Simple, efficient, fundamental basketball wins games. This was certainly evident when Duke women’s basketball defeated Belmont.
The Blue Devils faced the Bruins for the first time since their 2018 NCAA Tournament meeting where Duke secured the 72-58 win. Six years later and under the bright lights of Cameron Indoor Stadium with an eager fan base, Duke put on a stellar performance, dominating 79-47.
The on-court chemistry was hard to miss along with the team’s paint dominance, high efficiency on the floor and strong bench performance. At the heart of the Blue Devil’s tremendous victory was freshman Toby Fournier.
“I liked [Fournier’s] efficiency. She's able to finish in the paint in different ways, the right hand or the left hand, while being closely guarded … She's one of our best competitors, and just six games in her career, she's shown to be highly, highly productive,” head coach Kara Lawson said.
With Fournier having a career-high of 15 points prior to Belmont, she was able to score 16 points by the end of the first half, an amazing accomplishment for a freshman just starting to get acclimated to Duke’s fast-paced style of play. Throughout the game, Fournier played with a lot of heart and hustle. She made four trips to the free-throw line, two of which were from her gritty and-one finishes.
By the time the buzzer sounded and “our house” echoed throughout the walls of Cameron Indoor, Fournier had 25 points in 25 minutes, a remarkable performance for only having six games under her belt.
“Every game I watched her play when she was young, she would have 20 points and 20 rebounds every single time, no matter where she was playing … And I felt really confident that it would transfer to this level," Lawson said. "You never know with freshmen, but when she came here in practice, from day one, she started to do that. And then the game started, and she just looks like [the] regular Toby that I've watched for the last three or four years."
The Toronto native got all of her points in the paint except for draining a three in the second half, which caused her teammates and Duke fans to explode with excitement. What was integral to the 6-foot-2 forward having such a strong game was the on-court chemistry that was present among the Blue Devil squad. Lawson had a basic yet solid offensive scheme against the Bruins, mainly running pick-and-roll action throughout the game where guards were able to find Fournier in the post to convert for an easy bucket at the rim.
“I think one of the most important parts for me is getting to the gym pre practice, so just being able to work with coach Tia [Jackson] one on one, working on different moves. [Knowing] what the defense is going to do, also looking at the scout and knowing how they're going to defend me as well,” Fournier said.
This simple yet effective offense led to many openings being present in the middle, ultimately leading Duke to generate a total of 46 points in the paint. Central to The Sisterhood Lawson has elevated is playing with maximum effort. This is evident in the full-court pressure the Blue Devils provide to create transition plays leading to easy buckets.
During the second quarter, Fournier crashed the boards and came up with a strong rebound, pushing the ball to Oluchi Okananwa, who then dished the ball to Jordan Wood with a great finish at the rim, causing the Cameron Crazies to fill the stadium with boisterous cheers. The impeccable court vision and understanding of where players are on the court stood out.
“I think our chemistry started back in the summer with our players just getting to know one another … Our team has a great deal of trust in one another and they have a great deal of excitement for the success of each other,” Lawson said. “And if you watch us play for these first six games, someone different every night is having a great offensive night, but everyone has the ability to defensively have a great night to rebound the ball,” Lawson said.
Everything seemed to gel really well for the Blue Devils while they played against the Bruins, but Fournier was not the only one displaying a strong performance.
During the first half, Ashlon Jackson was in her offensive groove, hitting a three to mark the Blue Devils’ first points of the evening and knocking in one more before halftime.
Two other stars of the game were Wood and Reigan Richardson. Towards the end of the third quarter, Wood came down the court and led a classic pick-and-roll action with Richardson, and she connected for an easy finish at the rim. Wood was also a rebound machine, accumulating 13 boards. Richardson joined Wood in this trend with nine rebounds, three of which were offensive and allowed her to get a bucket under the rim once.
A player that really started to shine in the second half was Okananwa. During the fourth quarter, as the theme was for Duke in this game, the sophomore pushed the ball down the court to Fournier, who dished it out to Jadyn Donovan, who then kicked the ball right back to Okanawa to drain a tough three, erupting the crowd. Following this possession, the Boston native applied tremendous full-court defense and eventually blocked a shot by the Bruins.
While Fournier stood out against Belmont with her remarkable efficiency, tough finishes at the rim and superb defense, the Blue Devils overall seemed like a very cohesive team. They were constantly pushing the ball down the court to create transition-style play and then swinging the ball to the open player. This is shown in their 32 defensive rebounds, 15 fast-break points and 17 assists.
The Blue Devils will certainly hope to build upon this chemistry as they face even stronger teams where it will be of the utmost necessity that they understand where one another are on the court and are able to score well both within the paint as well as beyond the arc.
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