Duke knew it needed to be dominant against Virginia Tech—after all, the Blue Devils had won the past 20 meetings. But more than that, Thursday's game was an opportunity for Duke to finally live up to its potential, and against the hapless Hokies, the Blue Devils did just that.
One of the biggest flaws in Duke's game this season has been its turnovers. The Blue Devils were coming off back-to-back 25-giveaway games and although the Hokies are not known for being pick-pockets, Duke could have easily coughed up the ball as it has against nearly every other team this season.
The Blue Devils went the first seven minutes without a turnover Thursday night and finished with a 2015-low 14 turnovers.
For the first time since a commanding Dec. 19 win against UMass-Lowell, they did not give the opposition an excessive number of extra possessions—possessions that led to Florida State's comeback 16-point win Sunday. Thursday, Duke played crisp basketball and capitalized on Virginia Tech's 15 turnovers into 19 points, rather than the other way around.
"We definitely tried to key in on that this game," redshirt freshman Rebecca Greenwell. "Twenty-five turnovers the past two games is way too much so we really just tried to value the ball a lot more, be patient and not rush. I think it showed.”
Greenwell—or "Becky McBuckets" as she is affably known by her teammates—showed up once again, dropping 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including a solid 4-of-8 mark from long range.
But as important as Greenwell's scoring total was, it was when she picked her moments that stood out.
After freshman point guard Sierra Calhoun opted to transfer, the Blue Devils took another hit Thursday when sophomore forward Oderah Chidom went down with a dislocated shoulder with 17:47 left in the second half. The Oakland, Calif., native was averaging 8.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and had already poured in nine points on 3-of-4 shooting before going down with the injury for the second time this year—the first coming in a Dec. 31 practice.
In the contest following Calhoun's transfer, Duke played a sloppy game against ACC bottom-dweller Wake Forest, pulling out a 70-63 win after trailing by double-digits in the first half. Then on the road at Florida State, the Blue Devils surrendered a 14-point first-half lead and would go on to lose 74-58.
But instead of being rattled by the injury Thursday night, the Blue Devils—just like they did against then-No. 8 Kentucky and then-No. 21 Syracuse—played with poise.
Following Chidom's injury, Duke rattled off eight straight points—all from the hand of Greenwell—to extend its 14-point lead to 22 and push the game into blowout territory.
"We just tried to stay focused, and I think we did a good job of not letting them go on any runs," Greenwell said. "We stayed constant, played hard and were really smart and executing on offense, and I think that showed even after Oderah got hurt.”
As much as the game was about what the Blue Devils were finally able to do with Greenwell and their guards, it was also apparent Duke was getting back to its confident ways in the post.
The Blue Devils were outscored 24-14 in the post and outrebounded 38-28 by the Seminoles. As the tallest team in the nation and one of the top rebounding teams in the country, the poor showing proved to be a wake-up call.
Duke's starting front court of Chidom, Elizabeth Williams and Azura Stevens combined for 25 points and 19 rebounds—a career-high 13 boards coming from Stevens—as the Blue Devils won the scoring battle in the paint 28-10 and snagged 41 rebounds to the Hokies' 29. As always, there was room for improvement—Virginia Tech grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, and several times it seemed like Duke allowed easy rebounds to slip through its hands. But the Blue Devils once again responded to the challenge of cleaning up on the glass.
"At one point we were No. 1 in the nation in rebounding. If you think about it too long, that’s not smart," Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "What we care about being is No. 1 in the nation in rebounding at the end of the year. It’s a long process. It’s a marathon. I think we slipped up on that, and I think that’s a nice challenge for us.”
And although the boards can make or break a game, ultimately, at the most bare-bones level, basketball is about making or missing shots. Thanks to the Blue Devil bigs, the Hokies did a lot of missing.
In the process of holding Virginia Tech's starting front court to 13 points on 5-of-18 shooting, Duke also forced the Hokies to jack up 33 treys, only nine of which found the bottom of the net.
"I don’t prefer to be [taking 33 3-pointers]. Because we had trouble getting the ball inside and those girls finishing inside, we ultimately end up taking more outside shots," Virginia Tech head coach Dennis Wolff. "We all know that you’re not going to win that many games shooting that many threes.”
Continuity in the post will be key against the Blue Devils' next foe, Miami, as the Hurricanes have five current players—six including the injured Laura Quevedo—that have sunk more than 14 3-pointers on the year. Duke, by comparison has just one player that has hit that mark—Greenwell.
As easy as Thursday night's win seemed, it was necessary for Duke to regain its footing in the ACC before Sunday's tilt at Cameron Indoor Stadium. With renewed confidence in its ability to own the paint and a prolific scorer in Greenwell, the Blue Devils may have had the perfect game to lead into a clash with the conference-leading Hurricanes.
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