Duke women with historic beat-down of ACC newcomer

Cal the victim. Stanford next?

On paper the Duke-California women’s game should have been one of the most competitive on Duke’s schedule. Duke entered Thursday night’s game in Cameron ranked 14^th in the AP poll. Cal was 16^th. Duke was 4-1 in ACC play. California was the same. Duke was 13-4 overall, Cal 16-2.

Notre Dame bludgeoned Cal earlier this season. But the Bears came to Durham having defeated SMU, NC State and Florida State in its last three games.

Again, on paper the two teams were almost doppelgangers, averaging almost the same number of points per game, while giving up almost the same number of points per game. Other stats were similiar. Cal has five double-digit scorers, a veteran lineup with key players from Australia, Greece and Spain. They hit 37% of their 3s.

Not a team one would expect to easily unravel.

They unraveled. Whether it was easy depends on which side your bread is buttered, I suppose. But well before halftime Duke’s defense had simply dismantled Cal’s offense.

Duke never trailed. Reigan Richardson scored Duke’s first five points on the way to a solid 14-point performance.

But it was Jadyn Donovan who set the tone on Duke’s defensive end. She ended the game with two points, two assists and two turnovers. But from the outset she relentlessly harassed Cal with her athleticism, physicality and tenacity.

Marta Suarez air-balled a 3-pointer barely a minute into the game. Shot-clock violation, passes sailing serenely out of bounds, a charge, a moving screen, travels, five seconds, you name it.

Turnovers are us.

But best of all, live-ball turnovers.

Kara Lawson told me recently that the goal of Duke’s defense wasn’t necessarily to force turnovers but to force bad possessions.

But live-ball turnovers and defensive rebounds can lead to fast-break baskets, which Duke needed after a couple of shaky offensive performances against UNC and Virginia.

A Donvan steal--one of four--lead to a Delaney Thomas transition basket to put Duke up 7-5. Oluchi Okananwa grabbing a rebound and going coast to coast to make it 23-11. Taina Mair picking Lula Twidale’s pocket and turning it into an Ashlon Jackson triple for 31-13. Another Mair steal and Toby Fournier is making it 35-13 at the rim a few seconds later.

It was 37-20 at the half.

The visitors ended with 31 turnovers. This is a top-20 team.

Duke had 15 steals.

But Duke’s defense wasn’t the only positive storyline for the Devils.

Lawson has never really had a star, not an All-America type of star. Celeste Taylor got a lot of well-deserved publicity for her defense. But she averaged 11.0 and 11.4 points per game in her two years at Duke.

Richardson led Duke with 12.4 points per game last season.

Defense first, lots of balance, deep bench.

Fournier could be the player to break that template.

You may recall BC’s Dontavia Waggoner trying to separate Fournier’s head from her body a few weeks ago. Fournier missed one game, a number of practices and came back to go 0 for 8 in Chapel Hill.

But she seemed to find her stride late in the Virginia game and she was a dominant force against California.

The 6-2 Canadian is the best--some would say only--back-to-the-basket scorer Lawson has had. But she’s super athletic and can score in transition, mid-range, off the glass. He foul shooting his improving and there’s a hint of a 3-point game. She told me she expects to transition to the wing somewhere down the not-this-season line.

Fournier led everyone with 23 points and 11 rebounds, 7 for 10 from the field, 9 for 10 from the line. She added two blocks.

She’s still averaging less than 20 minutes per game, which limits the counting stats. But stardom is pretty darn close.

The final was 72-38, the finest points ever scored against Duke by a ranked team.

Jackson added 16 points. Mair went scoreless but gave Duke five assists and four steals.

Cal made 2 of 12 from beyond the arc and 4 of 8 from the line. Kayla Williams was their leading scorer, with 8 points.

“I thought from the start, our intensity, our competitiveness, was at a really high level,” Lawson said,” and it carried through most of the game to put together that type of defensive performance. I think we’ve played defense really well the last couple of weeks but to build on that and have the attention to detail with our scheme was all high level.”

Duke hosts the other half of the Bay Area Newcomers Society Sunday, Duke and Stanford tipping off at one of the clock.