Why take jumpers when you can score layups with ease?
With difficult ACC matchups on the horizon, the Blue Devils needed to continue their momentum after a comfortable home victory against Virginia Tech Dec. 8. And that they did.
No. 9 Duke continued its undefeated home record Wednesday night as it routed Wofford 93-58 in Cameron Indoor Stadium. While Rachel Rose’s perseverance kept the Terriers within reach of the Blue Devils at times, Toby Fournier and Oluchi Okananwa were unstoppable from underneath the rim, a key part of the team’s 50 combined paint points.
“There's a lot of good standout performances from this one,” head coach Kara Lawson said. “If I look it in the critical eye, it just was unhappy with the inconsistency of our defense and we've got to get a lot better in that as we now move forward to the rest of our schedule.”
Duke (10-2, 1-0 in the ACC) started off the game looking electric; the Blue Devils moved the ball around the court, consistently completing passes and creating scoring opportunities. Fournier and Reigan Richardson were at the center of the team’s first-quarter success. Fournier scored Duke’s first eight points, drawing crucial fouls and connecting on many of her free throws.
“If Toby plays, she's gonna score. I mean, it's been every game this year, if you think about it,” Lawson said. “When she plays minutes, she scores, she might be close to a point a minute.”
While Fournier had been the team’s driving force in points scored, Richardson was the mastermind behind many of the team’s made baskets. With 1:04 left in the quarter, Richardson exemplified her offensive prowess, giving Jordan Wood an easy layup in the paint and also grabbing her fourth assist of the night. Richardson didn’t stop there though, finding Jordan Wood and Okananwa to rack up six assists before the period came to an end, with Duke leading 22-7.
“[Richardson] is a terrific scorer, but her ability to pass and play-make allows us to take advantage when other people pay a lot of attention to her,” Lawson said.
The Blue Devils’ main continued strength throughout the first half, however, was their ability to pick up rebounds, grabbing 19 total in the first quarter and 12 in the second. This prevented Wofford (6-3) from making crucial defensive plays and stopped its attack multiple times, actively suffocating the Terriers on both sides of the ball.
Rose had the first real response to Duke’s show of strength early in the second quarter, scoring the first three of the game and bringing the score to 26-10. Nonetheless, by this point, it seemed to be too late for a first-half turnaround. Fournier took her chance to immediately respond; after blocking Wofford’s shot and a missed second-chance layup by Evangelia Paulk, Fournier answered back with two points of her own and brought her point total to 16 by the end of the half. The Toronto native’s efforts uplifted the team, with a hefty Duke halftime lead of 42-21.
The second half began with much of the same. The Blue Devils found themselves in a good scoring rhythm and it was Okananwa that propelled the team forward. After driving through the lane, sending a couple defenders the wrong way and putting away a layup, she nabbed an interception and headed off to the races down the other end of the court. The sophomore guard stopped, faked and sent the defender flying out of bounds before comfortably connecting on the shot she created for herself, extending Duke’s lead to 25.
“The hustle and the high motor for Oluchi never, never stop. It's what she's always had, so we see that everyday,” Lawson said. “Oluchi has worked extremely hard the last six months and been very disciplined with her work."
But, Rose took it upon herself to shuffle up the narrative. As the Terriers began to find their groove and counter Duke’s relentlessness, it was Rose who scored eight points in the first six minutes of the third quarter. She stared into the eyes of two Blue Devil defenders as she dashed straight at them with the rim as her destination. Rose picked the ball up from her dribble and drew the foul as she lifted it up in the air, falling carefully against the backboard and, to the away crowd’s delight, into the net.
A media timeout with 4:36 remaining seemed to further Wofford’s momentum as something seemed to have been ignited in the team at halftime. The Terriers scored seven, leaving Duke to only answer with two of its own. Delaney Thomas wouldn’t accept this, however, and put away a tip-in and scored a fast-break layup to re-extend the Blue Devils’ lead to 23.
Duke turned on the jets, cruising to put together a good string of points scored, resulting in defeated looks on the faces of Wofford’s key stars. As if Lawson sensed the defeat permeating the Terriers, she took the opportunity to up the pressure, showing off her signature defense and beginning some serious full-court press with nine minutes to go.
Next up, Duke will travel to Tampa, Fla., and take on South Florida Saturday at noon.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.