The Duke women’s basketball team broke open a close game in the middle of the second period and handed Virginia its first defeat of the season 70-56 Wednesday night.
The win was Duke’s ACC opener. Duke is now 11-1 overall.
The beginning of the game was strange, to say the least. Duke was called for a moving screen on three of its first five possessions, three different players being the culprit.
Duke got that fixed but not before falling behind 5-0.
It was 5-2 when Vanessa de Jesus replaced Shayeann Day-Wilson.
“Vanessa has really been trending upward in terms of her play and practices and her ability to knock down threes,” Kara Lawson said following the game.
De Jesus assisted Kennedy Brown inside and it was 5-4, then knocked down a 3 and Duke had its first lead at 7-5. Duke again fell behind but de Jesus drew a foul on a 3-pointer and made all three foul shots and put Duke back up 14-12.
Duke never trailed again. It was 21-17 after one.
Vanessa de Jesus ended the first period with eight points and two assists, off the bench.
“When I go in, I just take in those moments and do what my role is,” she said. “Whatever that is for me, I just take advantage of that and all of those moments and make the most of it.”
Taya Corosdale also gave Duke a big lift off the bench, with four first-period points.
Lawson on Corosdale.
“She’s a veteran, she understands scheme offensively and defensively, she can score, she’s versatile, she can make jump shots, she can post, she can make free throws, so I felt like with their physicality that I would put her in early in the game because a lot of this is matchups and what player you feel will help you.”
Seventeen of Duke’s 21 first-period points came off the bench.
Duke’s defense took over in the second period. Duke led 24-21 with 6:56 left in the half before holding the Cavaliers to five points for the rest of the half.
“We had turnovers, we were a little rattled and were taking uncharacteristic shots,” Virginia coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said.
Day-Wilson beat the clock with a 35-footer at the buzzer and Duke went into the locker room up 38-26.
Day-Wilson started the second half with another 3-pointer and Brown scored inside and Duke had its biggest lead, at 43-26.
Virginia began to claw back, aided by a full-court press that confused Duke for a time.
The Cavaliers closed to 46-37 with 4:09 left in the third. But Corosdale scored on an offensive rebound, Celeste Taylor scored after a de Jesus offensive rebound and Ashlon Jackson ended the period with her second 3-pointer of the night.
Duke ended the third up 53-39.
“In the initial stages of their pressure. we didn’t handle it well,” Lawson said “and made some poor decisions with the ball, so we’ve got to keep improving on that. Once we settled into it, we’ve obviously faced presses before and I thought we handled it well. I also thought we were able to attack well out of it. We were able to get some possessions where we got on the backside of the press and got numbers and got a layup.”
Virginia wasn’t through, cutting a 16-point (55-39) Duke lead to eight (57-49).
A 3-pointer by de Jesus put Duke back up by 11 and the lead never again dipped below 10 points.
Lawson cited that de Jesus 3-pointer as “critical.”
“We were kind of making a run there,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “Duke punched back to, that’s what happened. When we punched and got on a roll and they punched back and opened it up.”
Duke closed it out from the line, Taylor hitting four straight in one span.
De Jesus led Duke with 15 points, adding three assists. Kennedy Brown added 11 points, 4 assists and 5 blocks, Day-Wilson 11 points, 2 steals. Corosdale ended with 8 points and 4 rebounds.
But as is so often the case, Taylor dominated for Duke, 13 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals.
Duke gets some well-earned time off before visiting NC State and hosting Louisville, a one-two punch that would challenge anyone.
“They’re going to get to go home and spend the holidays with their families as they should,” Lawson said “and I told them after the game to enjoy that time and enjoy the break. This is a long ride, the year, and so any time they get moments where they can get away and be with their loved ones, I think that’s important. For our players, they’re really close with their families, they almost get recharged being around them and feeling that connection. They know when we get back it’s time to work.
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Program note. I’ll also be taking time off for Christmas. I’ll be back early next week with an emphasis on the Military Bowl.
Best of the season to you and yours.
Thanks so much. You to.
Merry Christmas, Jim, have a wonderful holiday!