Balanced scoring sends Duke women's basketball past Western Carolina

<p>Freshman Faith Suggs poured in a career-high&nbsp;eight points&nbsp;in the second half Tuesday.</p>

Freshman Faith Suggs poured in a career-high eight points in the second half Tuesday.

Duke's depth provided the Blue Devils with a balanced scoring performance on a night when they struggled to hold onto the basketball.

No. 12 Duke defeated Western Carolina 84-47 Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, sharing the ball and shooting efficiently to stay unbeaten against unranked opponents. Sophomore Azurá Stevens led the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the year, and nine Blue Devils saw 12 or more minutes on the floor in the victory.

“I appreciate the contributions from a lot of different folks,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “The more experience people can get, the more comfort, ability [the better]…. I was really glad that we could have everyone play.”

The Blue Devils dominated the paint, with Stevens and junior Oderah Chidom combining for 34 of Duke's 54 team points down low. The Catamounts (3-9) managed just 14 points in the paint and fired 21 shots from beyond the arc, making just five.

Duke (10-3) was more judicious from long range, making 3-of-9 attempts from downtown. With a significant height advantage, the Blue Devils went after the high-percentage shots down low, helped in part by 14 offensive rebounds. Duke shot 58.5 percent for the game.

“I think it’s really important [to shoot efficiently], especially down low,” Stevens said. “That will open up shots for [guard Rebecca Greenwell] and others who can score on the outside.”

Greenwell’s sharp-shooting accounted for two of the team’s 3-pointers in the win. The redshirt sophomore finished with 13 points, bouncing back from an 0-for-6 performance at Kentucky Dec. 20. Greenwell also kept her turnover count low, committing a single giveaway on a night when Duke turned the ball over a season-high 27 times.

“If we could ever limit turnovers, [we] could have a lot more fun,” McCallie said. “You see one [turnover] for Oderah, one for Becca and that just speaks to their smarts and IQ. You’ve got to be a player who plays with one or two, just does not turn the ball over, and that’s all I can say.”

Western Carolina could not do enough with the turnovers to stay close, scoring just 13 points on more than twice as many errors. On the other end of the floor, Duke capitalized on the Catamounts' 21 turnovers, racking up 28 points on those mistakes.

The younger Blue Devils showed some confidence against Western Carolina, a positive sign for McCallie's squad with the ACC opener at Syracuse set for Jan. 3. Duke’s five freshmen teamed with redshirt freshman forward Lyneé Belton to score 31 points, and the newcomers also grabbed 22 rebounds despite all five rookies playing on the perimeter.

Freshman Faith Suggs delivered a career performance to help the Blue Devils pull away. Duke struggled to add to its lead in the third quarter, scoring just six points in the first 5:01 of the second half as streaks of turnovers kept the margin near 12. But after Stevens and Chidom created some breathing room, Suggs finished a layup in the final minute of the period, got fouled and made the ensuing free throw. Just 20 seconds later, the freshman guard took the ball on the baseline, spun past her defender and finished at the basket, widening the gap to 23.

Suggs finished with a career-best 16 minutes off the bench, finishing with 8 points—also a career high.

“For Faith to make the [spin] move she did—to score like that—it showed her skill-set," McCallie said. She couldn’t make that a month ago, she just wouldn’t have done it, so I like to see that confidence and skill-set coming together.”

Duke rounds out nonconference play on New Year's Eve against UNC-Wilmington.

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