Winning isn’t easy.
Duke learned that the hard way after dropping consecutive games for the first time all year, first in a tough road matchup against No. 1 Notre Dame, then in its first home loss of the season against a pesky Louisville squad.
On Sunday though, the Blue Devils got back to their winning ways, making a 80-49 win over Syracuse look pretty easy. The Orange were held to their second-lowest point total of the season, powered by a 21-6 second-quarter run by Duke that put the game out of reach for the visitors. Freshman Toby Fournier paved the way with 22 points, and sophomore Jadyn Donovan added seven rebounds and four steals as the Blue Devils continued their quest for a top-four seed and double bye in the ACC Tournament.
“Those losses were tough for our team, but [they] taught us to regroup, and that's always been a mindset for us,” Fournier said. “Even though losing wasn't the ideal situation, I feel like we were able to regroup and use that for our win today.”
Syracuse won the opening tip and Georgia Woolley scored twice for the visitors amid sporadic play by both teams. Duke quickly turned it over twice, but nabbed four steals through the first five minutes.
The Blue Devils took their first lead after a forced shot-clock violation and a steal from Donovan. She found Fournier on the fast break, where the freshman was fouled and knocked in both free throws to put Duke ahead 8-6.
Head coach Kara Lawson drew up a full-court press, and sophomore guard Sophie Burrows was unable to get the ball in for Syracuse, giving it right back to the Blue Devils. Their lead grew to five after a Vanessa de Jesus layup, and Taina Mair hit the first triple of the afternoon for the Blue Devils to widen the lead to seven.
Woolley knocked down a jumper to open the second for Syracuse, but Fournier answered on the other end with a tough layup off the glass. Ashlon Jackson got her first points with a jumper of her own, then eurostepped for a layup on the next possession to push the lead to 11. After another bucket from Oluchi Okananwa off a steal, Orange head coach Felisha Legette-Jack had to call a timeout with Duke leading 28-15.
But a Shy Hawkins jumper was all Syracuse could muster following the timeout, and the Blue Devils dialed up more defensive pressure. Donovan intercepted a pass, Delaney Thomas swiped away an inbound and Syracuse guard Olivia Schmidt doubled-dribbled because of a trap at the top of the key.
After a cold streak of its own, Duke finally saw one go through with three minutes left in the half off a steal and fast-break layup by Thomas. A layup by Keira Scott ended Syracuse’s drought, but the Blue Devils soon doubled the score after two made free throws by Fournier and a 3-pointer by Jackson. The home team went into the locker room with a 41-19 lead, as it held the Orange to their lowest first-half output all season.
“I think we played our normal defense. We try to pressure the ball, and we try to make it hard for a guard to see the angle to get in,” Lawson said. "We're going to try to get around to not make the direct pass be available, and I think we got a lot of deflections and we got a good number of turnovers.”
The second half began the same way the first ended, with pressure from Duke. Syracuse called a timeout at the 9:43 mark, but the Blue Devils forced turnover number 14 and Okananwa laid the ball in on the break to open the scoring. Donovan rattled in a two on the next possession before Reigan Richardson cashed in from behind the arc for the first time all day, and the lead grew to 29.
Woolley saw a heave go in as the shot clock expired, giving the Orange just their second three of the day, and the senior did it again the very next possession heading into a media timeout. Burrows then hit her second three, and the visitors found themselves on a 9-0 run.
Still, Duke remained calm: Jackson hit a three, Fournier knocked in a jumper and two free throws and the full-court press forced a travel by Kyra Wood. A huge offensive rebound by Donovan led to a no-look dime from de Jesus to Richardson. The senior laid it in through contact, hit the free throw and the Blue Devils ended the third with a 60-35 advantage.
Thomas made two layups to open the fourth, and Richardson added three more points off an and-one. With her team scoreless in the quarter, Legette-Jack called another timeout after Thomas made a third layup at the 6:55 mark, and the Syracuse drought soon ended with two made free throws by Burrows and a deep three by Schmidt, her first points of the game.
As the Blue Devil surfed on rolling members of the pep band, Duke was in cruise control. It closed out the game with unrelenting pressure, winning the fourth quarter 20-14 and forcing five more turnovers. The Orange finished with 23 giveaways, their second-highest mark all year.
Up next for Lawson’s squad is a home date against No. 9 North Carolina, who comes to town for a Thursday night matchup with massive ACC and NCAA Tournament seeding implications.
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