The Blue Devils continued their climb to the top of the ACC Sunday, with a dismantling of the Tigers marking their fifth straight win.
No. 15 Duke dominated Clemson 89-60, as it had its starting center Elizabeth Williams in prime form. The senior scored 21 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists, four blocks and two steals—a near triple-double—Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils are now tied for second in the ACC.
“We are in a pretty good place,” Williams said. “Today we did a good job in responding, in that we played hard and still followed our game plan.”
After being held scoreless in the first half the last two games, Williams came out strong against the Tigers as she lead the team in all three major categories with 13 points, five assists and five rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.
Duke (18-6, 9-2 in the ACC) started the game with an aggressive extended zone that left Clemson unable to get anything started. The Blue Devils caused nine steals and 12 turnovers in the first half, leveraging the forceful defense to a 20-5 opening run. The The Tigers (9-15, 1-10) could not hit a shot the first 15 minutes of the game, with only four players scoring in the first half.
The Blue Devils also moved the ball very well. They passed the ball quickly, and before the Clemson zone could rotate over, Duke had an open shot. The quick movement helped the Blue Devils shoot 40 percent from beyond the arc. Redshirt freshman Rebecca Greenwell was able to find open shots as she finished with 19 points and shooting 38 percent from three.
“Twenty-four assists [as a team] is a good thing,” McCallie said. “[It’s] good to have assists and lower turnovers.”
Although passing may have created space, the real advantage for Duke was its frontcourt height. The comparatively undersized Tigers could not rebound efficiently, as the Blue Devils had 14 offensive rebounds, which led to 11 second-chance points.
Clemson could also not contain Williams and Azura Stevens, who had 17 points mainly from the post. Stevens also turned in eight rebounds and four assists. Overall, the Blue Devils outscored Clemson in the paint by 32 points, highlighting Duke’s frontcourt domination.
“When Elizabeth plays with that type of energy, I think it bleeds over to the others on the team,” McCallie said.
Duke’s height was also integral to its defensive performance. The Blue Devils outrebounded the Tigers 41-29. Duke was also able to pick up eight blocks. Duke’s long arms also clogged up passing lanes, as they were able to pick up 13 steals.
“[Duke is] a very long, lean athletic team,” Clemson head coach Adura Smith said. “They did a very good job disrupting us because of their length.”
Clogging the lane also meant that Clemson had to settle for mid- or long-range jumpers for most of the game. Aside from Shelbie Davenport—13 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field—and Tiffany Lewis—13 points on 4-of-13 shooting—the Tiger squad could not find the range. As a team, Clemson shot 35 percent from the field.
In the second half, the Blue Devils continued to pull away. The inside-out offensive game the Blue Devils were playing, along with lots of second chance points and forced turnovers proved too much, opening up a 30 point lead with five minutes to go in the game. Duke senior Jenna Frush got to play in the closing minutes, which got the home crowd on their feet as she scored two points.
On a less positive note for Duke, it was announced Sunday that sophomore Oderah Chidom is out for the rest of the season with shoulder injury. Chidom had dislocated it multiple times this season and in order to protect it from permanent damage, the team has shut down the 6-foot-4 forward for the remainder of the 2014-15 campaign.
“It’s been a tough year for a lot of reasons,” McCallie said. “There is no decision to be made. [Oderah] cannot play. She’s going directly to surgery.”
The Blue Devils will hit the road Thursday, as they will take on Virginia at 7 p.m. in search of their sixth-straight win.
“It’s fun to play these last couple ACC games on the road,” Williams said. “It’s a good opportunity for us to finish out the regular season really strong.”
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