The Blue Devils used hot second-half shooting and inspiration from the return of a fallen teammate to remain unbeaten.
No. 2 Duke beat Vanderbilt 88-69 Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium for its second straight home victory against an SEC opponent. After struggling offensively in the first half and watching senior forward Haley Peters exit late in the frame, the Blue Devils took just a two-point lead into the locker room.
Duke made halftime adjustments and came out on fire in the second half, shooting 62.5 percent inspired by Peters’ return to pull away. Senior Tricia Liston led six Duke players in double figures with 18 points, 15 of which came on five second half 3-pointers, sophomore Alexis Jones had her best game of the season with 17 points and senior Chelsea Gray was two rebounds shy of a triple-double, finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists.
“We got to our game in the second half,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “The first half we weren’t quite in our game, but that happens. The second half was us. It was more about us. It was how we play, our tempo, the steals [and] the defensive stops were a little bit more aggressive.”
Duke (4-0) was unable to seize control immediately following the opening tip for the first time at home this season. Vanderbilt opened the game with two quick buckets in the paint by freshman forward Marqu’es Webb and the Commodores frustrated the Blue Devils by limiting points in the paint with their zone defense.
“I would say we were being very complacent with taking outside shots,” Gray said. “We weren’t working the ball inside out, working the ball, and feeding off each other…. We weren’t really in a rhythm.”
Duke shot just 39 percent as a result of its complacency and was unable to take advantage of 18 Vanderbilt turnovers. The Commodores (3-2) also controlled the glass with their physical play, holding an 18-16 advantage in the first half. Their physicality had consequences, though, as Webb and sophomore forward Heather Bowe both picked up three first half fouls.
Luckily for Vanderbilt, junior Elizabeth Williams sat out most of the first half for Duke with two fouls and Peters landed awkwardly after contesting a 3-point attempt by Vanderbilt’s Rebekah Dalhman with 3:27 left in the first half and Duke up 34-27. Her exit left Duke without both of its starting bigs to end the half—the Commodores capitalized, closing the half on a 9-2 run.
“Elizabeth is definitely a presence down low, so not having her is tremendously different,” Gray said. “I don’t think we were very attacking defensively in our minds about getting out to shooters and communicating.”
The pace picked up early in the second half, with Duke’s guards and Vanderbilt’s guards trading punches. Vanderbilt senior Christina Foggie, the team’s leading scorer, scored 11 quick second-half points and her fellow senior preseason All-SEC backcourt mate Jasmine Lister was on fire throughout the game, finishing with 23 points.
Jones and Gray fought the hot second half start of Foggie and Lister by sharing the ball more with each other, allowing the Blue Devils to attack the zone more efficiently and get out in transition to keep their lead.
“I am comfortable with [Jones] playing at the one and the two,” Gray said. “We interchange and go with the flow of the game. We just look at each other, and know ‘Okay you got it,’ [and] have two outlets…. We communicate very well.”
After Peters returned with 14:11 left in the game and Duke up by 4, the game changed. She immediately nailed a jumper to initiate a 16-5 run capped by a Gray three-point-play that gave the Blue Devils a 15-point advantage with 8:28 left. After taking advantage of 10 more Vanderbilt turnovers in the second half, Duke put the game away on Liston’s final 3-pointer with 3:51 left that put the Blue Devils up 84-63. Many of Liston’s second-half treys were in transition and assisted by Gray, who frequently grabbed rebounds after errant shots and punished the Commodores.
“She sees the floor so well,” Liston said. “I am ready to catch it even when her face is the other way in transition. I was just trying to run the floor, spot up and she hit me.”
Senior guard Chloe Wells also provided solid perimeter shooting, making two 3-pointers and adding 11 points off the bench. Wells’ classmate, Peters, only made that lone jumper in the second half but was the biggest reason for Duke’s emotional second-half explosion. She will undergo an MRI Friday to assess the damage to her right knee.
After sparking an emotional win, Peters will try to heal quickly before the Blue Devils take on Marquette Sunday in Milwaukee for the team’s second road test of the season. The Golden Eagles won at Vanderbilt last Sunday 82-77, utilizing a big second-half comeback.
“We are just very happy [Peters] is okay,” McCallie said. “We will take lessons [from this].... Marquette has a lot of balanced scoring from [different] people, so we’ve got to know how to dictate 40 minutes and really play our game regardless of what anyone else is doing.”
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