Duke forced Florida State into 25 turnovers—a season high for the Seminoles—to secure a win and remain atop the ACC.
Fueled by Tricia Liston’s fourth 20-point game of the season, as well as double-digit point totals from Elizabeth Williams and Chelsea Gray, the No. 7 Blue Devils pulled away late for a 73-66 victory over Florida State (10-8, 2-2) at Cameron Indoor Stadium Friday night.
Early on, both teams struggled to protect the ball. Duke maintained a small early lead by forcing 16 turnovers from the Seminoles—just three below their game average of 19—in the opening 20 minutes alone.
“We did not do a good job of passing around people,” Seminole head coach Sue Semrau said.
The Blue Devils capitalized on their opponent’s carelessness, outscoring Florida State 15-4 in points off turnovers in the half.
“If we would’ve taken care of the ball on our end, it would’ve been a different outcome,” Florida State senior Cierra Bravard said.
The Seminoles remained close, however, as the Blue Devils turned the ball over ten times themselves in the period. In the second half, Florida State made a charge to bring the game within one at the 18-minute mark.
Duke never surrendered the lead, however, as the team began to take better care of the ball, lasting until the 2:10 mark without a turnover.
Fueled by scoring from Liston, Gray, and Williams, the Blue Devils pushed their lead to double digits in the final 10 minutes.
With just 2:48 remaining, Duke had its largest lead at 73-59. After nearly 18 minutes of turnover-free basketball, however, the Blue Devils let the Seminoles back into the game by giving the ball away five times the rest of the game, including three turnovers from Gray.
Florida State did not have time to get back into the game, but Duke knows that it cannot continue its careless ways.
“We did not take care of the ball in the last few minutes and in a crucial game, that’ll hurt us,” Gray said.
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