Gilas women prospect de Jesus praised by Duke coach for role in Clemson win

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas women prospect Vanessa de Jesus earned the approval of her Duke Blue Devils head coach Kara Lawson after a career performance to lead Duke past Clemson, 64-61, last weekend.

The sophomore guard tied her career-high in assists with eight against the Clemson Tigers to facilitate the Duke offense on the road.

"V played [what] might have been her best game of the year," Lawson said.

"How composed she was versus the pressure, the traps, [and] diagnosing out of the traps, where the ball should go, finding shooters, I thought she was excellent," she added.

Though not scoring that many points of her own, de Jesus fulfilled her role of floor general well for the Blue Devils as she found her teammates at crucial moments to hold off Clemson in the end game.

De Jesus found Duke senior Meila Goodchild in the corner for a 3-point dagger to push Duke's lead to nine, 62-53, with 2:13 left in the game.

And when a Clemson run got the Tigers breathing down Duke's neck anew, 63-61, the Filipino-American cager iced the game for the Blue Devils as she stole the ball from Clemson with just three seconds left on the clock.

De Jesus was fouled and went to the charity stripe and knocked down a free throw to arrive at the final score.

She finished with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting and had two steals.

De Jesus, however, deflected credit to her teammates for her career game in assists.

"I was looking for my teammates and they were in the right spot," de Jesus said.

"It made it easy for me to find them. They executed and made the shot," she added.