Connecticut Has Duke’s Number
Until someone beats Connecticut, no other team in the country needs to claim it’s No. 1.
Until someone beats Connecticut, no other team on the country needs to brag about how far its program has come.
Duke was the latest pretender wanting to measure up against the defending national champions. The Blue Devils came into Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday ranked No. 1, and left the 59th consecutive victim of the second-ranked Huskies, 77-65, before a capacity crowd of 9,314.
The Huskies (20-0) should rise to No. 1 in the next poll.
Alana Beard led all scorers with 26, with 21 coming in the second half as Duke (20-1) rallied. No other Blue Devil player was in double figures.
Connecticut had four players in double figures. Diana Taurasi and Ann Strother each had 17 points, Willnet Crockett had 13 and Ashley Battle -- who spent much of the game trying to guard Beard -- had 12. Strother also had 11 rebounds.
“Connecticut played an outstanding game,” Duke Coach Gail Goestenkors said. “Everyone played their roles well for them. We will learn from this.”
Duke, which had a 21-game home winning streak end, had already beaten a No. 2 team this season when it ran through Tennessee, 76-56, on Nov. 24.
But, as the Blue Devils learned in the first 10 minutes, there’s nobody like the Huskies.
Duke led twice, 2-0 and 4-2. Then Taurasi drilled the first of three three-point baskets and triggered a 13-1 spurt that put the Blue Devils down, 15-5, and wondering what hit them.
“We weren’t holding back,” Taurasi said. “We were aggressive and attacking them.”
That, however, wasn’t the worst of it. After Duke guard Vicki Krapohl made a three-pointer to cut Connecticut’s lead to 26-20, the Huskies held the Blue Devils scoreless the remaining 7:17 of the first half, scoring 15 unanswered points to lead, 41-20, at the half.
“We were very much out of sorts in the first half -- and most of the game,” Goestenkors said. “Clearly we had a lot of anxiety out there. I thought we were ready to play; we felt comfortable, confident. But when we stepped on the court and missed a few shots, we seemed to tighten up quite a bit.”
The Blue Devils made only seven of 32 shots in the first half and looked bewildered as the Huskies took away every entry pass to center Iciss Tillis (nine points, 10 rebounds), forced them into 10 of their 14 turnovers, and seemingly gobbled up every rebound on the defensive board.
“I know our defense was good, but it was better than good in the first half,” Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma said. “We had a game plan going in, and sometimes plans go awry. But the plan worked to perfection. It still worked in the second half, but Duke’s a real good team; you’re not going to shut them out the whole game.”
Connecticut’s lead reached 51-23 at the 12:50 mark of the second half, when the Blue Devils started to rally.
The Blue Devils began pressing full-court, Beard finally found her stroke and Connecticut hit a lull.
“I knew we were back on our heels in the first half and that’s not the way we want to play,” Beard said. “We wanted to come out and attack the goal, and we did a much better job of getting open.”
The Blue Devils outscored the Huskies, 43-20, over the next 7:05, but Connecticut made clutch free throws down the stretch.
*
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Husky Heft
*--* Connecticut extended its record winning streak to 59 games after beating Duke, 77-65, Saturday: 59 Connecticut 2001-present 54 Louisiana Tech 1980-82 45 Tennessee 1996-98 40 Texas 1985-87 36 Purdue 1998-2000
*--*