The Blue Devils have struggled against ranked opponents all season, but Sunday that all came to an end.
Led by Azura Stevens' 17 points and another double-double from Elizabeth Williams, No. 13 Duke defeated No. 8 Kentucky 89-68 at Cameron Indoor Stadium to give the team its first win against a ranked opponent this season and complete a grueling five-day, three-game stretch with a perfect 3-0 mark.
"[Blowing the lead] was a big problem in the three games that we lost," redshirt freshman guard Rebecca Greenwell said. "We just kept telling each other, 'We have to get this stop, we have to get this stop.' Finally, we started converting."
The Blue Devils (8-3) defeated UMass-Lowell 95-48 Friday and throughout the first half of Sunday's contest, it looked like they would be headed for a similar outcome.
Kentucky's backcourt—led by All-SEC point guard Jennifer O'Neill—had a step on Duke's Ka'lia Johnson and Sierra Calhoun, but could not knock down shots early on, going 2-of-13 through the first eight minutes.
Turnovers have been a weak spot for the Blue Devils all season—they entered the game having committed 20 or more giveaways in two of the past three games. Duke would not solve this issue against the Wildcats (10-2), as it coughed the ball up 11 times in the first half and 23 by the time the final buzzer sounded. But as big of an issue as turnovers were for the Blue Devils, their defense would go a long way to mask the problem Sunday.
"We have to dribble less, we have pass more and we have to keep looking at what those turnovers are," head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "Plus we have to go through some turnovers because we're asking the post players to handle the ball a little more. So there's a learning curve there."
Kentucky entered the game shooting 30 percent from downtown and averaged 4.6 triples per game. But Duke's length—combined with some shooting woes for the Wildcats—frustrated Kentucky throughout the first half, as its first and only made 3-pointer of the game did not come until the 5:32 mark. The Wildcats were 0-of-10 up to that point and would finish the half 1-of-13.
The dominance continued inside the 3-point line, as the Blue Devils owned the paint in the first half, swatting away six Wildcat shots, including a pair by Williams and Amber Henson that brought the crowd to its feet. Duke would finish the game with 10 blocks.
The Wildcats were able to have mild success on the offensive end thanks to their offensive rebounding, as they pulled down 14 boards off missed shots to make up the majority of Kentucky's 19 total first-half rebounds. But as the Wildcat shooting woes continued, the Blue Devils were just getting started.
With 5:32 left, Duke went on a 10-0 run fueled by 3-pointers from redshirt freshman Rebecca Greenwell and Henson to extend the lead to 39-19 and make the rout official. By the time the dust settled after 20 minutes of play, Kentucky had shot just 23.1 percent from the field and Duke led 46-29.
The Wildcats managed to make things interesting the in the second half, cutting the Blue Devil lead to 11 with 10:35 left after an Azia Bishop layup. But a lay-up by Stevens one minute later helped Duke stretch its lead back to 17 and put the game and momentum beyond the Wildcats' reach.
"This team was different this time," McCallie said. "When a run was coming or [Kentucky] was trying to have a run, I thought the stops were there and they found each other."
O'Neill entered the game averaging 15.0 points per contest on 13.2 shots. Against Duke, O'Neil lofted a game-high 20 shots for 17 points, making it the most inefficient outing of the season for the Bronx, N.Y., native.
For the game, the Wildcats shot just 31.2 percent from the field and 8.3 percent from beyond the arc.
On the other end, five Blue Devils would finish with double-digits, as Williams, Greenwell, Stevens, Henson, Calhoun and sophomore Oderah Chidom all surpassed the 10-point mark. The team finished the game shooting 55.8 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from long range.
"It was important to improve. I know results are very important, but we're still early in the season and I love the games we've been playing," McCallie said. "They've been hard and challenging for the most part. I think the key for us is did we get better each game. [Today,] we did."
Duke will close the 2014 part of its season Dec. 29, as it travels to Hartford, Conn., to take on No. 2 Connecticut.
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