No. 5 Duke 61, No. 7 Texas A&M 58, FINAL: What a crazy final minute! The ball was turned over multiple times in the final minute with both teams making mistakes on both ends. Ultimately, the Adams had a makable shot for the Aggies but missed and Jasmine Thomas grabbed the board, hitting both free throws. In their final possession, needing a three, A&M turned it over with game MVP Karima Christmas making the steal. Thanks for staying tuned and check out The Chronicle for extensive coverage tomorrow.
No. 5 Duke 53, No. 7 Texas A&M 52, 3:43 2nd half: Duke has been going with a big lineup for a stretch here with both centers - Krystal Thomas and Allison Vernerey playing at the same time. Duke has been strong from behind the arc this half, going 4-8 so far from downtown after going 2-8 the entire first half.
No. 5 Duke 46, No. 7 Texas A&M 47, 7:48 2nd half: Although the Blue Devils went six minutes without a field goal, Shay Selby made it worth the wait with a huge, nothing-but-net three pointer that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Their offensive execution has been weak, however, and they remain in the game due largely to A&M foul trouble. Two players already have three fouls and one has four for them, and they're already in the double bonus with 10 fouls this half.
No. 5 Duke 41, No. 7 Texas A&M 42, 11:44 2nd half: Eight minutes in, there have already been as many fouls in the second half as there were in the first. The Aggies have committed eight while the Blue Devils have six. It's been over three and a half minutes since Duke has made a field goal, but they're hanging in, down by one.
No. 5 Duke 33, No. 7 Texas A&M 36, 15:55 2nd half: It's been a physical beginning to the half with five fouls on both teams already. It's been an uncharacteristically sloppy game for Jasmine Thomas who already has seven turnovers; Duke has three early ones this half. Now that the Aggies are shooting their foul shots in the football players' direction, the guys are having some fun with it. They've been trying hard, along with the band, to distract the Aggies behind the line. Nice to see athletes out in support of one another.
No. 5 Duke 28, No. 7 Texas A&M 27, HALFTIME: Up until a Texas A&M bucket with under a minute left, the Blue Devils were on a 16-0 run that brought the Duke fans to life. After turning the ball over eight times in the first four minutes, they held onto the ball quite well for the rest of the half with only four in the following 12 minutes. MVP of the first half for the Blue Devils is definitely Karima Christmas, who leads the team with seven points in addition to her six rebounds and stellar defense.
The Bouncing Bulldogs jump-rope team, comprised of young girls and one boy, is providing the Duke fans with a great halftime show. Both Kyrie Irving and Josh Hairston have their phones out videoing them.
No. 5 Duke 21, No. 7 Texas A&M 22, 5:04 1st half: A ten point run for Duke! The Blue Devils had a great sequence that seems to have turned things around: Karima Christmas stole the ball and took it all the way for an easy, fast-break layup and now Duke has come up with steals on multiple possessions. On the last one, Shay Selby stole the ball and went the distance for a lay-up. The Cameron Crazies are going wild, with the entire arena standing up right now and Aggies' head coach Gary Blair just called a timeout to settle his team down.
No. 5 Duke 14, No. 7 Texas A&M 22, 7:33 1st half: The women are still struggling to contain the Aggies' offensive attack, primarily Syndey Carter who is leading all scorers with seven points. That's already above her season average of 6.7 points per game. Karima Christmas leads all Duke players with five.
No. 5 Duke 10, No. 7 Texas A&M 19, 11:51 1st half: Ball-handling has been a real problem for the Blue Devils thus far early in the game with eight turnovers already. Chloe Wells checked in a few moments ago to help stabilize things up-top. Krystal Thomas also needs to assert herself down-low; she's playing as if she's as afraid of Aggies' center Danielle Adams as I am. Adams is averaging over 20 points per game so far this season.
No. 5 Duke 8, No. 7 Texas A&M 15, 14:23 1st half: The Aggies have gone on a bit of a run here due to sloppy ball-handling from the Duke perimeter players. #51 for the Aggies, Sydney Colson who entered the game wearing a knee brace, just left the game in clear agony after seemingly aggravating the injury.
No. 5 Duke 8, No. 7 Texas A&M 9, 15:31 1st half: This game has been everything it has been cracked up to be with a neck-and-neck game thus far. Kathleen Scheer knocked down a three and Chelsea Gray is responding well to receiving her first career start with four early points. Four different players have scored for the Aggies. The women are being supported by certainly the most robust group of Cameron Crazies for a women's game so far this season. The student section is pretty packed and they're all standing - which isn't always the case. A large portion of the football team is also behind one of the baskets making a considerable amount of noise. Freshman guard Kyrie Irving is behind the basket in his walking boot as was reported on the Chronicle Sports blog earlier today.
PREGAME: And your starting lineups are for Texas A&M G Sydney Carter, G Tyra White, G Sydney Colson F Adaora Elonu and C Danielle Adams. For Duke, highly-touted recruit Chelsea Gray is making her first start of the year along with Krystal Thomas, Jasmine Thomas, Kathleen Scheer and Karima Christmas.
PREGAME: Hello there, and welcome to the Duke Chronicle's live blog of this evening's throw-down between two top 10 teams, with the No. 5 Blue Devils facing off against the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies.
Both teams just left the court and we're five minutes away from game-time for this year's Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic.
Stay tuned here for in-game updates, fun facts and analysis. And a Chappy Channukah to our chosen readers out there!
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