The Blue Devils have gotten off to some slow starts this season against lesser opponents before exploding in the second quarter to take control.
But Duke wasted no time asserting itself on the road against a 1-5 team in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Blue Devils jumped out to a 13-0 lead led by three triples from Lexie Brown and Rebecca Greenwell on their way to a dominant 68-32 win against Rutgers at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J., Thursday evening. Duke ended up winning the opening period 24-5, then extended its lead to 26 by halftime by holding the Scarlet Knights to 20.0 percent shooting in the first half.
Although they Blue Devils shot 55.8 percent from the field, Duke’s defense defined Thursday’s game.
“We had a defensive personality today—doing a lot of different things [like] taking a charge, diving on the floor, some great blocked shots and deflections,” Blue Devil head coach Joanne P. McCallie said at the postgame press conference. “[I] loved our start in terms of moving the basketball and getting it to the right places.”
McCallie’s squad frustrated Rutgers (1-6) with its length, taking the Scarlet Knights out of their offense and forcing them to settle for contested jump shots. Rutgers committed 19 turnovers and went just 3-of-15 from deep, giving Duke (8-1)more momentum on the defensive end to take into Sunday’s game against No. 3 South Carolina.
After allowing Pepperdine to hit 11 3-pointers in their last game, the Blue Devil guards showed more urgency on the perimeter against the Scarlet Knights.
“We definitely take pride [in our defense],” Brown said. “The past couple of practices we’ve been focused on our defensive effort because you can control defense. It’s all about your effort and your hustle and your heart, and we brought that today. We’ve been working on that, so I was proud we were able to do that tonight.”
Since their first loss of the season at Vanderbilt Nov. 20, the Blue Devils have won four straight games by at least 28 points.
But although each Duke starter posted at least eight points Thursday, the Blue Devils committed 16 turnovers—the area that cost Duke against the Commodores.
The Blue Devils will need to take better care of the ball Sunday without losing the ball movement that led to 15 assists on 24 buckets against Rutgers. Greenwell and Brown got Duke off to a hot start as the Blue Devils’ top two scorers have so often, but Duke’s other players got involved after that.
Greenwell was the only player in double figures with 11 points, and freshman Leaonna Odom added seven points on 3-of-3 shooting off the bench.
“This was our best balanced effort yet, and that’s really good,” Greenwell said. “It gives us confidence throughout the entire team, and we’re going to need that because [South Carolina is] going to have to watch out for everyone—not just two or three of us.”
The Blue Devils dominated inside with a 40-24 edge in rebounding, which bodes well against a strong Gamecock frontcourt that has led South Carolina to three top-15 wins already this year.
Duke will need forwards Oderah Chidom and Kendall Cooper to come up with a strong effort in its first game against a ranked opponent—something the Blue Devil frontcourt could not do against Vanderbilt.
“I definitely wanted to go into Sunday with a win and playing solid basketball and team basketball, and I think we really got our posts involved tonight,” Brown said. “We’re going to need them on Sunday, so it’s good to get their confidence up a little bit, and we’re just going to have to get ready for Sunday in practice too.”
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