When Duke played Florida State last month in Durham, the Seminole frontcourt combined to score 48 of the team’s 66 points in a losing effort. Sunday afternoon in Tallahassee, Fla. though, the Blue Devil post players responded, scoring 39 points while holding Florida State’s starting forwards to 6-of-17 shooting.
No. 5 Duke (21-3, 12-0 in the ACC) kept its conference unbeaten streak alive by sliding past Florida State (13-13, 5-7) at the Tucker Center, 67-57.
Haley Peters led the way for the Blue Devils with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while Shay Selby reached double-figure scoring for the second time in three games.
“Haley just looked like she was shooting shots that she shoots in practice,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “She was very, very balanced and very confident.”
Down 19-18 with 4:53 left in the first half, freshman Elizabeth Williams hit the first 3-pointer of her career to give the Blue Devils the lead. After Florida State’s Leonor Rodriguez responded with a basket, Duke went on a 7-0 run to take a lead it would never relinquish behind a 3-pointer from Kathleen Scheer and consecutive baskets in the paint from Selby and Tricia Liston.
After Florida State clawed back before halftime, Selby gave the Blue Devils momentum into the break by making a shot with seven seconds left.
“It was very key that Shay took that ball and scored into the half,” McCallie said.
Seminole Natasha Howard scored the game’s first basket after the break, cutting the deficit to five. She finished with 14 points and seven rebounds on the night. Cierra Bravard, who made 7-of-10 shots against Duke in the teams’ first game, was held to 0-of-4 shooting and just six points. Florida State played without suspended junior forward Chastity Clayton, who scored 15 points against the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“We were just trying to use our speed to get around [Bravard] because she’s a big body,” Peters said. “We didn’t want to foul her as much as we did.”
The Seminoles still outrebounded the Blue Devils despite their scoring woes, helping Florida State overcome its 22-percent performance from beyond the arc. In contrast, Duke made five of its eight 3-point attempts.
“I’m disturbed about the rebounding totals, a little bit,” McCallie said. “We’ll work on that.”
The closest the Seminoles managed to get during the final 15 minutes was within eight points with just over two minutes to go. The Blue Devils rallied, though, holding off the Seminoles for their fifth straight win over Florida State.
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