Durham, N.C.--In the stifling atmosphere of Cameron Indoor Stadium the Blue Devils took charge of the game early and hardly relented. Despite clawing their way back into the game in the second half, the Cavaliers allowed Duke to pull away in the final 12 minutes, holding Virginia to just two field goals and going on a 33-10 point run to put away their eighth straight victory over the Cavaliers 75-48.
A score of 42-38 deep in the second half, "was exactly what we wanted to accomplish tonight," Coach Debbie Ryan said. "We didn't do a very good job offensively, and when we did have good shots, we just weren't putting them down, we just could not make a shot in the last twelve minutes of the game."
The Cavaliers started the game by giving Duke an early lead, going down 16-4 before the Cavaliers gained control briefly going on an 8-2 run in just four minutes. Virginia found itself down 33-24 at the half as their starters accounted for only half the team's points. The Cavaliers made only 28.8 percent of their shots throughout the game.
Only two starters scored in the first half. Ryan compensated by starting the team's leading scorer Cherrise Graham in the second half. Graham, who led Virginia in scoring with 11 points in the game, has not started recently because Ryan has said she believes she brings a much-needed punch off the bench.
The play on the court was physical as the officials whistled 49 personal fouls including 12 charging calls, and many players hit the floor without hearing a whistle.
"We wanted it to be a physical game," Ryan said. "That's the way we wanted to play, we wanted to get some people in foul trouble and that's what we were trying to do."
Virginia's tough demeanor was evident in the play of junior forward Anna Crosswhite, who was involved in a number of collisions.
"It was a physical game," Crosswhite said. "I kind of like a physical game, I think I kind of helped make it a physical game. It was more of an up-tempo game, more of a February game, coming up on the finals so I think its something we need to get better at dealing with for 40 minutes. We're taking small steps but those steps are going to be getting bigger."
The physical play also had its drawbacks. Crosswhite fouled out with 2:16 remaining and Virginia's top scoring threat, Graham, picked up her fourth foul with 9:53 remaining in the game and the Cavaliers down by eight, forcing her to leave the game for four minutes while the Blue Devils went on a 16-6 run.
"Taking her out of the game really hurt us," Ryan said, "but we had to. That was a critical time and obviously that was a key to the game. Cherrise is a player that can play at this level and can be very successful, but that really hurt us at that point."
Immediately upon returning into the lineup, Graham hit a jumper, but Virginia showed too little too late as Graham fouled out with 1:17 left and a score of 71-48 on the scoreboard. Virginia was held scoreless in the final four minutes of play, and the Blue Devils fed on the enthusiasm of the crowd as it became clear that Virginia had no hope of coming back.
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