Blue Devils Close Non-Conference Play with 78-35 Win at CSU

Tuesday, December 21

Charleston, SC

12 P.M.

Duke University

9-1,0-0ACC

Charleston Southern

0-11,0-0Big South

Duke

Charleston So.

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Close Non-Conference Play with 78-35 Win at CSU

12/21/2021 2:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score POSTGAME NOTES BOXSCORE GALLERY GOODCHILD/GREEN INTERVIEW LAWSON INTERVIEW

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The 16^th-ranked Duke women's basketball team closed non-conference action Tuesday as the Blue Devils collected a 78-35 road victory over Charleston Southern at CSU Field House in Charleston, S.C.

The Blue Devils outscored the Buccaneers, 38-11, in the second half on their way to improving to 9-1 overall and 1-0 in ACC action.

Senior Elizabeth Balogun paced the Blue Devils with a season-high 14 points to go along with seven rebounds. Classmate Miela Goodchild and junior Nyah Green also notched double-figures, as the pair added 10 points apiece, while pulling down six and four rebounds, respectively. Sophomore Vanessa de Jesus pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds in the contest.

Duke came out and scored the first six points of the contest and built a 10-2 lead early behind four quick points from Balogun and graduate student Jade Williams. Charleston Southern came back with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 12-8. The Blue Devils closed the first quarter on an 8-2 run to hold a 20-10 advantage after one.

Balogun kept up her strong play in the second quarter to help Duke to a 40-24 lead at the half. A product of Lagos, Nigeria, Balogun registered 11 points, seven rebounds and one steal in the first stanza as she hit 5-of-9 field goals. As a team, the Blue Devils struggled shooting hitting only 32.6 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from downtown.

Duke scored 21 of its 40 first half points off second chance points.

Balogun drained a 3-pointer to open the third quarter and Goodchild added five points to force the Buccaneers to call a timeout at the 4:51 mark, with the Blue Devils holding their biggest lead of the contest, 50-28. Duke's defense was stellar in the period as the Blue Devils outscored Charleston Southern, 18-4, and limited the Buccaneers to 2-of-13 field goals for 15.4 percent shooting.

Freshman Shayeann Day-Wilson also got going in the period – the rookie completed an old-fashioned 3-point play, then sank her team-best 26th three-pointer of the season to finish with six third quarter points.

Duke went on a 25-0 run and held CSU scoreless for 7:08 en route to building a 68-28 lead in the fourth, before going on to the 43-point victory.

Charleston Southern (0-11) was led by Alyssia Faye and Skylar Baltezegar with eight points each.

Game Notes:

The 64 rebounds by Duke was tied for the fourth most in a single game in Blue Devil history.
Duke outscored CSU, 45-17, off the bench.
The Blue Devils held a 64-22 advantage on the boards.
CSU hit only 28.6 percent from the field and 6.3 percent from downtown.

Up Next:
Duke will be off for the Christmas holiday, before returning to action on the road Dec. 30 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. The game will be aired live on ACC Network. It will mark the first of two meetings with the Hokies over a span of 15 days.

#GoDuke