It was the battle of the undefeated teams. And through defensive and rebounding prowess, No. 5 Duke proved be the more talented team, overcoming Oklahoma State 73-45 Sunday afternoon to remain unbeaten.
Coming into exam week, the Blue Devils (11-0) passed its latest non-conference test, attaining a resounding win that broke the streak of 48 non-conference home wins for the Cowgirls (8-1). As head coach Joanne P. McCallie continues her best start in 19 seasons as a head coach, Duke crushed the same attempt for Oklahoma State’s Kurt Budke.
Freshman Richa Jackson, a Midwest City, Okla. native, was unable to play in her homecoming game after suffering a right shoulder injury on Friday. With over 50 friends and family members in attendance, McCallie called for a “boomerang effect” to make up for her absence on the court. It was well-heard by her team.
The Blue Devils took the lead four minutes into the game and never relinquished the edge. With 17 first-half turnovers by Oklahoma State, Duke’s full court press sparked a 17-0 run after letting the Cowgirls score the first three. Oklahoma State scored only six points in the remaining 15 minutes as the Blue Devils held them to nine points while scoring 38 of their own. The Cowgirls were only 3-of-21 in the first 20 minutes.
“I loved our first half,” McCallie said. “We’re really proud of our team’s effort. That first half was as dominant a half as we’ve played all year. A fantastically intense, immediate half. That first 20 minutes, we were a very deep team. We were still pretty deep in the second 20, but it was just the focus and intensity of everybody in the first half.”
Karima Christmas led the attack for Duke, scoring 16 points and collecting four rebounds. The senior was joined by three other team members in double figures to put the Blue Devils on top. Sophomore Allison Vernerey and freshmen Tricia Liston and Chelsea Gray scored 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
True to McCallie’s words, Duke did not bring the same intensity in the second half. The Cowgirls scored 36 points, doubling their efforts from the first half in the opening four minutes of the second.
Despite the drop in play relative to the first half, the Blue Devils’ defense was able to keep Cowgirls’ star Toni Young at bay. Even with three double-doubles on the season, Young was no match for Duke’s defense led by Christmas and Vernerey.
“Karima was outstanding, very versatile,” McCallie said. “She had a lot of duties defensively. Allison… gave us all sorts of energy, great moves and finishes and also very, very good defense and presence which contributed to some dominant rebounding.”
The Blue Devils make their way back home with a week off for exams. They take on their next opponent, Xavier, at Cameron Indoor Staduim on Tuesday, December 21.
“It’s been a real tough schedule just being away from our home crowd a lot,” Christmas said. “But we handled it the way that we do any other game. We just come out, try to be focused, play our game, just stay together and hopefully we come out the winner.”
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