There was hardly even a speck of blue in the crowd as the Blue Devils took a trip across the North Carolina border to face off against No. 3 South Carolina Thursday night.
The late tipoff did not seem to have an impact on the Gamecock faithful, who packed out Colonial Life Arena and cheered wildly for the hometeam. Though Duke was riding high off of a week where it upset then-No. 9 Kansas State and then-No. 8 Oklahoma, the momentum was no match for the well-balanced attack of South Carolina, who defeated the Blue Devils in an aggressive 81-70 contest.
“I knew from the beginning [that] this game is going to be revelatory for us,” head coach Kara Lawson said. “It shows you your weaknesses and exposes you and then you go back to work on them.”
An Oluchi Okananwa 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter seemed to bring a renewed energy to the Blue Devils. Taina Mair made another jumper after a steal from Delaney Thomas brought her the ball, and a defensive rebound from Okananwa led to a made layup from Jadyn Donovan. This cut South Carolina’s lead to 69-59, the lowest it had been since well into the first quarter.
“We started to get stops and were able to get out and run,” Lawson said. “The energy of Thomas and Donovan and Okananwa, I thought the three sophomores tonight really competed their hearts out.”
Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley called a timeout immediately after to put all five starters back in and stop Duke (8-2) from cutting into the lead. But the timeout did not immediately slow down the visitors. Coming out of it, the Blue Devils forced a turnover, and Donovan once again made a jumper to finally bring Duke within single digits of its opponents.
Still though, the burst of energy did not come soon enough from Duke. With their win in jeopardy, South Carolina’s starters, led by Kitts, who led her team in points, went right back to where they had been in the first half and put some cushion back into the lead for the Gamecocks.
Noise levels in Colonial Life Arena continued to grow as the assembled Gamecocks fans willed their team to hang on for the win. It was Kitts who iced any hopes Duke had for the comeback. The Oviedo, Fla., native led her team in rebounds as well as points and played remarkable defense, making several well-timed steals late in the fourth quarter to halt Duke’s momentum. Additionally, Donovan fouled out late in the fourth quarter, leaving Lawson’s squad without one of its key pieces both on offense and defense as it unsuccessfully attempted to mount the comeback.
South Carolina (8-1) dominated the first quarter 28-12, but the second started off much quieter for both teams. Though they had been stifled by the Gamecocks’ defensive presence, the Blue Devils attempted to claw their way back into the match. Ashlon Jackson and Jordan Wood both made 3-pointers in the second quarter with the hopes of sparking a scoring streak for the Blue Devils.
But untimely fouls and turnovers on Duke’s part helped South Carolina to continually lengthen its already-strong lead. The Blue Devils had 10 turnovers in the first half alone, which their opponents easily converted into 14 points, a number which only grew as the game went on. Even Duke’s usually-effective full-court press did little to upset South Carolina’s deadly offensive rhythm, and by the time the halftime buzzer sounded, the Gamecocks led by 20.
South Carolina wasted no time in welcoming Duke to one of the toughest environments in women’s college basketball. Though Duke scored the first points of the game, the first quarter was all about South Carolina from that point onwards. The home team got off to an early 15-6 run and used their precise shooting and lockdown defense to dash Duke’s hopes of an upset. Senior Te-Hina Paopao led the Gamecocks in points in the first half and initially it seemed as though the Blue Devils had no answer for her, Kitts or the rest of South Carolina’s strength and size.
“We were not matched up,” Lawson said. “And I know that sounds simple but we weren’t communicating appropriately, and we weren’t getting to our matchups quickly enough.”
Paopao immediately opened up the third quarter with a 3-pointer, reminding the Blue Devils of her effective shooting prowess as South Carolina extended its lead. Still, Duke refused to go down quietly and seemed to rediscover a bit of its offensive identity in the second half. After a foul on a made layup by Vanessa de Jesus, the Blue Devils seemed to have a fire lit inside of them for the rest of the matchup.
Okananwa and Donovan led Duke in the third quarter, contributing energy, points and rebounds as the Blue Devils continually attempted to pull within striking distance of the Gamecocks. Donovan tallied eight rebounds and applied key defensive pressure to attempt to stifle South Carolina’s offensive onslaught. Okananwa racked up 12 points and provided her usual burst of energy coming off of the bench for Duke in a contest where the Blue Devils needed all the energy they could get to attempt to keep up with the Gamecocks.
“Donovan and Okananwa, they have an elite skill as rebounders,” Lawson said. “Those moments you try to bottle up and talk about them with them, because you can see that there’s something special there.”
South Carolina’s size proved to be its deadliest weapon against Duke. The Gamecocks earned more than half of their 48 points in the paint and used their superior size to easily maneuver around any Duke defender matched up against them.
The Blue Devils will now return to Cameron Indoor Stadium for an early-season matchup against ACC foe Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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