On Thursday night, Duke and Anderson both made seven 3-pointers.
Unfortunately for the Lady Trojans, the Blue Devils also sunk 30 more two-point field goals, giving them an easy 98-29 blowout win over Division-II Anderson at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Duke's first exhibition contest of the season.
No. 8 Duke took advantage of long Anderson scoring droughts, which were caused by the Blue Devils' harassing press defense. Duke started pressing from the opening tip and never seemed to let up until the final whistle, leading to 50 Anderson turnovers, 32 Duke steals and a 57-3 run that spanned halftime and clinched the victory early.
"I really liked the intensity that both halves provided," head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "I didn't feel a let-up of pressure or intensity regardless of substitution patterns, margin in the game or any other factor-that is very important for us right now, that we are prepared to really get after it."
The Blue Devils fell behind 8-2 one minute into the game, but then turned up the pressure on defense, resulting in a 42-0 run that ballooned into a 57-3 streak and a 59-11 lead.
After closing the first half by scoring 29 straight points, Duke began the second half by not letting Anderson get the ball past midcourt in the first 40 seconds, leading to a quick 8-0 run.
Shooting guard Abby Waner paced Duke with 23 points and hit four of her first five shots, including two 3-pointers to help Duke break out of its early funk. At halftime, Waner had outscored the entire Anderson team 14-11-still, the senior attributed her highest-scoring output since last December to her teammates.
"When you shoot 17 shots, some of them are bound to go down," Waner said. "Look at Jasmine [Thomas'] assists-she's passing the ball so well right now. That's something that we've really worked on in practice, knowing where each other is and how to move together.... It felt good to knock a few down."
In the midst of Duke's big run was a near first from center Chante Black. After yet another Duke steal, Waner missed a layup and Black almost followed with a dunk, which would have been the first in the program's history.
"I was up there so I thought that I could try and put it back in," Black said. "I ended up grabbing the rim while trying to go for the ball with my other hand. Coach [Al] Brown and I have been messing around in practice, but I have yet to put one down. The confidence is growing, so soon, I'll hopefully be able to put one down."
With a commanding 50-point lead, the Blue Devils continued to pressure Anderson in the back court, but began experimenting with different lineups using their entire roster. McCallie was especially impressed with the play of all three freshmen, who saw significant minutes in the game.
"I thought they gave us a great lift," McCallie said of Chelsea Hopkins, Kathleen Scheer and Shay Selby. "All three freshmen are ready, willing and able when their number is called to come in and do a little something. That is important."
Yet even after a 69-point rout, McCallie was quick to point out that Duke still needs to get better before its regular-season opener against Oklahoma State Nov. 14.
"There are a lot of areas of improvement," she said. "Maintaining defensive intensity, becoming better by position-games are going to become much more physical."
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