NORFOLK, Va. - A dominating defensive effort helped lead top-seeded Duke to a record-setting 96-27 dismantling of 16th-seeded Southern University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
With the win, Duke advances to take on eighth-seeded Southern California Tuesday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Midway through the first half Sunday night, the Blue Devils (27-3) pounced on the Jaguars (20-11) for a 17-0 run that lasted 8:03 and put them ahead, 32-8.
If that was not enough, Duke finally put Southern away for good when the Blue Devils raced out of the locker room with a 12-0 run in the first four minutes of the second half to go ahead 52-18.
"I thought this was a good start for us," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "Initially in the first half we had good energy, we just didn't have great focus.... I felt like it was us getting the rust off, having not played in two weeks."
The Jaguars, who earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the SWAC Championship, were forced into scoreless droughts behind poor performances from their usual leaders. Duke held Southern's top two scorers to a paltry nine combined points.
Senior Rolanda Monroe-the Jaguar's career-points leader-entered the game averaging 18.3 points per game but managed to post just five points against the Blue Devils' trapping defense.
Similarly, sophomore Fredrieka Lewis scored less than half her average of 11.
"Those are two excellent players for them and we certainly were keying on them," Goestenkors said. "We wanted to do a good job with pressure on the ball and force them to have some difficulty getting the ball inside."
As a team, the Jaguars shot just 18 percent on the night as Duke forced 26 turnovers en route to the 69-point win-the fifth biggest differential in NCAA Tournament history.
The Jaguars' 27-point effort was the lowest output by a team in 25 years of NCAA Tournament play.
"We were so out of sync the whole game," Southern head coach Sandy Pugh said. "I thought the size of their team caused a lot of problems for us defensively. We weren't able to get into a good rhythm."
Duke's stingy defensive effort masked a an offensive performance that was less efficient than the highest-scoring team in the country is used to.
The Blue Devils shot just 35 percent from the floor in the first half as they frequently failed to put away easy baskets. Freshman Abby Waner finished the night making just 2-of-8 attempts and sophomore Wanisha Smith was only 4-for-12.
"We had good energy but we didn't have good focus on finishing," Goestenkors said. "We needed to show some poise and we didn't do that."
But dominance under the boards-Duke had 60 total rebounds-helped the team post nearly 100 points.
A balanced attack with four players in double figures also helped the Blue Devils reach their high tally.
"Luckily we have so many options on a team like this that you can't even tell when someone is in a slump," Abby Waner said.
Senior Monique Currie led the way with 19 points in just 19 minutes of play and junior Lindsey Harding added 18.
With starters playing reduced minutes because of the rout, the Blue Devils' bench chipped in 31 points in a performance that showed off the team's depth.
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