With about two minutes left in the second quarter, the journalist sitting me leaned over and asked if I thought they’d pull off the shutout.
I was too busy with something else — probably wondering why Oluchi Okananwa wasn’t playing more (early foul trouble) or checking Taina Mair’s season high in points (14, which she tied Thursday night) — to notice that in Duke's 86-59 win, Boston College had not scored in the past eight minutes.
This might seem like a noticeable stat to miss, but watching Duke women’s basketball, one just gets used to elite defense.
“I thought that we imposed our will on them in that second quarter,” head coach Kara Lawson said.
Sometimes, it’s a pair of blocks on the same possession from Jordan Wood. Other times, guards — Emma Koabel in this case — sneak their hand into a passing lane and turn it into two quick points on the other end. However, most of the time, it’s just a mixture of conditioning, physicality and good old-fashioned grit that gets the job done.
“I thought they just got into a rhythm,” Lawson said. “In basketball, you hear about teams getting into a rhythm offensively, and I thought we got into a great rhythm defensively in that second quarter. We forced a few shot clock violations, we forced some turnovers. We just made them take tough, tough, tough shots.”
About 30 seconds after my neighbor’s comment, Andrea Daley poked away a Duke inbounds pass and layed it up for an easy two points. The red and gold clad fans erupted, but the game was essentially already over.
Stifling defense has become a hallmark of Lawson’s team during her tenure with the Blue Devils. With this year’s team returning all but two of its major contributors, it should be a unit nearly as strong as last year.
However, that hasn’t exactly been the case. After losing key defensive anchors in Camilla Emsbo and Kennedy Brown, the team hasn’t had a true center this year. The Blue Devils’ team defensive statistics have been subpar this season, not on the same level of dominance as past groups. On the other hand, there’s a lot of season left.
“We've continued to prioritize our defense and just having micro growths in that area.” Lawson said.
After only allowing two points in the second quarter, the Eagles dropped 20 in the third frame. Despite conceding that many, Duke’s half court defense remained stout, forcing Boston College to score in other ways. The hosts got six of their 20 points off of Duke turnovers, eight at the foul line and 10 on second chances.
“You have to credit Boston College,” Lawson said. “In that third quarter, they came out with a lot more urgency, beat us to 50-50 balls and willed their way back into the game with their attack on the offensive glass. In this league, to think you're going to win all four quarters all the time is not going to happen.”
Luckily for Lawson’s squad, this was just the beginning of a long stretch in the ACC. The Blue Devils have 16 upcoming games against some of the best teams in the country during conference play and will have many more opportunities to hone their team into the weapon it can be this postseason.
Getting back in transition and keeping opponents away from the charity stripe should be a few areas Duke can look to “micro grow” in, and it will have plenty of opportunities to do so. All of these are undoubtedly important parts of defense, and as the ACC slate progresses, Lawson’s group will patch these up only to have new weaknesses exposed.
“It's hard to think that [your defense will] just all of a sudden jump, it's a process,” Lawson said. “We're integrating new pieces and have players in new positions.”
As they’ve integrated new players, those who have been playing under Lawson for years know the drill at this point.
“Our defense had the competitiveness and that pride of going out there getting as many stops as possible,” junior Ashlon Jackson said. “In the long run, [those stops] will turn into points for us.”
At its essence, Jackson’s quote is why this team’s ceiling is among the highest in college basketball. Lawson is exactly the coach who can teach this group to get stops as well as anyone in the country.
If in the long run, those stops do turn into points, any opponent will be hard pressed to beat them in late March — or even early April.
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