On Thanksgiving Day, the Blue Devils feasted on turnovers and an undersized opponent to kick off the Paradise Jam with a decisive victory.
No. 2 Duke routed Xavier 81-54 Thursday at the University of Virgin Islands Sport and Fitness Center in St. Thomas, dominating inside and holding a 48-18 advantage in points in the paint. The Blue Devils were again fueled by senior guards Tricia Liston and Chelsea Gray. Liston finished with 22 points and five rebounds, and Gray had eight points, nine rebounds and nine assists, barely missing out on a triple-double for the third consecutive contest.
“It was an excellent team defensive game,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “[I thought our starters did well] setting the tone throughout the game early and then, [it was great] having folks off the bench finish it off so strong. Everybody took part in that.”
Junior forward Elizabeth Williams also had another strong game, compensating for the absence of senior forward Haley Peters with strong play on both ends of the floor and finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Peters, Duke’s leading rebounder, missed her second straight game with a right knee injury and is still day-to-day.
Even without Peters, the Blue Devils were able to use their height advantage and superior quickness to hold a 39-24 rebounding edge. Duke also took advantage of a huge edge in points off turnovers, turning 19 Xavier turnovers into 27 points and never letting the Musketeers get comfortable on offense.
The Blue Devils (6-0) established their superiority in the paint early on, jumping out to a quick 10-2 lead behind eight quick points from Williams. Xavier (2-3) responded with hot outside shooting to keep the game close early, knocking down four 3-pointers to cut the lead to three with 12:31 left in the first half, at which point they trailed 20-17.
The Musketeers never got closer.
Duke went on an 8-0 run and extended its defense, allowing just nine Musketeer points for the rest of the half. As Xavier struggled, the Blue Devils continued operating efficiently, shooting 53 percent with a balanced attack to take a 40-26 lead into the locker room. Duke’s depth was key at the end of the half, allowing the Blue Devils to continue scoring while Xavier’s offense sputtered after Musketeer bench players entered the game.
“When [our bench players] come in, we continue to work well together,” McCallie said. “When you have talented players, and they focus on what we all need to do, you see some pretty great play.”
Both teams came out shooting well in the second half, with Xavier putting up points like they did at the beginning of the game led by sophomore guard Jenna Crittendon and senior guard Shatyra Hawkes.
Crittendon finished with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, and Hawkes added 10, but the Musketeers were unable to make a big run largely because of the cohesiveness of Gray, Liston and Duke’s third starting guard, Alexis Jones, who added 15 points.
“Chelsea [was] really distributing the ball and looking for people,” McCallie said. “[Alexis] was very, very aggressive with her offensive game. Tricia, as well, was very aggressive with her game. They work well together, all three of them.”
Because of their hot shooting early in the second half, the Musketeers found themselves within striking distance, only trailing 63-49 with 10:03 left in the game. But just as in the first half, the Blue Devils clamped down defensively, allowing just five points the rest of the game and getting contributions from every part of their lineup.
Freshman forward Oderah Chidom added an exclamation point with a three-point-play after a strong post move that put Duke up 21 with 6:08 left in the game. Chidom played 20 minutes because of Peters’ absence and finished with seven points and three rebounds
“Oderah is a competitior,” McCallie said. “She’s come off the bench and given us a spark. She’s not afraid to rebound and mix it up. We just need to get her minutes. She’s taking steps every game.”
McCallie will look to get Chidom and the other inexperienced Blue Devils more minutes Friday when Duke takes on Central Michigan in their second game of the Paradise Jam. The Blue Devils will also attempt to improve their box-outs and improve their concentration after surrendering 12 offensive rebounds total and committing 12 second-half turnovers, many of which came with Gray out of the game and the outcome already decided.
“There’s always room to get better,” McCallie said. “We had some silly turnovers…. We’ve got to get better there…. It’s important to get some experience in a tournament atmosphere. I’m going to try to get as much experience for as many players as possible to build our depth.”
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