CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. — New year, same dominance.
On a chilly January night in Conte Forum, No. 14 Duke showed no rust after nearly two weeks off, as it cruised to an 86-59 win over Boston College. A suffocating Blue Devil defense limited the Eagles to just 34.4% from the floor, while five Duke players reached double-digits in a complete team effort.
“With how difficult it is to win on the road in this league, you have to come with a great deal of focus, discipline and effort. ” head coach Kara Lawson said after the win. “So I'm pleased anytime you can get an ACC road win — it's a big deal.”
After being upset by South Florida on December 21, Duke had both the time and motivation to prepare for its first conference road game of the season. While a slow start ultimately sank the Blue Devils against the Bulls, Lawson’s squad got out running early against the Eagles. A Reigan Richardson jumper opened scoring for both sides, giving Duke a 2-0 lead it never relinquished.
Kickstarted by easy transition buckets in the first quarter, the Blue Devils built a 12-4 deficit, although the Eagles initially seemed to match Duke’s pace and physicality. Both teams clogged the paint defensively, and Boston College employed a 2-3 zone defense in regular intervals throughout the contest.
Taina Mair, however, had no trouble against the Eagles’ multiple looks; early in the opening period, the junior guard drilled a step-back midrange jumper for her first points — much to the delight of her friends and family in the crowd, who celebrated by hoisting a large cardboard cutout of her face. In Mair’s first game back in Conte Forum, the former Eagle led the charge on both ends, recording 14 points, four assists and three steals.
At the first quarter’s end, Boston College trailed by only six. A dominant second quarter from the Blue Devils, however, ultimately put the game out of reach. While the Duke offense stayed humming with extra possessions from ferocious offensive rebounding, the home team stagnated, surrendering a 15-0 run. No matter where the Eagles turned, a swarm of Blue Devils followed. By the time Boston College had gotten on the board for the quarter, only 1:28 seconds remained in the half.
“In basketball, you hear about teams getting into a rhythm offensively, and I thought we got into a great rhythm defensively in that second quarter,” Lawson stated. “We forced a few shot clock violations. We forced some turnovers. We just made them take tough, tough, tough shots, and we imposed our will.”
Despite the victory, Duke will have to wait and see if it did suffer a loss, as its freshman forward Toby Fournier left the game following a collision with Eagle guard Dontavia Waggoner. With just over six minutes left in the final period, Fournier was helped off the floor and did not return. After official review, Waggoner was assessed a flagrant-two foul and ejected from the contest.
“I don't have an update on her,” Lawson said of Fournier.
Any absence from Fournier would loom large for the Blue Devils. Previous to facing Boston College, the Toronto native had averaged a team-best 13.1 points per game while coming off the bench. Should the freshman miss time, Duke will need to find a significant portion of its scoring and rebounding elsewhere.
Fournier’s injury, however, wasn’t nearly enough for the Eagles to fly back — Duke has depth. Alongside Mair, junior guard Ashlon Jackson led Duke in scoring with 14 points, three assists and three steals. As Boston College’s zone closed driving lanes, the China, Texas native provided invaluable floor spacing, nailing four of her seven attempts from beyond the arc. Senior guard Richardson hung with her teammates at the top of the box score, too, with 14 points of her own.
“Coach has been harping on us about competing, so I feel like we went out there and tried to do just that,” Jackson said. “We just have to keep this pace up and continue to keep this mindset with every game that we come into.”
The Blue Devils will return to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a Jan. 5 ACC showdown against Pittsburgh.
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