No. 2 Duke (23-1, 11-0 in the ACC) came out of its locker room firing and never looked back in a 82-43 rout of Georgia Tech (15-8, 4-7) Thursday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils, who led from wire to wire, won their 35th-consecutive ACC contest.
"I'm just really pleased with our overall performance," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I thought it was a great team effort both offensively and defensively."
With 16:52 remaining in the first half, the Yellow Jackets' biggest scoring threat Sonja Mallory was forced to the bench after picking up her second foul. Mallory had been averaging slightly less than 18 points and 10 rebounds per game, and was the focal point of the Duke defense.
Once Mallory left the game, the Blue Devils hit their next five shots and jumped out to a 17-point lead midway through the half. Duke was effective in driving to the basket and creating open opportunities for outside shooters.
The Blue Devils ended the half on a 5-0 run and went to the locker room with a 39-21 advantage as Iciss Tillis and Beard equaled the entire Yellow Jacket team in points. Duke shot 50 percent from the field in the half and held Georgia Tech to a meager 32 percent.
Duke continued to expand its lead in the second half as many of the reserves saw playing time.
With 7:37 remaining in the game and the outcome of the contest already decided, Beard went up for a defensive rebound and came down awkwardly on her ankle. She slowly fell to the floor holding the sprained left ankle.
"I don't think I was breathing," Goestenkors said.
Beard did not play for the remainder of the game, but is expected to be fine for Monday's matchup with Wake Forest.
To get some of her post players more minutes, Goestenkors had Mistie Bass, Brooke Smith, Michele Matyasovsky and Wynter Whitley on the court at the same time. The quartet of front court players was effective as it further increased Duke's lead when in the game.
Offensively, the Blue Devils converted 54 percent of their shots from the field and limited itself to eight turnovers.
On the defensive end, Duke was effective at keeping the ball out of the hands of Mallory with a constant double team and a third player coming to help when she got the ball inside. The Blue Devils were able to force a number of turnovers when the Yellow Jackets attempted to pass the ball into the post.
"Duke's double teams are very aggressive, so it was challenging," Mallory said. "It's very hard to pass over or see around."
Besides holding Mallory to eight points, the Blue Devils' aggressive defense forced Georgia Tech to take a number of shots with the shot clock winding down.
"Duke really turned [its] defense up and took us out of our offensive game," head coach Agnus Berenato.
The Blue Devils have held their opponents to under 50 points in their last four ACC contests.
"I feel like we're starting to hit our stride, which is good," Goestenkors said. "This is a good time for us to start playing a little bit better with more consistency."
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