The women's basketball team produced more offensive records against Western Carolina than 2 Live Crew ever did.
The Blue Devils (15-6) broke school records for total points and field goal percentage in a single game during their 117-44 romp Wednesday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"I think that's the most intense we've been all year," said junior forward Carey Kauffman, who scored 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting. "Everything was clicking. Everyone was ready to play tonight."
Bolstered by 71 percent shooting in the second half, Duke was able to pass its previous best of 62.5 percent from the field. The Blue Devils finished the game with a new mark of 63.5 percent. The old record for points in a single game was 116, set earlier this season against Morgan State on Nov. 26.
"I wanted the kids to play hard for 40 minutes," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We wanted to work on our concentration and stay focused. We did a great job."
The game was close for the first five minutes. The Blue Devils led 16-13 at the 14:37 mark of the first half when Nicole Johnson knocked down a 17-foot jumpshot to begin a 13-0 run.
Duke stole three straight inbound passes during a 22-second span and converted all three steals into baskets. The Blue Devils were able to create points all night with their defense, totalling 19 steals and 10 blocked shots that led to easy opportunities.
"We know we could press them," Goenstenkors said. "They got some easy buckets early on, but you just have to be patient and believe in it. We got some points in a flurry with the press."
That flurry ended all hopes for Western Carolina (4-16). The Lady Catamounts were undersized and lacked the bench strength to compete with the Blue Devils. Duke substituted freely, keeping fresh players on the court at all times to keep the defensive pressure on for most of the first half. The result was a 57-25 halftime lead for the Blue Devils.
"Every time we substituted, I wanted to feel like we were raising the level of our play," Goenstenkors said. "I thought all the subs did a great job. They all came in and they all contributed, and that's what we need to be successful."
Another thing Duke needs to be succesful is a consistent effort.
The Blue Devils have been prone to suffer lapses in intensity, but that didn't happen against Western Carolina. Duke continued to pour it on in the second half, outscoring the Lady Catamounts 60-19 to arrive at the final 73-point margin of victory.
"Once the score gets so disproportional, it's easy to slack off," Duke forward Alison Day said. "I thought we kept going at them. I thought people were trying hard for most of the game."
Certainly no one could accuse Day of letting up when she was on the court. The 6-3 sophomore made 9-of-13 shots and 2-of-2 free throws for a career-high 21 points. What's more, because of the ease with which Duke won, Day played only 21 minutes.
"Alison Day was just great," Goestenkors said. "She did a good job inside, she hit the outside shot, she made some nice passes."
"Everybody did a really good job of working the ball around," Day said. "We got lots of open shots. Most of the shots I took were pretty wide open shots. The guards were doing a great job of getting the ball inside."
Such an all-around solid performance from all the members of the team was just what Goestenkors was hoping for as the team prepares for its final ACC regular season games and postseason play.
"I told the players before the game, I'm not worried about Western Carolina',"Goestenkors said. "What I'm worried about is us getting better. I don't care what the score is, as long as we get better. And I think we did.'"
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