No. 2 Duke 70, No. 3 DePaul 63, FINAL: Well that's it folks - the Blue Demons made this a thriller, but Duke led almost the entire way and was able to hold on to secure an Elite Eight rematch against Connecticut.
The Blue Demons made two threes in the last minute, but Chelsea Gray's free throws with 22.3 seconds remaining gave Duke a five point lead that really sealed it.
The game's MVP is clearly Karima Christmas who put the team on her back with 23 points and nine boards. An honorable mention goes to Jasmine Thomas who dropped 19 and was critical down the stretch with superb ball-handling, especially when DePaul switched to a full-court press.
Thanks for checking into The Chronicle's live blog and check out tomorrow's edition of the paper for a game story and analysis.
No. 2 Duke 57, No. 3 DePaul 49, 3:27 2nd half: The real story here is DePaul's leading scorer on the season Keisha Hampton fouling out with 6:36 to go. That's great news for Duke but no guarantee of anything, as since then the Blue Demons have consistently matched the Blue Devils bucket for bucket.
A play exemplary of this game: Christmas was forced to put up a shot with no time remaining on the shot clock, only to run to the other side of the court and grab her own rebound while being pushed out of bounds and earning the foul call. If that's not the type of hustle you want to see for your team, I'm not sure what is.
Also, weird coincidence, it is 57-49 in the Kansas-VCU men's Elite Eight game right now, with the underdog Rams holding a late lead.
No. 2 Duke 53, No. 3 DePaul 44, 7:51 2nd half: The scoring has finally picked up this half led by - go figure - Christmas and Jasmine Thomas. Freshmen Chelsea Gray and Richa Jackson have also added buckets, and the Blue Devils briefly extended their lead back to double digits. The Blue Demons refuse to go away, however, and Keisha Thompson is checking back in after four minutes on the bench. The game has become very physical with both teams complaining for fouls in the paint.
No. 2 Duke 45, No. 3 DePaul 39, 11:33 2nd half: The Duke offense severely struggled without Christmas in the game, but that changed on her first possession pack. She took the ball hard to the hole and drew a foul, knocking down both foul shots.
In other important news, Keisha Hampton just drew her fourth foul and is now headed to the bench, presumably for at least a few minutes. Let's see of the Blue Devils can capitalize.
No. 2 Duke 43, No. 3 DePaul 36, 15:37 2nd half: Can anybody stop Karima Christmas? If so, I'm sure DePaul head coach Doug Bruno would love to know - DePaul has gone on a mini-run here, but has still been unable to figure out how to combat Duke's swing-man. Not only has Christmas been a force on offense, but she has already grabbed two boards this half and has been instrumental in shutting down Keisha Hampton, the Blue Demons' leading scorer on the season. While Hampton has nine points, it's on 3-of-8 shooting to go along with four turnovers. Additionally three of those points just came on a three after Christmas was shoved to the ground, and rendered unable to play defense the rest of the possession. McCallie is giving Christmas a rest for a few minutes right now after that play and picking up two quick fouls to start the half.
No. 2 Duke 41, No. 3 DePaul 28, halftime: After a slow start in the Marist game, this Duke squad has clearly come out with a fire under them. The real story of this half has been the dominant play of Karima Christmas who has a game high 14 points and three steals. She is also tied for the team high in rebounds with four and she has yet to turn the ball over. Jasmine Thomas also played a stellar half, dropping 11 points, albeit less efficiently than Christmas who did it on 5-for-8 shooting.
The Blue Devils finished the half on an 11-4 run and Coach McCallie trusted her team's youth down the stretch. For the last few minutes she used a lineup that featured four of her five highly recruited freshman, with Jackson, Wells, Gray and Peters all in the game together. Peters is tied with Christmas with a team-high four rebounds and Gray leads all the freshmen with six points. Wells and Christmas are tied for a team-high three assists, but the stat line doesn't give proper credit to Wells' play. She has notched those three dimes in only six minutes and should probably have two more - she made very nice passes to both Krystal Thomas and Allison Vernerey for easy layups in the paint at different points in the half, both of whom failed to convert.
No. 2 Duke 32, No. 3 DePaul 24, 4:17 1st half: Freshmen Chloe Wells and Richa Jackson are both in the game and as soon as each stepped onto the court, she made an impact. Jackson nailed a contested jumper near the foul line, while Wells showed why she can be such an effective point guard, hitting Jasmine Thomas for an easy layup on a back-door cut. Wells also made a nice dish to Krystal Thomas who gained solid position in the paint, but failed to put away the bank-shot.
No. 2 Duke 27, No. 3 DePaul 22, 7:31 1st half: This is quite the shootout here in Philadelphia with both teams pushing the ball on offense and making difficult shots. The Blue Devils' recipe for success so for this tournament has been winning the turnover battle with a +10 margin through the the first two rounds. DePaul has seven turnovers to Duke's five, while the Blue Devils have registered four steals to the Blue Demons' one.
No. 2 Duke 19, No. 3 DePaul 14, 11:52 1st half: Allison Vernerey and Shay Selby both checked in and have made an immediate impact. Shelby, always an energy boost for the team, just took a charge with Karima Christmas making a nifty layup on the next possession. Christmas leads all scorers with eight points and has done it on a remarkable 4-of-5 shooting. Vernerey is in the game alongside Krystal Thomas giving Duke a strong presence in the paint.
No. 2 Duke 12, No. 3 DePaul 11, 14:32 1st half: Duke won the opening tip and registered the game's first two points on the game's third possession with freshman guard Chelsea Gray knocking down two free throws. Gray continued her strong play later making an acrobatic layup past two Blue Demon defenders. Karima Christmas also has four points, while four different players have scored for DePaul led by Felicia Chester who has showed why she is a force to be reckoned with in the post. Christmas is currently at the line looking to finish off a three point play after she came up with a wide rebound and was fouled making a fast-break layup.
PREGAME: Hello Duke faithful and welcome to The Chronicle's live blog of this afternoon's Sweet 16 match-up between the Duke Blue Devils and the DePaul Blue Demons.
The game is scheduled to begin at 2:30 with the Connecticut Huskies just coming out victorious against a feisty Georgetown squad. The Hoyas entered the second half with a lead and held onto it for the majority the period, but the Huskies went on a run and will now play the winner of the Blue Devil-Blue Demon showdown.
Both teams enter this game after eking out second round victories, with Duke needing a comeback victory to squeak past 10th-seeded Marist, while DePaul barely slid by No. 6 Penn State in a thrilling 75-73 win. The last time the two teams faced off was 14 years ago in the first round of the tournament, with a fifth-seeded Duke prevailing over 12th-seeded DePaul.
And your probable starters for both teams are. . .
Duke: F Karima Christmas, F Haley Peters, C Krystal Thomas, G Chelsea Gray and G Jasmine Thomas
DePaul: F Keisha Hampton, F Katherine Harry, C Felicia Chester, G Anna Martin, G Sam Quigley
Peters is a surprise start this afternoon. Part of Coach McCallie's heralded recruiting class, she has both been an effective role playeroff the bench this season but has only started seven games this season. Let's see if throwing her into the fire early pays off.
If the Blue Devil's famous forehead message holds any weight to you, today it reads, "Demons Work 4 Me!"
Check back soon for updates, starters, court-side analysis and the inside scoop from the always uppity press row.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.