The Duke women’s basketball team began their ACC schedule on Thursday night with an 85-52 victory at home against Georgia Tech.
The Blue Devils never trailed and it wasn’t the test I thought they would get. I thought it might be a bit closer, especially since Allison Vernerey missed the game due to an injured elbow (which happened this weekend against Cal). Her streak of 111 consecutive games came to an end.
The Blue Devils shot 50% in the first half to carry a 41-27 lead into halftime. Overall they shot 46.7% compared to GT’s 28.6%. The Yellow Jackets were just 1-for-20 from three point land, though Duke was only 2-of-10.
Elizabeth Williams started her second straight game and recorded her first double-double of the season. She finished with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and hauled in 11 rebounds. She also blocked six shots. Her only negative was her seven turnovers.
Despite a slow start, Haley Peters also recorded a double-double. She finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Chelsea Gray struggled with her shot (just 4-of-11), but she still finished with 13 points, five assists, six steals, and ZERO turnovers. Tricia Liston had an up-and-down game: hot in the first half and cold in the second half. She was 5-for-9 from the field with 11 points in the first half, but just 1-for-7 with two points in the second half.
Chloe Wells entered the game with 8:15 to go in the first half and ended up playing 14 minutes. She scored her first points of the season and finished with eight (on 4-of-7 shooting). Ka’lia Johnson missed a double-double by one point off the bench. She finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. Seven of those boards came in the second half.
Turnovers were once again an issue for Blue Devils. They committed 19 of them. They also struggled rebounding in the first half with just 20 of them. The Yellow Jackets had 21, 11 on the offensive end. In the second half, the Blue Devils dominated on the boards. They hauled in 28 of them, 13 on the offensive end, compared to 20 (ten offensive boards) for GT.
For GT, Tyaunna Marshall finished with 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting. She also hauled in eight rebounds. Dawnn Maye was just 4-of-21 from the field for eight points. She also had eight boards.
Duke puts its ACC schedule on hold until January and heads up to Madison Square Garden for a matchup against St. John’s on Sunday afternoon in the Maggie Dixon Classic.
