Duke tops Lady Vols

KNOXVILLE — A gritty defensive effort and a dominant second-half spurt lifted seventh-ranked Duke to a 62-54 women’s basketball win over Tennessee before a pink-clad crowd of 16,690 at Thomson-Boling Arena on Monday night.

With the game tied at 28 early in the second half, the Blue Devils (21-3) pulled away with a 16-0 run during an eight-minute stretch in which the 13th-ranked Lady Vols (18-7) were held scoreless.

“We just tried to put it away,” Duke guard Jasmine Thomas said.

They did.

On a night when fans and players wore pink garb as part of the Pink Zone breast cancer awareness initiative, Duke joined Texas and Louisiana Tech as the only programs to win three straight games against Tennessee in Knoxville.

“It was just a hard-fought game in a very physical environment,” said Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie. She is married to John McCallie, whose grandfather, Spencer Jarnigan McCallie, and great-uncle, James Park McCallie, founded Chattanooga’s McCallie School in 1905.

The Lady Vols cut the deficit to four when Angie Bjorklund drained a 3-pointer with 48.7 seconds left in regulation, but the Blue Devils hung on despite a shaky 4-of-10 free-throw shooting display down the stretch.

“We got outworked,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. “We got outplayed.”

Thomas had a team-high 19 points for Duke, followed by Chante Black’s 18. Black, a 6-foot-5 senior post, has scored in double figures in every game this season.

Tennessee guard Briana Bass scored 14 to lead the Lady Vols. Center Kelley Cain added 10.

Harried by a disruptive Duke perimeter defense, the Lady Vols seemed out of sync from the outset, forcing ill-advised shots and errant passes. The Blue Devils scored 12 first-half points off UT turnovers and made 10 steals.

Tennessee guards Shekinna Stricklen and Bjorklund combined to shoot 4-of-23 from the field. Bjorklund, a sophomore, scored all of her eight points in the final four minutes of the game.

“I think we should have worked the ball more,” Bjorklund said. “The ball got stuck in our hands too much.”

Overall, Tennessee shot 32.1 percent from the field.

“Not going to win that way,” said Summitt, who seemed noticeably frustrated by her young team’s struggles.

“Am I disappointed about this? Absolutely.”

Duke outrebounded Tennessee 49-36 and scored 28 points in the lane. The Blue Devils, who have three seniors in their starting lineup, have held 18 of their last 24 opponents to 58 points or less this season.

Duke jumped to a 12-3 lead propelled by an eight-point run. Bass hit a 3-pointer with three minutes left in the half to tie the game at 23, but Duke responded with five quick points to make it 28-23 at halftime.

“Duke is a veteran team, and they wanted it more,” Summitt said.