Coming off its first loss of the season last week against then-No. 4 Notre Dame, Duke dominated Purdue on the boards by a margin of 50-32 to give the Blue Devils a hard-fought 64-53 victory Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“I just liked how we played,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “We played very aggressive, we pursued the ball, got ourselves second shot opportunities and got ourselves some great paint looks.”
Despite the disparity on the glass, the No. 13 Boilermakers (6-1) gave the No. 7 Blue Devils (5-1) all they could handle, especially in the first half. A potent backcourt, led by Brittany Rayburn and Courtney Moses, who finished with 16 and 17 points respectively, kept Purdue in the game.
Purdue also scouted Duke’s offensive tendencies effectively, placing an emphasis on slowing down Duke’s leading scorer, Elizabeth Williams. Smothering post defense and frequent double teaming frustrated Williams, forcing her to a meager 2-of-17 shooting performance from the field, 0-for-5 in the first half.
“I thought for about 30 minutes we played pretty well,” Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp said. “Then [Duke] just dominated on the boards, and that pretty much turned the tide.”
The Blue Devils’ aggressiveness on the glass, tenacious perimeter defense and physicality in the second half allowed them to regain momentum. For Purdue, a lack of productivity from its post players and a one-dimensional jump-shooting offense in the second half prevented the Boilermakers from picking up a marquee road win.
“I really liked how we came out in the second half, our tenacity, our physical play and how we dictated that for 20 minutes,” McCallie said.
Coming off her ACC rookie of the week accolade, Williams broke the Duke freshman single-game rebounding record with 17, 10 of which came on the offensive end. The 6-foot-3 center also finished with nine points, eight of which came in the second half.
“I haven’t seen [17 rebounds] since I have been at Duke,” McCallie said.
Purdue’s double teaming of Williams allowed for sophomore Haley Peters to get open looks in the high post. Peters finished with a team high 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Chloe Wells was equally effective at point guard, with 13 points and six steals.
“I thought Haley’s game was very efficient,” McCallie said. “With Chloe, her relentless leadership and [attack mode was pivotal].”
In the absence of starting guard Shay Selby, Duke’s depth was instrumental in securing the Blue Devils’ first win over a ranked opponent this season. Allison Vernerey and Richa Jackson came off the bench to score a combined 11 points, all in the second half, to help the Blue Devils pull away. Starting in place of Selby, Tricia Liston grabbed six boards.
“We’ve always had more than five starters,” McCallie said. “Tricia and Richa have always been starters in my mind.”
Even after leading a young Duke team to its biggest win to date, McCallie stressed that the Blue Devils are still a work-in-progress and need to improve offensively. Duke finished with just 13 assists and was only 26-of-70 from the field.
“We underachieved offensively in some areas, and that just comes with time,” McCallie said. “I see our offense really growing once we mature, once we settle down.”
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