Duke Opens Season with Victory Over North Carolina A&T
DURHAM, NC – Duke women’s basketball tipped off the 2022-23 season with a 77-57 victory over North Carolina A&T Monday morning at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils finished the game with four players in double figures, led by senior Elizabeth Balogun who finished the game with 15 points, five boards and three assists. Junior Kennedy Brown tallied 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting, and senior Celeste Taylor and sophomore Reigan Richardson rounded out the double-figure scoring with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Balogun and junior Vanessa de Jesus paced the Blue Devils on the glass with a team-leading five rebounds, while eight different players finished the game with three assists apiece.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Duke jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, forcing North Carolina A&T to burn a timeout at the 5:57 mark of the first period. Sophomore Lee Volker scored four points, with graduate student Taya Corosdale and junior Kennedy Brown chipping in buckets of their own as well.
North Carolina A&T broke through on the scoreboard at the 4:38 on a pair of free throws by Nyah Willis.
The Blue Devils closed the first quarter scoring 15 of the final 21 points and held a 23-8 advantage after 10 minutes.
11 different players logged minutes in the opening quarter with eight of them scoring points, led by sophomore Reigan Richardson with five points.
Duke took a 39-16 lead into the break after outscoring the opposition 16-8 in the second quarter.
Richardson and Brown paced the scoring efforts in the opening 20 minutes with nine and seven points respectively.
Vanessa de Jesus and Jordyn Oliver led the way on the glass with four first-half boards while three players – de Jesus, Volker and freshman Ashlon Jackson – each dished out three assists.
North Carolina A&T got its offense going in the third as the Aggies put up 22 points, more than their first-half point total combined.
The Blue Devils also scored 22 points in the third to maintain a 23-point advantage, 61-38, heading into the final frame.
Seniors Elizabeth Balogun and Celeste Taylor combined for 14 of those points, with Taylor netting eight points and Balogun scoring six.
At the end of the third quarter, four Duke players had reached double figures – Taylor (12), Balogun (11), Brown (11) and Richardson (11).
North Carolina A&T was plus three in fourth-quarter scoring, finishing the period with a 19-16 advantage on the scoreboard.
The deficit proved to be too insurmountable though, as Duke locked down the 77-57 win.
GAME NOTES:
The Blue Devils improved to 39-9 all-time in season openers and have won 18 of their last 19.
Duke held the Aggies to zero percent shooting from the floor (0-for-12), which is the lowest first-quarter field goal percentage by a Duke opponent all-time.
The Blue Devils also held North Carolina A&T to the second-lowest first-half field goal percentage by an opponent all-time, as the Aggies went 2-of-27 (7.4 percent) from the field during the opening 20 minutes.
Four players finished the game in double figures for Duke – Balogun (15), Brown (13), Taylor (12) and Richardson (11).
Duke scored 21 points off 19 Aggie turnovers and outscored the Aggies in the paint (34-12), out in transition (17-5) and off the bench (43-15).
The Blue Devils finished the game with 26 assists and had eight different players record three dimes.
Redshirt junior guard Jordyn Oliver played her first official game in 594 days. She finished with two points, three assists and four rebounds in 20 minutes.
UP NEXT:
Duke closes its season-opening two-game homestand on Thursday as the Blue Devils welcome Charleston Southern to Cameron Indoor Stadium. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m., live on ACC Network Extra.
To stay up to date with Duke women’s basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “DukeWBB.”