fantastic one," head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "We're very proud to work hard and be very good. I wasn't able to be a part of the past teams, but this team has worked very hard and we're proud on all counts."
Duke held the momentum from the opening tip, sprinting out to an early 12-3 lead in the first six and a half minutes. For the remainder of the game, Tennessee was forced to play catch up, trying to match the Blue Devils basket for basket. Although neither team ran exceptionally efficient offenses, the Lady Vols struggled to hit any buckets, shooting 32.1 percent from the field.
Duke faced only one push late in the first half courtesy of 5-foot-2 freshman Briana Bass. As Tennessee's shot clock ticked off midway through the first half, Bass nailed a 3-pointer, tying the score at 23 with two minutes left in the period. But just as the Tennessee faithful rose to their feet, sophomore Jasmine Thomas answered back, hitting from behind the arc to silence the crowd.
The Lady Vols were held scoreless for over eight minutes early in the second stanza, as the team struggled to establish any sort of offensive presence until center Kelley Cain made a layup to bring the score 44-32.
"We got outworked, we got outplayed. They just wanted it more than we wanted it," Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt said. "They're a lot more physical and they got to every loose ball, got every hustle play. Our guard play didn't match up with their guard play. We can't beat a team that's as talented as Duke playing the way we played."
Thomas epitomized that guard discrepancy, as she torched the Lady Vols' backcourt for 19 points.
The Blue Devils' blistering defense also got the better of the young Tennessee squad, as the Lady Vols looked visibly tired from the physical first half.
"We set the tone early in this game, and you could see it around midway through the first half that they were wearing out," senior Chante Black said. "I was able to outrun their posts. Once we saw that, we just started to push it and that carried over to the second half. It's hard to keep up for 40 minutes when a team is pushing up-tempo."
Monday's game may have been the turning point just in the nick of time for the Blue Devils, who have fallen in their last two road matches after holding sizeable leads. Much like their losses against North Carolina and Florida State, Duke allowed Tennessee to come back with 48 seconds remaining, when the Lady Vols sliced Duke's lead to four.
But the Blue Devils remained composed throughout the final stretch, sinking four free throws and grabbing timely rebounds while holding Tennessee scoreless for the rest of the contest.
And in the end, the Tennessee faithful left the stadium with time remaining as Duke celebrated yet another victory against the storied program.
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