WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—The Blue Devils hit the road in style, cruising to victory against Wake Forest for the second time this season.
No. 15 Duke defeated the Demon Deacons 70-53 Thursday night at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The dynamic post duo of senior Elizabeth Williams and freshman Azura Stevens contributed 37 points, helping the team to the win despite obstacles along the way.
"Just a good, solid, blue-collar game," Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "We worked hard on defense and tried to do some things there.... [We] got a little bit more aggressive, which was very good for us."
Just five minutes into the first half, sophomore Oderah Chidom—making her third consecutive start—headed off the court and straight to the locker room after a tie-up under the basket left her clutching her already-injured shoulder.
The forward missed two games earlier this season due to the same injury and did not return for the remainder of the contest.
"We just thought, 'This is another thing we have to play for.'" Stevens said. "We've been through a lot this season, so it's just something else we added to the list to go out there and fight hard for the program and all the people involved with our team."
The Blue Devils (17-6, 8-2 in the ACC) fought to maintain their momentum despite a dip in morale after the loss of their teammate. Stevens and Williams combined for 11 of the team's first 15 points and continued to hurt the Demon Deacons in a variety of ways. Williams added four assists and Stevens knocked down two of her three 3-point attempts. Wake Forest (10-14, 1-9) rallied behind senior forward Dearica Hamby who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but didn't have enough gas in the tank to claw within single-digits.
Stevens' 24 points were a game-high and tied her career-best from the team's loss at Boston College Jan. 22. The freshman has now scored double digits in all but four of her 17 starts this season.
"Azura plays with a lot of confidence," McCallie said. "She wants the ball a lot, which is really a great thing."
Classmate Kendall Cooper stepped in to fill the hole left by Chidom and opened the second-half scoring for Duke when she stole a perimeter pass en route to a successful three-point play. The sophomore forward finished with seven points including a perfect 3-for-3 performance from the free throw line.
Chidom's injury left Duke with just eight healthy players, but the Blue Devils got contributions all over the floor in the win.
"I'm sorry for Oderah, her shoulder's going to bother her a little bit, no doubt about that," McCallie said. "That's unfortunate, but I did think Kendall Cooper stepped up. Amber Henson was smart and clever out there, and so I felt some depth there. Obviously, we miss Oderah, but I felt like people really stepped up."
Continuing a recent trend, the Blue Devils' offensive success was dispersed across the lineup. Senior Ka'lia Johnson had 11 points and added eight assists to remain the team's leader with 96 on the season.
Redshirt freshman Rebecca Greenwell finished with 11 points, the fourth Blue Devil to reach double-figures.
"Ka'lia just waits—she's patient." McCallie said. "I thought Ka'lia was a terrific point guard—taking care of the basketball, finding her teammates and looking for opportunities."
The Demon Deacons made two second-half stands after trailing by 13 heading into the locker room. A three-minute scoring drought during which Duke went 0-for-7 from the field allowed Wake Forest to continue the 7-0 run it had put together before halftime. A layup from Stevens ended the run and shifted the momentum back into the Blue Devils' favor with the 45-33 lead.
Shortly afterward, back-to-back 3-pointers from guard Mykia Jones brought the score to 51-41, prompting a timeout from the Duke bench. Greenwell sank her first trey of the evening on the ensuing possession before managing a steal that stopped the Demon Deacons from closing the gap further.
"Our team did a nice job [on defense]," McCallie said. "We weren't too concerned.... They got a three off of us trapping, so we just need to settle down and play together and play inside out. I thought the team adjusted well, refocused and took it from there."
The Blue Devils maintained a comfortable lead for the rest of the game, managing to squeeze past Wake Forest on the glass after being out-rebounded for most of the game. Led by Stevens' six boards, Duke grabbed 35 rebounds to Wake Forest's 32. Most of the squad's defensive success came from 16 steals on the night, led by five from Johnson.
"[We] got a few more steals," McCallie said. "We wanted more on the rebounding side of things, but we'll continue to work on that."
The Blue Devils have now claimed eight conference wins, the second-most behind conference powerhouse No. 4 Notre Dame. Duke will play one contest at home—Sunday against Clemson—before heading back onto the road for four away games in a row.
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