After a late 55-50 lead slipped away Monday against No. 3 Notre Dame, the Blue Devils had plenty to prove Thursday against Virginia. That burden grew even greater shortly before tip-off when it was confirmed that sophomore Azurá Stevens—Duke's leading scorer and rebounder—would miss the game with a left foot injury.
“I think we knew we had a chip on our shoulders with her out this game," redshirt sophomore Rebecca Greenwell said.
The Blue Devils certainly played like it, delivering a bounce-back effort to beat the Cavaliers 67-52. Greenwell registered a double-double and continued her offensive excellence to lead the way, but the team’s stalwart defensive effort paid dividends on a night when several players stepped up on both ends of the court.
Although Stevens was sidelined, the Blue Devils stifled Virginia with a 2-3 zone en route to a 67-52 win. Duke picked up the Cavaliers’ ball-handler at the three-quarter-court mark, applying intense defensive pressure that forced 12 turnovers and led to 16 points.
When the Blue Devils were not creating deflections and baiting Virginia into poor passes, they hounded the Cavaliers on the interior, registering eight blocks and seven steals and holding their guests to 33.9 percent shooting. The strong defense helped Duke overcome turnover woes of its own, as the Blue Devils coughed up the ball 25 times after just 12 against the Fighting Irish Monday.
“You don’t want to give any gifts,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “You know we’ve never played without Azurá. You can say all you want to say, but that probably affected our turnovers.”
Defensive pressure was only one part of Thursday's 15-point victory. Rather than try to carry the entire burden herself, Greenwell knew where to look for help. Before the game, she approached freshman Angela Salvadores, encouraging the young point guard to step up and fill the big hole left by Stevens' absence.
The Leon, Spain, native did just that, delivering a big spark for the Blue Devils off the bench. After checking in early in the first quarter with Duke trailing 12-5, Salvadores helped sparked a 15-0 run to close the quarter, scoring the period's final three points and heating up from there.
Salvadores scored seven of 12 Blue Devil points in the middle of the second quarter, and drilled a 3-pointer with seven seconds left before halftime to give Duke a 17-point halftime cushion.
Just 11 days ago, it was Salvadores who was sidelined, missing three games with an ankle injury. She returned in limited action against Pittsburgh a week ago and saw more minutes against Notre Dame, but her third game back, turned into a breaking-out party.
Salvadores averages 8.2 points per game but scored at will Thursday and hustled around the court. In addition to hitting both of her 3-point attempts, she went 7-of-11 from the field and totaled 17 points and also tied a career-high by grabbing six rebounds.
“I thought Angela got into stride and did some wonderful things for us...just scoring and being a threat out there,” McCallie said. “I've got a feeling that people are going to wake up and realize that people aren’t doing what they can do."
Even without Stevens' 6-foot-6 frame down low, the Blue Devils still commanded a significant height advantage, and used it to their advantage. Salvadores and classmate Kyra Lambert knifed into the paint for lay-ups and found open teammates underneath the basket. The Blue Devils outscored Virginia 30-16 in the paint and dominated the rebounding battle 44-22.
If Stevens misses extended time with her injury, Duke will have to rebound by committee to get the job done. Greenwell complemented her game-high 25 points with 12 rebounds, and junior Oderah Chidom was an interior force, adding eight rebounds—including four on the offensive glass. Effectively boxing out and limiting the Cavaliers to just one shot per possession allowed the Blue Devils to secure defensive stops and push the ball in transition.
“That’s awesome to double up on their rebounding and have more offensive rebounds,” McCallie said. “That’s what we need to look like with rebounds and have all the different people that participated in the rebounding—that’s what we've got to look like.”
With Stevens out, Duke needed everyone to step up in every facet of their game. The Blue Devils also had plenty to prove without their sophomore star, and they used that as motivation heading into the game, then went out and answered the bell.
"We just tried to focus on [the chip on our shoulders]," Greenwell said. "Everyone did a great job on the boards offensively and defensively.”
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