The Duke women’s basketball team is still perfect in the ACC, as they beat visiting and ranked Florida State on Friday night, 61-50. The win came without point guard Chelsea Gray, who was on the bench cheering on her teammates.

It was a difficult game to watch, especially in the first half. Duke led 20-18 at the half (their lowest point total at the half this season in ACC play), as Chloe Wells hit a three pointer to give them a lead with less than a minute to go. In the first half, Duke had more turnovers (15) then they had field goals made (just eight). FSU was just as sloppy, with ten turnovers.

With the short bench, Duke didn’t need foul trouble, but had it just two minutes into the game. Freshman Alexis Jones picked up her second foul with 18:01 to go in the first half.

In the second half, Duke stepped up their defense and ended up taking a twenty point lead. FSU came back late, but it wasn’t enough. The Blue Devils forced 11 second half turnovers and had ten second half steals.

Duke had a new-look starting lineup with the loss of Gray, as Tricia Liston was back in the starting lineup and Richa Jackson made her first start. Neither did much and only scored eight points each.

I mentioned Wells earlier and she was the go-to girl for Duke. She scored 15 points off the bench, as she went 5-for-7 from the field. She also had six steals.

Elizabeth Williams ended up with a double-double: 20 points and 13 rebounds, but she missed ten shots from the field, many of which were open shots around the basket. Haley Peters hauled in 14 rebounds, but scored just four points (2-for-11 from the field) and fouled out.

Duke out-rebounded FSU 47-34, which was their one positive throughout the game. They also had 19 offensive boards.

For the Seminoles, Alexa Deluzio scored 16 points and hauled in six rebounds. Natasha Howard added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Leonor Rodriguez, who was averaging a little over twenty points over her last two games, scored just nine points (3-of-10 shooting). She also turned the ball over seven times.

Despite the win, Duke is lucky to have picked up the victory. They have a short turnaround, as they head to number eight Maryland on Sunday. The game will be televised on ESPN2 at 3pm ET. I will be there supplying live updates.