In their final exhibition of the year, the No. 6 Blue Devils showed off their youthful side, trotting out freshmen-dominated lineups in a 121-65 blowout of Carson-Newman Sunday in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke played four of its five freshmen for at least 14 minutes each, with Chloé Wells leading the team in points and steals. The freshman guard, who went 0-for-6 against Wingate Wednesday, posted 24 points in Sunday’s game—eight more than senior All-American Jasmine Thomas—and had nine steals, four more than the next closest player, freshman Tricia Liston.
“We always talk about how we’re responsible for the opportunities we create, and these two [Wells and Liston] have been working extremely hard, and I’m not surprised that they’ve created opportunities for themselves,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “This is the beginning of something special, and I have huge confidence in Chloé and Tricia and all our first-years.”
Thomas said that the team focused particularly on passing Sunday. The freshmen who saw an increase in playing time were reminded to make the extra pass rather than just force up shots.
“When I think about my previous years, I’ve forced some stuff because I felt I had to, and now I don’t, and when we’re learning and growing as a team, we’re trying to build chemistry,” said Thomas, who led the team with eight assists and recorded 16 points. “That’s all just part of playing as a team…. It’s something we’ve been putting an emphasis on and developing chemistry. It’s not a conscious decision like, ‘I have to pass more,’ but a team decision to pass more, to set each other up.”
In fact, the number on the statistics sheet that impressed McCallie the most was the number of assists, 30, not the 121 points.
“We had better energy and better looking out for each other, and 30 assists is outstanding and indicative of the direction we want to move in,” she said. “When you make the right pass, the extra pass, shooting percentages tend to go up, and you just do a better job delivery-wise and timing-wise.”
The Blue Devils led the Eagles by a large margin throughout the game but seemed to be a little sloppy halfway through the second half as both teams began to play carelessly and rush shots. However, the Blue Devils managed to pick it back up and ended the game with a 57.3 field goal percentage to the Eagles’ 37.5.
Duke did get into foul trouble, however, with four players holding three, one holding four and freshman Haley Peters getting her fifth with 3:28 left in the second half. The Blue Devils had 26 team fouls to the Eagles’ 14.
“I love aggressive mistakes, and as for those fouls, a fair amount of those fouls were not really smart, bumping into people, knocking people over,” McCallie said. “There’s a balance in there somewhere, but the aggressive mistake is so much better than the passive mistake.”
Duke kicks off its season with a game Saturday at home against BYU in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
NOTES: Freshman Chelsea Gray did not suit up due to her lingering foot injury and is expected to be back in practice this week. Allison Vernerey played in limited time Sunday, and McCallie said she is easing back into the game.
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