Devils shoot past Yellow Jackets

Elizabeth Williams had a double-double against her toughest post competition of the ACC season.
Elizabeth Williams had a double-double against her toughest post competition of the ACC season.

DULUTH, Ga. — In their sixth straight conference victory, the Blue Devils shot their best field goal percentage during head coach Joanne P. McCallie’s tenure, hitting 62.3 percent of their shots against Georgia Tech.

No. 5 Duke (15-2, 6-0 in the ACC) captured its ninth win in a row last night, beating the Yellow Jackets (13-6, 3-3) 79-62 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. The victory marks the end of a tough week for the Blue Devils that involved three games in just six days.

Freshman Elizabeth Williams was put to the test in a matchup with Georgia Tech senior center Sasha Goodlett. Despite the fact that Goodlett was arguably Williams’s toughest opponent of the season, Williams had a key double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Additionally, she had a game-high five blocks.

“She really doesn’t play like a freshman,” Goodlett said. “She really stepped up for the team.”

Nonetheless, it was much more than Williams’ play that led Duke to victory, as Goodlett outscored the freshman by five. Instead, the Blue Devils looked to other contributors, namely guard Chelsea Gray and forward Richa Jackson.

“I thought the guards played great and I think [Richa] Jackson and [Chelsea] Gray were the difference in the game,” Yellow Jackets head coach MaChelle Joseph said.

Duke dominated the start of the game, running out to a 16-point lead within the first eight minutes of play. After a few timeouts and some reshuffling, though, Georgia Tech reduced the differential to just six points.

“It was great having a great start, but I liked the wholeness of it,” McCallie said. “We had to play for 40 minutes and really be sharp up there.”

Sophomore Tyaunna Marshall, as well as Goodlett, led the comeback for the Yellow Jackets. The pair ended up with 38 of the team’s 62 points. Georgia Tech also put up a very strong defense that changed Duke’s attack.

“Ball movement was huge,” sophomore Richa Jackson said. “Going against the press you don’t want to dribble too much. You want to pass the ball. We did that tonight and got many fast breakaways.”

The Blue Devils remained on their heels for most of the second half as the Yellow Jackets were able to force a number of turnovers, but Duke never once let go of its lead.

“You don’t just throw one punch and it’s all over,” McCallie said. “You have to keep fighting.... This is conference play and these teams are good. You have to keep playing and I thought this was one of the first games that we really did that.”

Despite being regarded as one of the youngest teams near the top of the national rankings, the Blue Devils were given plenty of support from upperclassmen Kathleen Scheer, Allison Vernerey and Shay Selby.

“Everyone did something for us,” McCallie said. “Our senior class really took it upon themselves to do well. Allison Vernerey gave us a lot of good play and Chelsea Grey was a pure point guard.”

Ultimately it was the size and toughness of the Blue Devils that gave them the edge.

“At every position they were bigger than us,” Joseph said. “That really affected some of our jump shots and took away some of the things that we liked to do.”

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