TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — There was upset fever in the air at the Donald L. Tucker center Friday two days after the Duke men saw their undefeated season come to a crashing halt against Florida State.
But the Blue Devil women made sure a repeat wasn’t in store in Tallahassee, turning in a very complete performance against the No. 22 Seminoles (14-4, 2-1 in the ACC). The 87-70 victory extended No. 3 Duke’s win streak to 16 games.
“Credit Duke for playing great team basketball tonight,” Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. “I thought that they were more solid than we were.”
The Blue Devils (17-0, 3-0) built an early lead thanks to hot shooting from beyond the arc. The Seminoles played a zone for much of the early part of the game and paid the price as Duke sank four 3-pointers to build a 26-19 edge heading into the second media timeout.
Senior Jasmine Thomas hit two of those threes en route to a team-high 22 points, the third straight game she has scored 20 points against a ranked opponent. Haley Peters and Chloe Wells chipped in the other two scores from long range on a night when the Blue Devils’ freshmen scored 46 points. Their contribution was timely, as second-leading scorer Karima Christmas had only five points and spent most of the game in foul trouble.
Duke maintained a comfortable advantage for the rest of the opening period by capitalizing on Seminole turnovers. The Blue Devils’ aggressive defense on the perimeter, combined with uncharacteristic sloppiness from Florida State, led to errant passes throughout the first half. As a result, Duke converted 21 points off of 14 Seminole turnovers.
“We were just intense, we were aggressive,” said Thomas, who had a game-high three steals. “I definitely liked our defense better in the first half than in the second.”
Florida State found its way back in the second half, attacking the offensive glass and connecting from outside to whittle a 14-point lead down to three. But the Blue Devils never lost their composure late in the game.
With the score at 56-53 following a layup from the Seminoles’ leading scorer Cierra Bravard, Thomas hit a midrange jumper early in the shot clock to regain a five-point advantage.
“Jasmine’s always great,” Semrau said. “She’s just clutch all the time. She just makes their team go.”
Duke’s rookies followed Thomas’s example. After Chasity Clayton cut the lead to three once more, freshman Chelsea Gray hit perhaps the biggest shot of the game. With 11:28 remaining, Gray nailed her only three of the night to give the Blue Devils a two-possession lead. She finished with 13 points and four assists.
Fellow freshman Tricia Liston, who tied a career-high with 15 points, hit a 3-pointer to follow Gray, and Peters got a critical putback when Thomas missed from beyond the arc on the ensuing possession.
“I’m just excited to see the way in which Jasmine is leading the younger players,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “The younger players are following her lead, her attack mode, the way she plays the game and her intensity.”
As time ran down and Florida State picked up its pressure, Duke stayed sharp on offense and continued to find the open player. The Blue Devils finished with 17 assists, a number of them coming on dumps into the paint when the Seminoles crowded the perimeter.
Gray started and finished the game at point guard, allowing Duke to have two passing threats out of the backcourt. As a result, Thomas was able to get more players involved and had a game-high eight assists despite playing off the ball.
And it was the Blue Devils’ deep offensive attack that made the team difficult to defend when several players hit big shots to keep the Seminoles in the hole.
“It’s good to see our team react that way to a run on the road, keep our composure and not get out of our game,” Thomas said. “We were still patient on offense, still attacking, trying to get the best shot we could, and we ended up doing that.”
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