With postseason seeding on the line, the Blue Devils protected home court and earned a resume-building victory against a top-10 foe.
No. 15 Duke used Ka’lia Johnson’s career-high three 3-pointers to defeat No. 8 Louisville 66-58 Monday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The win moved the Blue Devils into a tie for third in the ACC.
“I was proud of how our team battled,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “I love our balance, and everybody got involved and aggressive.”
Johnson’s perimeter shooting made up for another rough first half for All-American senior Elizabeth Williams, who was held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes for the second consecutive contest. Although the center came out strong in the second half and finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, her classmate’s performance was key in what was an up-and-down performance by Duke.
“Three assists, zero turnovers is the stat I’m really looking at,” McCallie said. “[Johnson] handled the ball a great deal out there. She had two steals, and she was on-point with her shot selection. She was very impressive and very steady, which is what we need from her.”
The Blue Devils (16-6, 7-2 in the ACC) jumped out to an early 11-2 lead behind a strong zone defense. Using its imposing height advantage, Duke contested Louisville’s perimeter shots, holding the Cardinals (19-3, 7-2) without a field goal for the first six minutes. Louisville shot just 29 percent from the floor in the first half.
“Defensively, we’ve improved with each game and we’ve stayed active,” Williams said. “We’re starting to understand how to use our length on the defensive end.”
Despite the poor shooting from Louisville, the Blue Devils couldn’t create much separation.
After scoring six of Duke’s first eight points, sophomore Oderah Chidom picked up her second foul at the 16:12 mark, and Louisville cut into the lead. The Blue Devils committed 13 first-half turnovers and saw two other posts pick up two fouls, but still headed to the locker room ahead 25-19 behind strong performances from Johnson and freshman Azura Stevens. Stevens finished with a team-high 17 points.
Duke exploded out of the break thanks to improved play from Williams and hot shooting from redshirt freshman Rebecca Greenwell. With Williams drawing attention in the post, Greenwell keyed a 17-4 Blue Devil run that stretched the lead to 17. Williams’ three blocks along with Greenwell’s two triples during the run appeared to put Duke in position to win its second game against a top-10 opponent this season.
“After halftime, I decided to be more aggressive, and all of us wanted to keep the pressure up,” Williams said. “Our offense started to flow a little more, and we started moving the ball better.”
But the Cardinals were far from finished as Mariya Moore started to heat up. The guard connected on three 3-pointers in a four-minute stretch, consistently beating the Blue Devil zone. With Duke forced to pay extra attention to the freshman, Louisville took advantage in the paint and went on a 17-7 run of its own to cut the lead to 49-42 with 6:07 remaining.
From there, the teams exchanged big plays. Johnson’s third trey of the game was matched by a three-point play by Louisville’s Sara Hammond. With 2:49 left, Duke nursed a 56-49 lead.
Down the stretch, the Blue Devils went to their All-American inside. Williams was fouled on consecutive possessions and hit 1-of-2 from the line both times to stretch the Duke lead to 58-49 with 1:56 left. The senior drew a charge on the ensuing possession, and the Blue Devils closed out the game. All five Duke starters finished in double figures.
The Blue Devils head back on the road Thursday at Wake Forest at 7 p.m.
“I like road games because that’s what the NCAA tournament is all about,” McCallie said. “We have to take them one at a time.”
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