From the tipoff Thursday night, the Blue Devils dominated every aspect of their exhibition against Pfeiffer, winning by 85 points. The remarkable margin of victory does not count for the school record books since it was an exhibition game, but it approached the program-record 89-point win over N.C. Central in 2009.
No. 8 Duke maintained its intensity for 40 minutes to defeat the Division-II Falcons 112-27 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils began the game with a three-guard lineup and a full-court press. This strategy made an immediate impact as the guards—senior Shay Selby and sophomores Chloe Wells and Chelsea Gray—each made a steal in the first three minutes.
Building off its suffocating defensive pressure, Duke took every opportunity to exploit Pfeiffer on the fastbreak, jumping to a 12-0 lead.
“When everybody comes in aggressive on defense, it gets our offense going,” Selby said. “We get easy buckets.”
For the rest of the period, the Blue Devils kept up their intensity on both ends of the court, forcing their opponent into 21 turnovers.
Duke freshman center Elizabeth Williams also quickly established herself as both an offensive and defensive force, tallying 10 points and five blocks in the period.
“Her ability to come in and play at this level from the start is just amazing,” Selby said. “As a guard, I love having a post [player] that can catch the ball and finish.”
The Blue Devils entered the half with a 53-16 lead after they made as many field goals as Pfeiffer attempted.
Despite its comfortable lead, however, Duke opened the second period with even more defensive pressure, racking up seven steals in the first three minutes.
“I was very pleased with the fact that we put together two halves of intensity,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “In a game like that, it’s very easy to… get distracted.”
The Blue Devils closed the game in even more dominating fashion, holding the Falcons to just 11 points in the second half as Duke’s three starting guards combined for 19 steals and 17 assists overall.
“I like [the three-guard lineup] because there’s a lot of confidence in seeing the floor, a lot of eyes looking up,” McCallie said. “It’s the nature of someone who’s played point to look up, and the more you look up, the more you can see the floor and see great players like Elizabeth and Amber and everybody running down the floor. There’s a lot of upside to it on both sides of the ball.”
Looking for every possible way to contribute to the victory, Gray posted eight rebounds, seven steals, 15 points and a team-high eight assists.
“I was star-struck watching her,” Pfeiffer head coach Jill Thomas said. “What a player.”
Williams also continued her strong performance, ending up with nine rebounds, seven blocks, and 21 points—all team highs.
“I just tried to be aggressive,” Williams said. “Coach [McCallie] told me that was important.”
Every Duke player saw court time as Duke extended its lead toward the end of the game, and six Blue Devils reached double figures in points.
“It’s about... playing together in different combinations and executing our defenses against someone else and not each other,” McCallie said. “The key is ‘did we do the right things?’ And I thought we did.”
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