2016 ACC WBB Tournament: Duke’s run ends with 83-54 quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame

Orin Day, Triangle Sports Network

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The game plan was to be methodical and deliberate in ball movement and positioning.

That’s what the eighth-seeded Duke Blue Devils (20-12) did during the first quarter when they tipped off against the two-time defending ACC Tournament-champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish (29-1).

However, eventually they came up way short and suffered an 83-54 loss in quarterfinal play at Greensboro Coliseum on Friday.

The 29-point loss was the worst for the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament since a 39-point defeat against N.C. State (89-50) back in 1989.

It was Duke’s third straight conference tournament loss to the Fighting Irish, and left the Blue Devils waiting to find out if they will earn a 22nd straight NCAA Tournament selection.

“It’s a tough one; I’m very proud of this team, but we know we could have played better,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.

“It’s not the feeling that we want to have. Obviously the points in the paint were a big story there, and the biggest story was us not defending. I know they’re an excellent three-point shooting team, but that really wasn’t it, either. It was the points in the paint and just the way that we let them score pretty easily. So we’ll take our lessons from this and we’ll move forward with those lessons.”

Playing once again without guard Rebecca Greenwell (back), Duke was led by Azura Stevens who scored a game-high 19 points, and with her 10 rebounds recorded another double-double playing in her second game in as many days following a seven-game absence.

Kyra Lambert was the only other Blue Devil to finish in double figures with 12 points.

Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale led the Fighting Irish with 14 points each while Michaela Mabrey and Madison Cable added 11 apiece.

Briana Turner’s 10 points went along with her team high seven rebounds as Notre Dame held a 44-32 edge on the boards.

It all started well as the Blue Devils held a 9-8 lead before Notre Dame put together a 6-0 run to eventually assume a 14-11 lead following the opening quarter of play.

During the break between periods, the Fighting Irish adjusted their defense and capitalized with strong rebounding and steals to post five more points.

Trailing 19-11, McCallie called a timeout to settle her team down.

Even while Stevens quickly scored soon afterward, Notre Dame kept scoring.

The Blue Devils stared at a 15-point deficit, trailing 28-13 with 5:48 to play in the opening half.

Duke’s shooting woes, nor nine turnovers, didn’t help matters as the halftime intermission approached.

The Blue Devils’ field goal conversion rate dipped to as low as 26 percent, but Stevens dug deep to drop a three in order to not fall way too far behind – at least momentarily.

Notre Dame played an error-free period with no turnovers, dropped 4-of-11 from beyond the arc, went 7-of-7 from the free throw line, and led 39-24 at halftime.

Duke’s shooting didn’t improve much during the next period while its deficit ballooned to 27 points, trailing 62-35 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

The Irish completed its 47-percent shooting performance from the field and took advantage of 14 total turnovers committed by the Blue Devils to score 19 points off those opportunities and dominated in the paint by a 42-18 margin.

”We gave them the ball practically, and you can’t do that especially against a team that convert on turnovers every single time,” Stevens concluded.

“Every single time you turn it over, they’re scoring. It’s not like a chance of them scoring, they’re going to score. So I think we just had to take better care of the ball, and we didn’t do that.”