No. 1 Duke Takes Down Fairfield, 110-44

Tuesday, November 22

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

110

Fairfield

No. 1 Duke Takes Down Fairfield, 110-44

11/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.--In what is becoming a season of big runs, the No. 1 Duke women's basketball team (3-0) used a first half 32-0 run to pull away from the Fairfield Stags (0-3) and a 17-0 second-half run to finish the game as Duke won 110-44 Tuesday in front of 4,762 here at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Senior Monique Currie led the way for Duke with 21 points and 12 rebounds while freshman Abby Waner scored 16 points, had six assists and five rebounds. In all, six Blue Devils scored in double figures as Mistie Williams and Carrem Gay scored 14 apiece, Alison Bales added 13 and Chante Black 12.

Duke assisted 31 times on its 44 field goals as Wanisha Smith led the way with eight and Lindsey Harding added seven. Duke again had a stellar defensive performance as the Blue Devils recorded 17 steals and 11 blocks in the game. Black and Bales combined for seven blocks while Harding, Smith and Waner each had three steals to lead Duke.

The Stags came out of the gate red-hot, hitting two of their first three shots en route to an early 8-6 lead. Duke's big first-half run over the next 7:15 gave them a 38-8 lead. Freshman Abby Waner scored 11 points during the run and had all 16 of her points in the first stanza.

Currie scored 12 first-half points while Williams added 10 in the first stanza and Bales nine. Duke added runs of 9-0 and 8-0 later in the half to hold a 65-23 lead at halftime.

The Stags played even with Duke for the first seven minutes of the second half, keeping the Duke lead around the 40 point mark at 78-39 but then the Blue Devils exploded again. Duke outscored Fairfield 32-5 over the final 13 minutes with runs of 7-0, 8-0 and a game ending 17-0 run over the final 6:22.

Sabra Wright led Fairfield with 15 points, including 3-of-8 from three-point land while Cara Murphy had 10 points.

Next up for Duke is the 2005 Duke Classic as the Blue Devils will host Auburn, Arkansas State and George Mason Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 26-27. Auburn and George Mason will tipoff at 1 p.m. ET Saturday while Duke and Arkansas State are scheduled for 3:30 p.m.