After a tough loss, a get-right game was just what the doctor ordered for Duke.
The Blue Devils, coming off a defeat to No. 11 Maryland in College Park Sunday, responded by dominating Dayton in a 84-49 victory Thursday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“I’m proud of our group,” head coach Kara Lawson said. “I thought [in] our second half, we were able to improve in some key areas. We were plus-three on the rebound margin in the first half, and then we ended plus-eighteen.”
To kick off the second half, junior guard Ashlon Jackson scored five points in quick succession, then senior Reigan Richardson turned a layup into an and-one to push the lead to 19. Jackson stole the ball on the Flyers’ ensuing possession, and Vanessa de Jesus made a difficult reverse layup to give Duke (3-1) its biggest lead of the night, 47-26.
Dayton (2-1) turned the ball over 24 times Thursday night, with 16 being steals from the gritty Blue Devils. Five of these takeaways came in the first quarter alone, including a late grab by junior Emma Koabel that resulted in a Toby Fournier layup with under a minute to go in the period.
Sophomore Jordan Wood continued her strong play from the first three games of the season, finishing with a game-high 17 points and showcasing her versatility as a scorer. With 8:03 left in the second quarter, she caught a pass from Koabel and nailed a three with little hesitation to push the Blue Devils’ lead to 10. In the middle of the third quarter, a Richardson-to-Wood sequence garnered a layup from the latter, earning applause from the Cameron Indoor crowd.
“[Wood’s] become so much more focused, so much more disciplined, so much more locked in,” Lawson said. “Her basketball intelligence is very high. She understands not only the plays, but spacing and when to cut and a lot of things that are hard to teach players.”
Wood’s impact off the bench was not singular: Of Duke’s 37 first-half points, only 10 were from the starting five. De Jesus contributed 10 total, finishing perfect on 2-point shots while dishing out two assists. Koabel had a personal defensive highlight early in the fourth, rising over the Flyers’ Nayo Lear to block the shot. Overall, six Blue Devils scored in double-digits, a representation of Duke’s ability to spread the ball around.
Fournier’s presence was felt highly on both sides of the ball. The Toronto native finished the game with 15 points alongside five rebounds, illustrating her ceiling for this Blue Devil team. In particular, the freshman posted a strong third quarter, with seven points, four rebounds and a steal.
“[Fournier’s] going to have many nights this year where she’s our leading scorer and our leading rebounder,” Lawson said. “She’s very competitive, she’s very confident … she’s a great teammate.”
Sophomore Oluchi Okananwa did a little bit of everything in the Blue Devils’ victory, contributing 11 points, three assists and two steals. After a missed free throw with 6:34 left in the game, the Boston native bounced back with a difficult layup, followed by a cross-court pass to Richardson to improve the home team’s lead to 30.
Duke started off slow on offense, missing its first five shots as the Flyers got out to a 8-0 lead. Jackson opened the scoring up for the Blue Devils with a signature trey, then Wood put in a tough hook shot to continue Duke’s scoring run. Fournier stole the ball twice in 36 seconds, converting a highly-contested layup to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the night. Ultimately, Duke would finish the first quarter on a 17-2 run.
As the first half drew to a close, Taina Mair threw a tough pass from behind the backboard to Richardson, who nailed the third Blue Devil 3-pointer of the night. Okananwa snagged a buzzer-beater layup to give Duke a 37-23 lead heading into halftime.
The Blue Devils next travel to Brookings, S.D., Nov. 17 to take on South Dakota State.
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