DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 3 seed Duke women’s basketball team punched its ticket to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as the Blue Devils came out of the gates red hot and never looked back, cruising to an 89-49 victory over No. 14-seed Iona on Saturday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke (26-6) finished the game with four players in double figures, led by seniors Elizabeth Balogun and Celeste Taylor with 13 points apiece. Taylor also tallied five rebounds and a pair of assists while Balogun added four rebounds to her statline.

Duke took it to Iona to begin play, opening up a quick 8-0 lead and forcing an Iona timeout just over two minutes into action. The Gaels responded with six straight points out of the timeout, narrowing the deficit to two points before the Blue Devils ripped off another eight straight points to extend the advantage to double digits.

Iona trailed by 12 points at the end of the first quarter and saw the deficit grow to as large as 31 points entering the locker room at half. Iona fought hard to begin the second half, trading baskets back and forth with the Blue Devils for the majority of the third frame.

Junior Kennedy Brown filled up the stat sheet as she chipped in 10 points, a game-high eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Redshirt-junior Jordyn Oliver rounded out the quartet of double-digit scorers with 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Iona (26-7) was led by Ketsia Athias with 20 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Duke advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where the Blue Devils will battle against No. 6-seed Colorado on Monday, March 20 at 9 p.m., live on ESPNU.