Senior center Chante Black scored a career-high 28 points Friday night, leading No. 8 Duke to a 77-68 victory over No. 14 Oklahoma State in the Blue Devils' season opener in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Black had 10 points in Duke's critical 21-2 second-half run that began at the beginning of the period and lasted more than seven minutes. Her layup with 12:54 remaining forced Oklahoma State to call a timeout and put the Blue Devils up 56-46 after trailing by nine at the half.
Senior guard Abby Waner only made two field goals on the night, but both were 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions during Duke's torrid comeback. The Blue Devils never trailed after the dominant run and held off the Cowgirls after they cut the lead to five with 2:43 remaining.
Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie's decision at halftime to switch from man-to-man defense to a 3-2 zone keyed the rally, as Oklahoma State struggled to find an offensive rhythm under the increased pressure. After dominating the transition game early on by scoring 18 fast break points in the first half, the Cowgirls only managed three more for the rest of the contest.
Junior guard Andrea Riley, a preseason candidate for National Player of the Year, scored 20 points for Oklahoma State in the opening period, but shot only 3-of-16 from the field in the second half.
Even though Duke shot 37.5 percent for the game, the team racked up 26 offensive rebounds that led to 29 second-chance points compared to the Cowgirls' seven.
Four out of five Blue Devil starters scored in double figures, and Black and senior forward Carrem Gay chipped in doubles-doubles with 10 and 11 boards respectively.
Duke returns to action Sunday at noon against McCallie's former team, Maine.
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