With the Hurricanes sitting atop the ACC, the Blue Devils knew the importance of protecting their home court and getting a crucial conference victory.
No. 16 Duke used their enormous size advantage and a dominant second half to defeat the Hurricanes 68-53 Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils’ 52-6 advantage in points in the paint was the deciding factor in a game that was close for much of the first half.
“It turned out to be a paint game and there was nowhere else to go with the ball except the paint, so we did,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
The combination of All-American center Elizabeth Williams and sensational freshman Azura Stevens proved too much for Miami to handle as the duo combined for 44 points on 21-of-31 shooting from the floor. Duke also blocked seven shots and held Miami to 26.1 percent shooting for the game.
“We couldn’t combat [Duke's size] much and it made it difficult for us,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said. “It was size versus speed and size won today because speed didn’t play hard enough.”
The Blue Devils (13-5, 4-1 in the ACC) looked to get the ball inside on offense early and often in the first half, scoring 26 of their 30 points in the paint. Williams and Stevens combined for 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting in the first half .
But despite the tandem's success in the paint, early foul trouble for redshirt frehman Rebecca Greenwell—the Blue Devils’ leading scorer—and a slew of turnovers allowed Miami (14-4, 4-1) to stay in the game.
The Hurricanes found open spots in Duke’s zone defense and hit five 3-pointers—including four from guard Necole Sterling—in the first half. With seven minutes to go, Miami found itself down just 17-16 despite a poor shooting performance from star Adrienne Motley. Motley finished with just eight points on 3-of-16 shooting on the afternoon.
From that point on, Stevens and Williams dominated in a stretch of punishing post play that spanned both halves. The duo scored 20 consecutive points and allowed the Blue Devils to open up a 37-27 lead early in the second-half.
“When I moved to playing in the post, it took a little bit of time to get a feel for each other,” Stevens said. “It’s easy to pass it down to her and it’s fun playing with her.”
Duke stretched its lead to as large as 14 with 12:04 remaining in the second half and maintained control of the game by staying away from turnovers and continuing to get the ball to their star players down low.
Despite forcing occasional turnovers with a tenacious full court press, the Hurricanes struggled to find the range from deep and shot only 8-of-37 from distance for the game. With Stevens and Williams continuing to dominate in the paint, Miami was unable to mount a late comeback and suffered their first defeat in conference play.
“We shot too many threes…. Duke guided us into a trap that we walked right into with both feet,” Meier said. “They made us doubt and hesitate with their size.”
And despite getting little production from Greenwell and the backcourt, the Blue Devils cruised to victory by continuing to get the ball to their strength inside and keeping their turnover count less than 20, something they have struggled to do throughout the season.
“I’m really proud of how we played together and our excellent team defense,” McCallie said. “We’re a really good team when we play smart.”
After back-to-back strong defensive performances at home, Duke will look to carry the success on the road Thursday at Boston College and keep building momentum in ACC play.
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