Although the Blue Devils are no longer playing in paradise, it’s clear that they brought their A-game back with them to Durham.
An impressive display of ball-movement and four double-digit scorers brought No. 14 Duke an 84-64 victory against Minnesota Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. After winning its previous two contests by a combined 89 points, Duke faced a change-of-pace against a Gopher offense that entered Thursday's tilt averaging 85.0 points per game. The team handled that change with no problem at all, putting on one of its strongest offensive performances of the season thanks to another monster game by sophomore forward Azurá Stevens, who finished with 26 points and 11 boards.
“I think we got better tonight and I liked our start…I just really like the balanced scoring, the rebounding, the assists, and the great defense that we played.” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “I thought Azurá was aggressive as well and very very effective in demanding the ball, which is important.”
The Blue Devils (7-1) started off strong, scoring their first points just four seconds into the game as Stevens sent the opening tip into the hands of a breaking Oderah Chidom for an easy layup. The team held onto their lead for the remaining 39:56 of the game. On the ensuing Gopher possession, guard Rebecca Greenwell—who finished the game with 17 points—stripped the ball from Minnesota and fed freshman Kyra Lambert for another wide-open bucket, putting the team up 4-0. After two more inside scores from Stevens and Greenwell, the team found itself up 8-2 on Minnesota (4-2) after going 4-of-5 from the field, forcing the Gophers to call an early timeout with 7:50 remaining in the opening period.
Duke’s defense kept the high-powered Gophers at bay early on and never let up as the game progressed. Minnesota biggest asset is their 3-point shooting ability, but the Blue Devils’ defensive pressure caused the Gophers to struggle from beyond the arc, where they shot just 2-of-15 in the first half and 5-of-25 overall. Guard Rachel Banham—Minnesota’s leader in career scoring—began the game on a sour note with a 2-of-7 performance from the field in the first 10 minutes. When Duke’s stellar perimeter defense was met by scoring efforts from six different Blue Devils, the team found itself on top 25-16 at the end of the first quarter.
Despite the team having a plethora of true point guards on this year’s roster, much of Duke’s first half offense found its way through the hands of Greenwell, who led the team with five assists in the first 20 minutes. The Owensboro, Ky., native was not the only one sharing the ball though, as freshman floor-generals Angela Salvadores and Kyra Lambert also tallied three assists of their own in the opening half.
“Becca’s so much more [than a shooter]. To be an outstanding player, to be an elite player, they have to be able to do it all,” McCallie said. “She’s a great shooter—yes— but I don’t see her as that. She’s a triple-double waiting to happen every night.”
This swift ball movement paid dividends for the Blue Devils, who displayed their most efficient first-half offensive performance of the season by going 56.3 percent from the field. Stevens led all players in points during the half, notching 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field—good enough to give her team a 42-33 lead heading into the halftime intermission.
The Gophers showed a glimpse of their downtown prowess as Mikayla Bailey drained a 3-pointer to open the second half, but Duke responded with a quick 6-0 run that forced Minnesota head coach Marlene Stollings into another early timeout facing a 12-point deficit. Rachel Banham and Carlie Wagner led the Gophers with 12 combined points during the third quarter, but their scoring efforts failed to make a dent in Duke’s lead as Stevens and Chidom combined for 14 points of their own during the period. As a Haley Gorecki full-court shot fell wide right to close the quarter, the Blue Devils found themselves out in front 65-54.
Duke began the final quarter with a quick 15-2 burst and continued to give itself second chances by crashing the offensive boards. The Blue Devils stellar rebounding allowed the team to grow its lead even more in the closing minutes, eventually outrebounding Minnesota 44-30. The teams rebounding efforts were headed by the low-post duo of Chidom and Stevens—who combined for 20 of the team’s boards and found success on the offensive end of the floor by going a combined 16-of-28 from the field.
“[I just] used my advantages to the best of my ability. The coaches do a really good job of scouting and they told us that we can pound it inside, and we took advantage of it,” Chidom said. “Azurá and I both did a really good job of attacking them on the post moves.”
Duke now heads south to avenge last year’s dramatic loss as it plays No. 2 South Carolina Sunday at 2 p.m.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.