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Duke Tested but Prevails in Top 10 Clash
12/7/2010 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. – If you were to ask head coach Joanne P. McCallie if she thought Jimmy V would have enjoyed Monday night's matchup between No. 5 Duke and No. 7 Texas A&M, she would have answered simply, absolutely.
The Cameron faithful watched the Blue Devils gain their first signature win of the season over the Aggies as part of the Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic.
“We were very honored, at Duke, to host the Jimmy V, the only women's game to have that kind of representation, you know, and to be part of Jimmy V,” McCallie said following the Blue Devils 61-58 win. “I kept thinking today about Jimmy V and his passion, and the way he affected people, and the way I saw him affect people. And it was just interesting. I said to myself, 'you know, he would really like two undefeated teams playing against each other. And he'd like a crowd and excitement and passion'.”
And then McCallie joked that the legendary and inspirational coach would have also liked to have a seen a couple overtime periods as well.
Though, the Blue Devils are happy it never came to that.
Senior Jasmine Thomas made sure of that, hitting the go-ahead jumper with 55 seconds left with Duke trailing 58-57.
“The shot that Jas [Thomas] put down, it was nothing short of amazing, relative to the pressure that she had on her,” McCallie said.
The coolness Thomas exuded, with the shot clock ticking down to zero, seemed to ooze out of the senior point guard as she led the Blue Devils with 18 points on a night where her jumper wasn't falling as regularly as usual.
"That shot, it was the end of the shot clock,” Thomas said. “[I] had to make a play, had to put a shot up, no time to pass it, and I just put it in."
The win Monday night, which had the feel of a Tournament game in March, improved the Blue Devils to 9-0 on the season continuing the best start by a McCallie coached team over her 19 years as a head coach.
Duke's win also Broke a string of three straight losses to Texas A&M, including last season's 95-77 loss to the Aggies in College Station, Texas.
"You think about it,” Thomas said. “It's always something in the back of your mind, the previous games. Especially last year, we by no means played the way we wanted to. We just had to be more focused tonight; focused on not doing the same things we did last year. Being better, staying focused, and finishing the game out."
“It does feel good to finally get a win,” senior Karima Christmas, who finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, said. “All my time here at Duke, we haven't gotten a win against them until now."
For women's college basketball, this was another game, much like Baylor-UConn, where the national television audience was treated to two Final Four caliber teams competing in a March Atmosphere.
“Tonight was just a heavy weight fight,” Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair said. “This was between those two boxers that won't face each other, Pacquiao and Mayweather. This is what it was. And I love playing teams like that. I hope we can keep the series going because this is special coming into this house and playing where so many great players and games have been played. I'm an old history buff. This is the Boston Garden, this is Wrigley Field, this is Fenway Park, this is what it's about. And you all make it by writing about it and getting it out there.”
The lead changed 16 times, with eight ties and Texas A&M leading by as many as 10 and Duke by as many as six.
“It's a great feeling, it's a great opportunity,” McCallie said. “I just love the direction we're moving. I mean that's how I am as a coach. There's a long list of great teams we're going to play.”
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