No. 6 Duke 82, WKU 55, FINAL: It's always a good sign for the Duke faithful when the band chants "Drive home safely" as they just did.
Overall, Duke has to be pleased with their performance tonight. They were able to rest Krystal Thomas, Jasmine Thomas and Karima Christmas for good portions of the second half as they already had the game on lock. The key performers were Jasmine Thomas who had an amazing first half, and Haley Peters who picked up the production in the second half.
That's all here, and always check out The Chronicle for more game information and such.
No. 6 Duke 69, WKU 45, 3:59 2nd half: Duke is in cruise control here, but no Duke sporting event can be drama-less. #13 on Western Kentucky Hope Brown made an aggressive move with her elbow towards Shay Selby, but no foul was called which brought in boos from the crowd. On the next possession Selby got her revenge, making a beautiful dish to Richa Jackson under the hoop. Selby has brought great energy to the team today with hustle plays and court vision.
No. 6 Duke 65, WKU 37, 7:28 2nd half: One player who has stepped up this afternoon for Duke is freshman Haley Peters. She is tied for second in the game with 13 points on 6-9 shooting. Her offensive versatility has been on display with her having nailed a three but also having made nice moves to score below the basket.
No. 6 Duke 56, WKU 29, 11:15 2nd half: Freshman guard Tricia Liston has checked in for the first time as the Blue Devils are continuing their beat down on the Hilltoppers. Fellow freshman Richa Jackson just contributed her first field goal of the game, making a nice move under the hoop.
The one bright spot for Western Kentucky has been junior forward LaTeira Owens who leads them with 13 points on 6-9 shooting. The low-lights for the Big Red have mostly come from guards Chaney Means and Hope Brown, who each have seven turnovers.
No. 6 Duke 50, WKU 25, 15:32 2nd half: The second half has begun exactly where the first one finished: Western Kentucky turning the ball over and Jasmine Thomas leading a potent Duke attack. Thomas has three points and an assist already this half, while the Hilltoppers have committed four more turnovers.
No. 6 Duke 40, WKU 23, HALFTIME: Overall, even though it took them a while to break the game open, the Blue Devils have to be pretty pleased with the conclusion of the first half. Jasmine Thomas finished the half off with 11 points, going two-for-two from behind the arc.
If Western Kentucky plans on making any sort of comeback in the second half, it will have to fix its 19 first half turnovers. No team can reasonably expect to compete with such sloppy ball control - they had no answer to the Blue Devils' first half press.
This afternoon's halftime festivities features youth league basketball competition from Durham comprised of seven and eight year-olds. The match-up has the Hawks facing the Bulls. Number 3 just made a layup for the Bulls, and I'm slightly ashamed to say he probably has a better jump-shot than I do. He also rocks a headband way better than I could.
In addition, Duke just welcomed back former women's basketball player Missy West, who is now the head coach at Hartwick College. She is in attendance at this afternoon's game with her team, sitting behind the Blue Devils' bench.
No. 6 Duke 33, WKU 21, 3:41 1st half: Jasmine Thomas has been Duke's leader on both offense and defense today. She has eight points, three assists and three steals and is leading the game in all three categories. She also has not turned over the ball yet, impressive for somebody who has the ball in her hands so often.
No. 6 Duke 28, WKU 19, 7:08 1st half: Duke has extended their lead, in large part due to two layups and a three from Haley Peters. On both layups, she received beautiful passes that set up her up. One the first, Jasmine Thomas found her under the basket, while on the second Shay Selby wowed the crowed with a no-look pass. Shortly after, Selby received a large cheer from the crowd for making an extremely athletic play that saved a ball about to go out of bounds.
No. 6 Duke 15, WKU 11, 11:40 1st half: Duke has put in its youth lineup for a bit here, which features four freshmen (Gray, Wells, Richa Jackson and Haley Peters) in addition to sophomore center Allison Vernerey.
The Hilltoppers have been able to keep it close, despite their trouble handling the Blue Devils' press. Eight minutes into the game, Western Kentucky already has nine turnovers, whereas Duke only has five.
No. 6 Duke 11, WKU 8, 15:02 1st Half: Duke gave up a few easy baskets, but the real story may be that this is the coming out party for the Blue Devils' top recruit Chelsea Gray. Gray has seen limited action early in the season due to a foot injury, but she subbed in early and has made a quick impact. First, she drove hard to the basket for a nice layup, then nailed a three.
No. 6 Duke 4, WKU 0, 17:27 1st Half: Krystal Thomas took advantage of her size early, kicking off the game with a jumper over her 6-foot-1 defender, Keisha Mosley. That gives Thomas a four-inch size advantage - look for her to exploit that. Chloe Wells just made an excellent steal, hustling to grab the ball before the Hilltoppers could bring it up, but she missed the contested layup.
PREGAME: And your starters are. . .
Duke: #4 Chloe Wells, #5 Jasmine Thomas, #13 Karima Christmas, #24 Kathleen Scheer and #34 Krystal Thomas,
Western Kentucky: #1 Keisha Mosley, #12 Chaney Means, #13 Hope Brown #14 Janae Howard and #31 LaTeira Owens
PREGAME: The player to watch out for on Western Kentucky early in the season has been 6-foot-1 forward Janae Howard. She is leading the Hilltoppers with 13.5 points a game, including 2.5 threes per game. It'll be interesting to see who Coach McCallie has guard her.
Something else to watch out for is Duke's size advantage. The Hilltoppers' tallest player is center 6-foot-3 center Jasmine Johnson, who has only been playing nine minutes per game. If the Blue Devils focus on feeding the 6-foot-5 Krystal Thomas in the post, Western Kentucky might have a hard time guarding it.
PREGAME: Hello, and welcome to The Chronicle's live blog of this afternoon's women's basketball game against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.
The Hilltoppers have stumbled out of the gate to begin the year with an early 0-2 record. Both opponents, however, are strong and they stayed competitive in both of the games. The losses are to LSU and Northwestern respectively, and while neither of those schools are ranked, they both received votes in the last poll.
The Blue Devils on the other hand are off to a blazing 3-0 start and are looking to pad that win total this afternoon.
Stay tuned here for in-game updates, commentary and fun facts as we'll be providing constant analysis.
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