Thomas delivers knockout blow

In a nonconference battle that more closely resembled a late March prize fight, Duke got a good look at a potential NCAA tournament favorite. After an evenly matched first period, No. 11 Duke (6-1) made all the necessary hustle plays in the second half, forcing 21 Buckeye turnovers overall, and rode a career-high 29 points from guard Jasmine Thomas to a signature 83-67 win over No. 3 Ohio State.

Duke’s physical defense and extra effort from the opening tip prevented the Buckeyes from establishing any sort of offensive rhythm, and held a high-octane offense to a season-low point total. Ohio State (8-1) entered the game Thursday night as the third-highest scoring team in the nation, averaging 89.4 points per contest.  

The first half was closely contested, with each team missing opportunities to separate itself. Despite forcing 12 turnovers in the first period, the Blue Devils were often unable to convert defense into offense, only shooting 41.9 percent from the field.

Just five minutes into the game, senior forward Joy Cheek got tangled up with a defender when positioning herself for a pass and had to leave the game with an apparent left ankle injury. Without one key rebounder in the post, junior Krystal Thomas and freshman Allison Vernerey were tasked with handling a stout Ohio State frontcourt, led by 6-foot-4 center Jantel Lavender.

With an impressive array of post moves, Vernerey took advantage of shaky interior defense from the Buckeyes, scoring a quick eight points off the bench in the first half. Duke’s bench outscored Ohio State’s reserves 28-2 Thursday night.

Cheek’s rebounding ability was missed, however, as Ohio State outrebounded the Blue Devils 23-14 in the first period. By taking advantage of offensive rebounds with five second-chance points in the first half, the Buckeyes were able to stay within striking distance, down only four points at the break.

Ohio State came out firing in the second half, and two straight threes by guard Brittany Johnson—part of a 14-6 Buckeye run to begin the period—tied the game at 33. After Thomas and Ohio State guard Tayler Hill traded 3-point shots to make it 45-44 Duke, the Blue Devils made a visible effort to play more aggressively on defense and fight for rebounds in the post. After being outrebounded by nine in the first half, Duke slimmed the deficit to just five in the second period to go along with seven blocks and 11 steals.

“I think we didn’t react well to their physical play,” Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. “They came after us and we didn’t respond.”

The Blue Devils began a decisive run with 5:35 left to play in the game when Jasmine Thomas curled off a screen and buried a three from the right side to make it 69-61. Thomas would go on to score five more points as part of a 12-0 Duke run that stretched the lead to 78-61 with just over three minutes remaining. Thomas torched the Buckeyes with 24 second-half points, many of which came from incisive drives to the bucket.

“I noticed I was rushing my shots a little bit in the beginning, so I decided to attack the basket in the second half,” she said.

The Duke guard erupted for 29 points, breaking a career-high mark of 26 she set earlier this year against Texas A&M. Thomas stole an Ohio State inbound pass with 46 seconds remaining to cap a stellar second half defensive performance and seal an upset win in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in front of a spirited home crowd.

“That’s the kind of game I came here for,” Vernerey said.