The Blue Devils gave their fans a taste of next year's potential with their most experienced players sidelined.
No. 17 Duke routed Pittsburgh 62-45 Thursday at Cameron Indoor Stadium to remain undefeated against the Panthers in school history. With two seniors on the bench—one injured and the other in foul trouble—the Blue Devils proved they do not always need veteran players to get the job done.
After two personal fouls left senior forward stranded on the bench with 15:38 left in the first half, Duke (15-6, 6-2 in the ACC) relied instead on the rest of its starters and a strong bench performance to get ahead of Pittsburgh (13-7, 3-4) early. Senior Elizabeth Williams did not score a single point in the first 20 minutes—her first field goal came with 7:16 left in the second half—and played just eight minutes before halftime after picking up two quick fouls, but the Blue Devils still headed to the locker room with a comfortable 36-20 lead.
"The key was [Williams'] teammates stepped up beautifully," head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "Kendall [Cooper] was great off the bench, Oderah [Chidom], Azura [Stevens] and others."
With senior Amber Henson unavailable Thursday nurshing a sore knee, Chidom stepped into the starting lineup for her fourth start of the season. She combined with Stevens and redshirt freshman Rebecca Greenwell to give her squad an earlly lead, one it would not relinquish. The sophomore forward had 10 points and 10 rebounds for her third-career double-double, with Stevens picking up a double-double of her own with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Greenwell scored eight of her 10 points in the first half and pulled down five rebounds.
"I loved to see Oderah out there rebouding and attacking like she did," McCallie said. "She's got a lot of gifts, a lot of things that she can do on the floor—it's just fun to see her get out there and attack."
Greenwell has now made 42 treys this season, which places her second in Duke history for single-season 3-pointers made by a freshman. She is now eight triples shy of tying Abby Waner, who knocked down 50 triples in the 2005-06 season.
Stevens' double double was her fourth of the season and included a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
"That was kind of a quiet game," McCallie said. "Not too many people get a double-double like that, and it was sort of quiet. That speaks to Azura's talent—what she can offer."
Williams wasn't the only post player to struggle. Pittsburgh forward Stasha Carey picked up four personal fouls halfway through the second frame, and fellow forward Monica Wignot—a former volleyball player—was held to eight points despite playing 38 minutes.
Wignot and Williams shared enough time on the court to block one another's shot, something both players are far more used to giving than receiving. As a team, Duke blocked seven shots, with Williams and sophomore forward Kendall Cooper swatting three apiece. The Blue Devils also stole the ball eight times and pulled down 33 defensive rebounds.
"We're focusing on defensive rebounds," Chidom said. "Our team is so interchangeable and versatile... when we lose one post player, there's always someone to step up."
Once again, Duke hurt itself with turnovers—25 in all, 17 in the second half—that allowed the Panthers to play the Blue Devils to almost an even draw after halftime. Fumbled passes on the perimeter and other mistakes early in the possession prevented Duke's guards from developing plays to the point of paint penetration, where the squad scored 34 of its 62 points. When the Blue Devils got the ball inside via the high-low game, the possession usually ended in a basket.
Senior Brianna Kiesel did her best to keep the Panthers within reach. Before sophomore Fred Potvin hit a trey with just less than four minutes left to play, Kiesel was the only Pittsburgh player to have scored double-digit points. But after hitting two of her first three from beyond the arc, Kiesel missed her final five attempts, finishing with a 5-of-14 shooting performance overall.
"As a team, we needed to shoot the ball a lot better," Kiesel said. "They're so long. You see something that's open for two seconds and it's not open anymore, [there's] an arm or something just right there. If we would have shot the ball a lot better I think it would have been a much different game."
The Blue Devils will close out the homestand Monday against No. 8 Louisville at 7 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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