In Duke's recent wins, the dynamic duo of Lexie Brown and Rebecca Greenwell stole the show with career-high scoring performances.
But the Blue Devils proved they can be just as dominant with a more balanced scoring attack Friday.
Four Duke players scored in double figures as the Blue Devils knocked off Long Beach State 83-46 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif. Although Duke once again struggled to take care of the ball and had 19 turnovers, the Blue Devils held the 49ers to 23.3 percent shooting and dominated inside to post their second straight win.
Senior forward Oderah Chidom notched her first double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds as Duke won the battle of the boards 48-24, and Brown and Greenwell combined for 31 points and five 3-pointers to keep the Long Beach State defense honest.
Even when the Blue Devils gave the ball away, their strong interior defense only surrendered 13 points off turnovers and six points in the paint.
“Defensively we really tried to pressure them, contest their shots—they have a lot of shooters that can shoot it out there,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie told GoDuke.com. “We did a good job of getting in front of them and contesting their shots and making them off-balance so they could not get the exact shot they wanted.”
With Brown and Greenwell only combining for 10 first-half points, it fell upon the other Blue Devils to step up offensively.
But Chidom and the other Blue Devil forwards were up for the challenge—Chidom led Duke (6-1) with eight first-half points as the Blue Devils opened up a 36-18 halftime lead. Freshman forward Leaonna Odom also had one of her best games, tying a career high with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and adding four rebounds in 29 minutes.
Starting forward Kendall Cooper was in foul trouble alongside Chidom as the two Californians returned to their home state, but Odom stepped up to complement Chidom, who showed more aggression inside. Chidom made seven of her eight shots and added three blocks and two steals.
“I’m certainly feeling more comfortable with my game, playing to the best of my ability and showing what I know how to do on the court, especially in front of my family in my home state,” Chidom said.
Even with the 49ers (3-2) double-teaming Brown and Greenwell throughout the contest, the tandem broke the game open early in the third quarter. Brown scored 10 of her 17 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter—including two 3-pointers—and Greenwell added five as the Blue Devils stretched the lead to 28.
Many of those third-quarter buckets came when Brown and Greenwell set each other up after easily handling Long Beach State's traps and double teams.
“I don’t even know why some teams try to double team us—we have so many weapons on this team and that’s what I love about this team,” Brown said. “While we struggled a little bit with the double team at first, when we started moving the ball, anyone could score.”
With Duke taking the drama out of the contest early in the second half, the Blue Devils got the bench trio of wing Faith Suggs and forwards Erin Mathias and Lyneé Belton plenty of opportunities. The three reserves took advantage, combining for 16 points and nine rebounds as Duke shot an eye-popping 61.5 percent from the field to overcome its turnover woes.
The Blue Devils will look to continue dominating inside when they take on Pepperdine Sunday at 3 p.m. in Malibu, Calif. The Waves are still looking for their first win this season and fell to Long Beach State 44-41 early in the year.
“I don’t get to come home often for Thanksgiving and to see my family in the crowd was really nice,” said Chidom, who had three blocks herself. “The team played really well, playing against some old friends was really nice—it was just great to get the win today.”
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