Even though their opponents' jerseys may have said it outright, the Blue Devils were the premier team Thursday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke dominated the adidas Premier Players 96-47 in its final exhibition contest in preparation for its season opener at home Saturday against Northeastern at 2 p.m.
Duke came out of the gate strong, scoring 13 points in the first three minutes of the game. Alison Bales paced the Blue Devils in the early surge with eight points, including two three-point plays.
Led by 16-point efforts from Bales and sophomore guard Abby Waner, Duke never trailed at any point in the game.
The Blue Devils used their last exhibition game to continue to work out their revamped motion offense, which features more screens and scoring opportunities for their guards.
"I was trying to attack as much as I can, come off some screens," guard Wanisha Smith said. " I was just trying to attack and get to the free throw line. "
Despite scoring nearly 100 points, the Blue Devils had isolated struggles on offense, shooting 18.2 percent from the three-point line in the first half. Duke also turned the ball over 19 times.
"Tonight we had some miscues that we could do a better job with," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We need to take advantage of the opportunities we are given."
Duke did capitalize on the opportunities it created on defense, though, as the team forced 33 turnovers and converted them into 40 points. The Blue Devils also had 17 steals over the course of the game, and Bales anchored Duke's interior defense with four blocks.
Two of the newest Blue Devils, Joy Cheek and Bridgette Mitchell, performed well in preparation for their first real collegiate game. Cheek had 14 hard-earned points on the inside while Mitchell scored 13.
Cheek, the 6-foot-1 forward, said her relatively small stature gives her an advantage in one-on-one matchups against taller opponents.
"As a smaller post, I am going to be playing a lot of bigger girls who aren't as quick as I am," Cheek said. "In high school I played on the wing and drove, so it's not anything new for me.... But I think that's my advantage-to get there on the high post and go past the bigger girls."
Cheek and Mitchell's solid play showed that the pair of McDonald's All-Americans have had little trouble getting involved in the game. Cheek said she is learning new things about the team's style of play and her teammates every day.
"You learn a lot as you go." Cheek said. "I'm picking up on a lot of things-the little things on the court."
Even Lindsey Harding, one of the team's two seniors, said the exhibition games allowed her to become more comfortable with her new teammates.
"This is a totally different team from last year and the years before," Harding said. "So, [I'm] just feeling everything out, seeing what our new pieces are. Also, I think its really good for the freshmen and underclassmen to gain some confidence before the season starts."
Saturday's matchup will start a challenging non-conference slate that pits the Blue Devils against national powers Rutgers, Tennessee and Texas, and Duke is chomping at the bit to get the season started.
"I just thought that we had good energy, once again," Goestenkors said. "I'm pleased with the overall performance and just ready to start the real games."
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