The 2nd Half After a quick Denson basket to open the second half, Duke rattled off 6 straight points. Harding found A.Waner on a cut, Gay got a stickback and Smith found Gay after she snagged a bad pass. A couple of minutes later, Gay scored again in transition and then her steal led to Smith scoring on a fast break. Four minutes into the second half, Duke led by 30 points. Duke weathered a bit of a dry spell as Miami had a 7-3 run (with only a Smith 3 interrupting it). The Devils finished Miami off in style with a 16-1 run. Bridgette Mitchell scored in transition (photo), hit 2 free throws, got a stickback and found Gay inside for a score in about a five minute span. Miami had just 26 total points with under six minutes to go, but Duke's bench let up a bit to make the final score 72-42. One thing that's become apparent with this Duke squad is that it needs to find a way to get into an offensive rhythm to find success. Unlike in recent seasons when there was a player who could take over the offense by herself and carry the team for long stretches, this team doesn't have such a figure. Lindsey Harding can do that at times, but she's more comfortable getting the team to play as a unit rather than just take shot after shot. This has two notable effects: occasional stretches without scoring but also a team that trusts each individual member a bit more. It also has made the team rely on defense first and foremost. When I asked Coach G how she gets her team to calm down and get into a flow, she jokingly answered "I yell at them." How that plays out is the team buckles down and plays harder on defense, as well as attacking the boards harder. That results in getting offense from defense and second chance baskets. When the players see those shots going in, it tends to relax them and they stop trying so hard. The question is, will this kind of effort be enough against the UNCs and Marylands of the college basketball world? Copyright © 2006 DWHOOPS.COM (Orin A. Day, Durham, NC, USA.) All Rights Reserved.