For more than a half, No. 16 Miami kept the Blue Devils under wraps with their fullcourt pressure, keeping Duke from pulling away in the first half.
But the Hurricanes lost track of Lexie Brown behind the 3-point line twice in the third quarter, and that it was all it took to send the Blue Devils off to the races.
Brown scored 28 points on 8-of-10 shooting, sparking a 14-2 spurt that sent No. 13 Duke to an 83-70 victory against the Hurricanes on Senior Day at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Redshirt junior Rebecca Greenwell also had an efficient shooting day with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting, adding a season-high 13 rebounds for an impressive double-double.
One of those rebounds came when Greenwell foreshadowed Duke’s second half-momentum at the close of the first with a tip-in through contact to give the Blue Devils the lead going into the locker room.
“For Becca, just incredible rebounding. That tip-in was the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time. It was such a wonderful way to lead the team because then we go into the locker room up and it just sort of sends a message,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “I love the poise that Lexie showed, obviously shooting the ball very well but just making really good decisions on the floor while getting hit a lot.”
Once the Blue Devil offense got going toward the end of the second quarter and after halftime, Miami (19-7, 8-6 in the ACC) was in trouble. Although Hurricane star Adrienne Motley powered Miami’s offense with 23 points, the Hurricanes shot just 34.3 percent for the game as Duke’s matchup zone defense claimed another victim.
The Blue Devils (24-4, 12-3) have not allowed a team to shoot better than 40.0 percent from the field in their last 12 contests, a streak that is tops in the ACC.
Despite being pushed early against the Hurricanes’ aggressive pressing defense that forced several first-half miscues, Duke rode its third-period run to take a nine-point lead into the final quarter. The Blue Devils then put the game away with a 9-0 explosion in a few minutes sparked by Greenwell and Brown attacking the paint to seal the victory.
A pair of Greenwell layups followed by a transition bucket from Brown in a little more than a minute brought Cameron to a frenzy, giving Duke a decisive 66-50 lead with seven minutes remaining.
“We talked about it at halftime that we were being a little too passive on the offensive end,” Brown said. “We were just kind of happy to beat the press and then we were going to set up and try to pound it inside and get open looks. In reality, we should have gone with the flow when we had them on their heels and beat their press. We let loose on offense in the second half.”
Duke’s offense, which shot 52.0 percent from the field, ran much smoother than it did last season on the road against the Hurricanes, when it missed 25 consecutive field goal attempts en route to a 61- 53 loss.
Brown’s influence on the Blue Devils was once again on display, as Miami could not key on her or Greenwell in the second half.
“Rebecca Greenwell doesn’t have to play the point guard anymore. When she had the ball, you knew where she was because you had one person on the ball,” Miami head coach and former Duke All-American Katie Meier said. “Duke is very hard to beat because they free both of them up, and then you’re in trouble.”
Led by Greenwell, Duke started the game hot against the Hurricanes, leaning on its defense to put Miami and its potent backcourt on its heels. The Blue Devils forced the Hurricanes out of the post and to settle for quick isolation jump shots, stunting their perimeter offense en route to an early 18-10 lead.
But with quick switches and a fullcourt press, Miami quickly sapped Duke’s momentum, turning 12 first-half turnovers into 12 points, most of which fueled a 14-0 run that put the Hurricanes on top 24-18.
The Blue Devils closed the period strong, though, shutting down Motley toward the end of the half and getting the late old-fashioned three-point play from Greenwell to take a 32-31 halftime lead that they preserved.
Senior forward Kendall Cooper also had a nice game for Duke, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting in her final regular-season home game.
After their seventh straight win and sixth top-20 victory of the season, the Blue Devils will look to continue their momentum after a week-long break in their final regular season game at North Carolina next Sunday.
“We’re going to take some rest,” McCallie said. “We’re going to practice hard, but when we practice, we won’t practice as much…. Everything’s shorter at this point. This team is quick to own up, quick to move on and quick to correct. It’s nice. Spring is coming, the weather is better and this team is chugging along, just trying to get better.”
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.