Jasmine Thomas saw time ticking away, so she made an aggressive move toward the lane, pump-faked once and tossed up an off-balance jumper.
Nothing but net. A few defensive stops later, and No. 5 Duke had its first marquee victory of the season.
Thomas scored 18 points, including the go-ahead basket with 55 seconds left, to lead the Blue Devils past No. 7 Texas A&M 61-58 on Monday night.
“It was the end of the shot clock, I had to make a play, had to put the shot up – there was no time to pass it,” Thomas said. “And it went in.”
Karima Christmas had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Chelsea Gray added 11 points for the Blue Devils (9-0), who overcame 18 turnovers and 31 percent shooting to extend the best start of coach Joanne P. McCallie’s 19-year career.
Adaora Elonu scored 15 points and Sydney Carter added 13 for the Aggies (6-1), who shot nearly 34 percent and couldn’t convert on three chances in the final minute to fall to 6-21 against top-five teams.
“Everybody pretty much pitched in to come up with this win,” Thomas said.
Maybe, but she definitely came up with the shot of the game. Her acrobatic jumper from the free throw line over Carter put Duke up 59-58 in the final minute. McCallie called the attempt “nothing short of amazing.”
After that, Texas A&M had a few opportunities to take the lead or force overtime. First, the Aggies couldn’t get a good look against the Blue Devils’ 1-2-2 zone and Sydney Colson’s 3-pointer drew only glass as the shot clock expired with about 23 seconds left.
“It had to be a team defensive effort, and I just thought our team hung very, very tough, showed a lot of guts – even when things didn’t go our way,” McCallie said.
The best example of that came a split-second later, when Duke turned it over while inbounding the ball. Danielle Adams’ baseline jumper off an inbounds pass with about 8 seconds left rimmed out.
“We run the perfect inbounds play,” Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said. “I’ve got the best kid in America that I would want to shoot that shot, and it just didn’t go in.”
Thomas hit two free throws with 6.4 seconds left to make it a three-point game, and Christmas stole a pass as time expired to seal Duke’s 12th straight victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“I think I was just in the right place at the right time, really,” Christmas said.
The Blue Devils have won 35 of 36 inside their cozy home arena and improved to 1-3 all-time against Texas A&M.
Down the stretch, this one seemed destined for a tight finish. The lead changed hands on five consecutive possessions inside the 4-minute mark, and neither team led by more than five points once the Aggies reeled off 11 straight points early in the second half.
“For a game (on) December the 6th, this was as good as it gets,” Blair said.
Tyra White had 11 points and Adams had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The teams started the day as two of the 15 unbeatens in Division I, and somebody’s hot start had to end. The only Texas A&M team with a better season-opening winning streak was the 2008-09 team that started 12-0.
Duke erased an early double-figure deficit with a 16-0 run during which the Blue Devils held Texas A&M to 0-for-12 shooting during a span of roughly 8 minutes. Krystal Thomas capped the burst by sticking back Shay Selby’s missed 3-pointer to make it 28-22 with 2:19 left.
That came after the Aggies forced nine turnovers in the opening 10 minutes and went up 22-12 on Maryann Baker’s long 3 with 9 minutes left in the half. A&M didn’t hit another field goal until Adams’ layup with 56 seconds left in the half.
Up next, the Aggies return home to host Purdue as part of the Big 12/Big 10 Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the second time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams.
• With the loss, the Aggies move to 3-1 in the all-time series versus Duke. Three points is the smallest margin of victory between the two teams in the series. A&M also moves to 4-5 all-time against ACC teams.
• While A&M forced nine Duke turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game, the Aggies did not turn the ball over once in that span.
• A&M turned the ball over just five times in the first half…a season low mark.
• Junior Sydney Carter (DeSoto, Texas) poured in a season high 13 points against the Blue Devils.
• Senior Danielle Adams (Kansas City, Mo.) turned in her sixth career double-double against Duke with 11 points and 12 rebounds. She added a season-best four blocked shots. Twelve rebounds match her career best. She also extended her double-digit scoring streak to 16 straight games.
• Junior Adaora Elonu (Houston, Texas) scored a season-high 15 points and tied her season best with eight rebounds.
• Junior Tyra White (Kansas City, Mo.) has now turned in double figures in five of her last six outings including scoring 11 against the Blue Devils.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
On the top 10 matchup against Duke televised nationally on ESPN2…
“Tonight was a heavy-weight fight and this was as good as it gets. I love playing teams like this. I hope we can keep the series going (with Duke) because it is special to come into this house and play where so many great players and games have been played. This is what it’s about and this was as good of a game as Connecticut and Baylor. It’s great for women’s basketball when you have four teams like us that are willing to risk and play each other on home-and-home series. We need more of this. This was a great game for a great television audience.
“I want to give Duke a lot of credit for being able to come back and adjust to us. (Senior guard) Jasmine Thomas was having poor shooting night, but she hit the jumper that they had to have. (Senior forward Karima) Christmas was a beast on the boards the whole night. We could not block her out and I give a lot of credit to her. Neither team shot the ball well. A lot of that was because of the defense being played and the early game in December. We also kept accommodating them by putting them on the free-throw line. A lot of fouls were all because of their offensive boards and our lack of boxing out.
“I’m proud of my kids, when everything was going wrong for us and Duke went on a 16-0 run, this veteran team with juniors and seniors has been there before. We regrouped at the half and made a couple adjustments. Their 3-2 zone was giving us some problems and keeping us outside way too much. Our guards needed to penetrate and we were waiting a lot for the next person make the pass. I’m proud of these kids right here and there’s nobody I’d want to take that final shot in end that this kid right here (Danielle Adams), it just didn’t go in.”
On what made Duke so good in their half court defense…
“They’re big, they just stretch out. You can’t lob over them but we have to bounce pass on a zone and we weren’t’ doing a good job at all because our guards were 30 feet from the basket trying to run the offense. We’ll work on that. We see that size in the Big 12 as well, but Duke is by far the best team we’ve played this season. They are very good.”
On how a game like this helps the team grow…
“It helps them grow because of the atmosphere. This is an NCAA regional game to get to the big dance. Personally, I’ve had some great matchups with Duke, but I’m 0-2 here. I love this place. For women’s basketball to continue to grow, the top schools have to continually be on television. It’s helping us build a base of fans for those next teams in years to come. Right now, we feel like we’re right up there with Duke and those folks. Ya’ll (at Duke) have a lot of banners hanging here, we don’t have a lot yet, but we’re trying to get three.”
SENIOR FORWARD/CENTER DANIELLE ADAMS
On going up against two 6-5 players in Krystal Thomas and Allison Vernerey…
“I face that height in the Big 12. (Brittney) Griner is 6-foot-8. It was a challenge for me, but I know I have to work on playing against taller players and trying to figure out what shot I need to take in order to score.”
SENIOR GUARD SYDNEY COLSON
On if her foul trouble made her tentative late on defense…
“I didn’t want to make another foul. I was still trying to play good defense and stay in front. I couldn’t’ go for steals, I just had to back up and if they were going to shoot, contest, and if they were driving, hopefully someone would seal and help.”