After defeating a top-five team for the first time since 2013 and making their first appearance in the top 25 this season, the Blue Devils faced higher expectations entering the final part of their nonconference schedule.
It looked like that pressure might have affected Duke early on Thursday, but junior Lexie Brown made sure the Blue Devils extended their winning streak to six.
Despite converting on just 40.0 percent of its shots, No. 21 Duke relied on its defense to knock off a resilient Elon team 68-61 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Phoenix took the lead late in the first quarter, but led by Brown’s 25 points, the Blue Devils used a second-quarter 12-2 run to take control before holding on for the win.
Although the Phoenix came back to life and cut the deficit to just three after halftime, a 19-6 Duke spurt in the third quarter put the game out of reach.
“Well obviously it wasn’t a terrific game for us,” Blue Devil head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “Right now we just want to play every team the way we want to play them. We did that against South Carolina and of course we did not do it tonight.”
After struggling to find her shot against then-No. 3 South Carolina Sunday—when she went 3-of-11 from the field with nine points—Brown was back on her game Thursday.
The Maryland transfer led Duke (10-1) with 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 8-of-8 from the free throw line. In addition to carrying a stagnant offense for much of the night, Brown’s 3-pointer with 5:50 left in the third quarter gave her 1,000 career points, 825 of which came with the Terrapins.
“The way our offense was running, I was just getting open shots. My teammates did a really good job setting screens, setting me up for easy scores,” Brown said. “Some people just missed some bunnies and I just happened to be able to make shots, but on Sunday it was the opposite way around.”
Although Brown found success from the field, her teammates were not as successful.
The Blue Devils’ leading scorer, Rebecca Greenwell, scored 12 points and converted only 4-of-12 shot attempts on a rare off night in which no other Duke player scored in double figures.
After making their first three shots, the Blue Devils made two of their next 10, allowing Elon (4-4) to cut the Duke lead to 13-12 after one quarter.
“For a while there, we played kind of ugly, but we played well defensively, which is a good thing,” McCallie said. “But the reality is, they got a lot of easy shots that they missed. Those are around the bucket, and they are just falling off [the rim].”
Although the Phoenix generated good looks and collected 18 offensive rebounds, they also took advantage of 17 Duke turnovers.
Elon was not the only team to miss easy opportunities inside. The Blue Devils’ starting frontcourt of seniors Oderah Chidom and Kendall Cooper combined for 11 points on just eight shot attempts and were largely neutralized down low.
Even after the Blue Devils took the lead for good late in the opening period and built a double-digit lead in the second quarter, Elon responded to stay close at halftime.
“Count our missed layups—that will tell half the story right there,” McCallie said. “When you play that kind of basketball, you kind of play hard and then you don’t. You’re kind of in and out of the game. That disrupts tempo, that disrupts a lot of things—offense and defense and things of that nature.”
Phoenix forward Ra’Shika White took advantage of Duke’s inconsistency on the boards, leading Elon with 19 points and seven rebounds, including three on the offensive glass.
Sparked by freshman Leaonna Odom, the Blue Devils finally got their offense in gear to pull away in the third quarter. Duke shot 7-of-11 in the period to build a 19-point lead early in the fourth quarter before resting its starters late in the game.
Another storyline from the game was McCallie’s daughter, Maddie, who plays for Elon. She finished with three points—the third time in NCAA history a coach has faced her daughter.
“We are a basketball family,” McCallie said. “I am really proud of Maddie, and I had no problem preparing for this game. I am very impressed with this team, they presented problems to us, and I think that it is a wonderful story for women’s basketball.”
After a 12-day exam break, Duke will begin a tough stretch when it hosts Villanova and No. 15 Kentucky before entering conference play against No. 8 Louisville Jan. 2.
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Digital Strategy Director for Vol. 115, Michael was previously Sports Editor for Vol. 114 and Assistant Blue Zone Editor for Vol. 113. Michael is a senior majoring in Statistical Science and is interested in data analytics and using data to make insights.