No. 16 Duke Resumes ACC Play Against Clemson

Thursday, January 12

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

Clemson

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Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 16 Duke Resumes ACC Play Against Clemson

1/11/2023 7:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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THE OPENING TIP

No. 16 Duke is back at home for a midweek matchup, resuming ACC play against Clemson Thursday, Jan., 9 at 7 p.m., in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
David Shumate and Debbie Taylor will call the action on ACCNX while Chris Edwards calls the game on the radio on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield.
Duke rose three spots to No. 16 in the Week 10 Associated Press (AP) Poll this week and also check in at No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Currently amid a nine-game win streak, Duke is off to its best start in recent history – boasting a 14-1 overall record and a 4-0 mark in ACC play. The Blue Devils' 14 wins in 15 games, along with their four consecutive wins to open conference action, mark program bests dating back to the 2013-14 campaign.
Duke's Strength of Schedule (SOS) is currently tied for ninth nationally (No. 2 in the ACC) while the latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings has the Blue Devils slotted seventh (as of Jan. 11).
Defense has been the calling card for the Blue Devils this season as the team has won each of their games by an average of 23.6 points and held each of their opponents below their season scoring average, including nine of the 14 to 50 points or less.
Duke has held its foes to 50.3 points per game on 33.3 percent shooting from the floor, marks that currently rank third and sixth in the NCAA, respectively, as well as first in the ACC (as of Jan. 11).
Over its last five games, Duke has knocked down its treys at a 45.3-percent clip compared to just 25.5 percent from deep through the first 10 games of the season.
The Blue Devils have received a huge lift from its reserves, averaging 28.4 points off the bench.
Duke leads the all-time series against the Tigers, 43-33, and has won nine of the last 10 meetings. In their lone meeting last season in South Carolina, the Blue Devils pulled out a 64-61 dub.

SHARING THE WEALTH

Duke's starting five of senior Elizabeth Balogun, junior Kennedy Brown, sophomores Shayeann Day-Wilson and Reigan Richardson and senior Celeste Taylor have provided a steady hand for the Blue Devils this season, combining for 65.4 percent (46.1 points) of the team's 70.5 points per game.
Taylor has reached double digits in 11 of the 15 games this season followed by Balogun with nine and Brown with seven. Day-Wilson and Richardson have tallied six double-figure scoring games apiece.
Taylor leads the offensive charge for Duke, averaging 12.5 points per game with Balogun (11.0) and Brown (8.6) right behind in second and third. Day-Wilson and Richardson round out the group with 7.3 and 6.7 points a contest, respectively.
Duke's depth has been on full display as the Blue Devils have featured seven different leading scorers through 15 games this season, with Balogun (5) and Taylor (4) finishing with the team high on multiple occasions.
The squad features 10 players averaging at least 13 minutes per game with four of them averaging 20-plus minutes a contest -- Taylor (27.8), Brown (24.2), Day-Wilson (22.7) and Balogun (21.4).
As a team, Duke ranks fourth in the ACC in field goal percentage (.450) and has assisted on 243 of its 401 made field goals (.606) for an average of 16.2 dimes per game -- No. 2 in the ACC.
The Blue Devils are also second in the league in free throw percentage (.772), scoring margin (+20.20) and turnover margin (+4.07) as well as fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.07).

DISRUPTING THE PEACE – ELITE BLUE DEVIL DEFENSE

Disruptive defense has been the calling card for the Blue Devils early in the season as the team ranks among the nation's elite, having held its opponents to 50.3 points per game on a 33.3 percent clip from the field.
Those marks check in at third and sixth in the NCAA, respectively, while ranking first in the ACC (as of Jan. 11).
Duke is also tied for seventh in Defensive Rating, allowing its opponents just 0.647 points per possession.
In two ACC road games, Duke has only allowed seven made field goals in the fourth quarter -- NC State (4-of-18), Wake Forest (3-of-9)
The Blue Devils have won each of their games by an average of 23.6 points and held each of their opponents below their season scoring average, including nine of the 15 to 50 points or less.
In addition to leading the league in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, the Blue Devils are also first in the ACC in rebounding defense (30.93), third in defensive rebounding percentage (.750), fourth in blocks (4.73) and fifth in both three-point defense (.269) and steals (9.47).

DUKE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

Following a win over Wake Forest this past Thursday, Duke rose three spots to No. 16 in the Week 10 Associated Press (AP) Poll and also check in at No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
The Blue Devils are also ranked ninth in the ESPN Women's Basketball Power Rankings and tied for ninth in Strength of Schedule (SOS).
The latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings has the Blue Devils slotted seventh nationally (as of Jan. 11), which leads the ACC, with an undefeated record at home (7-0) and in true road contests (6-0), while being 1-1 in neutral site games.
With an average opponent NET ranking of 13, the Blue Devils are 3-1 this season against teams ranked in the top 50 of the NET Rankings and 8-1 against the top 100, including wins over NC State (No. 11), Louisville (No. 35), Virginia (No. 37), and Oregon State (No. 55). Duke's lone loss came to UConn, which checks in at No. 3 in the NET.

HEATING UP FROM DISTANCE

After a slow start from downtown to open the season, the Blue Devils have settled in and begun to find their stroke from three-point land.
Over its last five games, Duke has knocked down its treys at a 45.3-percent clip compared to just 25.5 percent from deep through the first 10 games of the season.
The Blue Devils have shot over 40 percent in four of the five games while six Duke players have combined for the 35 three-point makes.
Celeste Taylor has led the charge with 14 treys during this stretch, followed by Shayeann Day-Wilson with six triples and Elizabeth Balogun with five.
Ashlon Jackson has nailed four threes and Vanessa de Jesus and Reigan Richardson have cashed in three and two three-pointers, respectively.

UP NEXT
Duke hits the road for its next two games, beginning with a trip to the Peach State for a date with Georgia Tech on Sunday, Jan. 15. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m., live on ACC Network.

To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."

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