Depth is the name of the game, and the Blue Devils have plenty of it. Just 11 games into their 2022-23 campaign, seven different players have led the team in scoring. Of course, they still have top options in Celeste Taylor and Elizabeth Balogun, who average double-digit points and have led the team in scoring two and four times, respectively. However, on top of Duke’s senior leaders, everyone else is getting their moments to shine as well. Sunday's 70-48 win over Florida Gulf Coast was the sixth time this season that at least three players have gotten to double figures, and 10 different players have already had double-digit outings.
Sharing the wealth when it comes to scoring is not only good for morale, but it undoubtedly makes the team better. In the Blue Devils’ loss to UConn, Shayeann Day-Wilson and Balogun accounted for 60% of the team's scoring. In Duke’s closest win, a 13-point victory over Oregon State, Taylor alone accounted for a third of the team’s scoring.
When it comes to Duke’s biggest wins, however, its leading scorer has never even been a quarter of the offense. For example, in respective 51- and 61-point wins against Richmond and Charleston Southern, four or more players cracked double figures.
The Blue Devils’ offense has flashed a ton of potential in their 100-point outings and in Sunday's win at FGCU, but they still have a long way to go to reach the level and consistency that they want to be at.
“I think our offense is the end of the floor where we definitely need to grow more,” Lawson said after Sunday's game. “I think our defense is farther along. I think we still have growth to make defensively, but I definitely think our offense is behind. We have focused on that, we'll focus on it in the break.”
As a unit, despite shooting 46.1% from the field, the Blue Devils are shooting just 26.9% from beyond the arc. This is a dropoff from last year’s 31.1% 3-point shooting mark and is a glaring weakness that elite teams can exploit. Against UConn, Duke was forced to take a season-high 24 threes and made just 25% of them. That same team held Duke to just seven points in the fourth quarter, illuminating another one of their weaknesses—finishing games strong.
Heading into Sunday's contest against FGCU, the Blue Devils were averaging just 13.3 points per game in the fourth quarter. Despite having an overall positive scoring margin of more than 23 points, in the fourth, that figure dropped to a negative scoring margin of 1.5. Duke has been consistently getting outscored in the final stretches of games, even in games that they dominate.
The second half against FGCU looked as if it would be a repeat of those woes. There was a stretch of more than six minutes in the third quarter during which Duke made zero field goals and scored just two points, paving the way for the Eagles to mount a comeback.
However, the Blue Devils began to make strides toward becoming a more potent late-game offense. Their relentless defense kept them from losing all the momentum during their shooting slump, then, to finish the third and begin the fourth, their offense came back alive. They had their best quarter, scoring a season-high 23 points in the fourth.
“I thought the end of the third quarter was critical,” Lawson said. “They had cut into the lead … they had started to get a little momentum … I thought that spurt to end the third quarter kind of kept that distance—really, really helped us out.”
That kind of performance to finish the game was exactly what the team needed heading into a long break and conference play, which begins Dec. 21 against Virginia. Scoreless droughts and low-scoring fourth quarters are not going to cut it once the Blue Devils get into the thick of their season. This was a great step in the right direction, and one that Lawson can build on for her team.
“I thought our team overall was very, very disciplined, all four quarters,” said Lawson. “To hold them to 48 points and the [shooting] percentage that we did, I think just speaks to the players' effort and their discipline.”
Four quarters is what it takes to win a game. The Blue Devils have a very high ceiling with their talent and depth. They just have to continue moving up toward it. If they can get high enough, the rest of the ACC may need to watch out for Duke.
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