No. 19 Duke Hits the Road for ACC Tilt at Wake Forest

Thursday, January 5

Winston-Salem, N.C.

6 p.m.

Duke University

Wake Forest

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 19 Duke Hits the Road for ACC Tilt at Wake Forest

1/4/2023 1:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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THE OPENING TIP

The Blue Devils are back on the road for another in-state contest, this time making the trek to Winston-Salem for a date with Wake Forest on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m., live on ACCNX.
Evan Lepler and Stan Lewter will call the action on ACCNX while Chris Edwards calls the game on the radio on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield.
Duke made its debut in the 2022-23 Associated Press (AP) Poll this week, checking in at No. 19 in the week nine rankings. The Blue Devils are also ranked 22nd in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Currently amid an eight-game win streak, Duke is off to its best start in recent history – boasting a 13-1 overall record and a 3-0 mark in ACC play. The Blue Devils 13 wins in 14 games, along with their three consecutive wins to open conference action, mark program bests dating back to the 2013-14 campaign.
Senior Elizabeth Balogun was tabbed the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) after averaging 18.0 points on 67 percent shooting, 8.5 boards and 2.0 blocks in wins over No. 10 NC State and Louisville.
Duke's Strength of Schedule (SOS) is currently ranked seventh nationally and No. 1 in the ACC while the latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings has the Blue Devils slotted eighth (as of Jan. 3).
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 24.7 points and held each of their opponents below their season scoring average, including eight of the 14 to 50 points or less.
Duke has held its foes to 50.3 points per game on 33.2 percent shooting from the floor, marks that currently rank second and fifth in the NCAA, respectively, as well as first in the ACC (as of Jan. 3).
Redshirt junior Jordyn Oliver is No. 4 nationally and first in the ACC with a 3.20 assist-to-turnover ratio (as of Jan. 3).
The Blue Devils have received a huge lift from its reserves, averaging 29.7 points off the bench.
Duke leads the all-time series against the Demon Deacons, 69-20, and has won 8 of the last 10 meetings. In their lone meeting last season at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils posted an 81-76 victory.

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 64.3 percent (45.8 points) of the team's 71.2 points per game.
Taylor has reached double digits in 10 of the 14 games this season followed by Balogun with eight and Brown with seven. Day-Wilson has tallied six double-figure scoring games while Richardson has posted five.
Taylor leads the offensive charge for Duke, averaging 12.1 points per game with Balogun (10.9) and Brown (8.8) right behind in second and third. Day-Wilson and Richardson round out the group with 7.7 and 6.3 points a contest, respectively.
Duke's depth has been on full display as the Blue Devils have featured seven different leading scorers through 14 games this season, with Balogun (5) and Taylor (3) finishing with the team high on multiple occasions.
The squad features 11 players averaging at least 13 minutes per game with four of them averaging 20-plus minutes a contest -- Taylor (27.2), Brown (23.7), Day-Wilson (23.3) and Balogun (20.9).
As a team, Duke ranks fifth in the ACC in field goal percentage (.450) and has assisted on 230 of its 377 made field goals (.610) for an average of 16.4 dimes per game -- No. 3 in the ACC.
The Blue Devils are also first in the league in free throw percentage (.773), second in turnover margin (+4.36) as well as fourth in scoring margin (+20.93) and assist/turnover ratio (1.10).

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 33.2 percent clip from the field.
Those marks check in at second and fifth in the NCAA, respectively, while ranking first in the ACC (as of Jan. 3).
Duke is also slotted seventh in Defensive Rating, allowing its opponents just 0.643 points per possession.
The Blue Devils have won each of their games by an average of 24.7 points and held each of their opponents below their season scoring average, including eight of the 14 to 50 points or less.
In the win over Louisville on Sunday, Duke held the Cardinals to 56 points -- 22 below its 30th-ranked season average of 78.2.
In addition to leading the league in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, the Blue Devils are third in the ACC in defensive rebounding percentage (.744), fourth in rebounding defense (31.43) tied for fourth in blocks (4.86), fifth in both three-point defense (.260) and steals (9.85) and tied for fifth in steals (9.57).

DUKE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

Following a pair of victories against NC State and Louisville this past week, Duke made its debut in the 2022-23 Associated Press (AP) Poll this week, checking in at No. 19 in the week nine rankings. Duke is also ranked 22nd in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
The Blue Devils were also tabbed the ESPN Women's Basketball Team of the Week and check into the Power Rankings for the first time this season at No. 15 -- check out the full release here.
Duke's Strength of Schedule (SOS) is currently ranked seventh nationally and No. 1 in the ACC while the latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings has the Blue Devils slotted eighth (as of Jan. 3), with an undefeated record at home (7-0) and in true road contests (5-0), while being 1-1 in neutral site games.
With an average opponent NET ranking of 16, the Blue Devils are 3-1 this season against teams ranked in the top 50 of the NET Rankings and 7-1 against the top 100, including wins over NC State (No. 10), Virginia (No. 32), Louisville (No. 34) and on the road at Toledo (No. 52). Duke's lone loss came to UConn, which checks in at No. 4 in the NET.

BALOGUN TABBED USBWA NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Senior Elizabeth Balogun was tabbed the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) after averaging 18.0 points on 67 percent shooting, 8.5 boards and 2.0 blocks in wins over No. 10 NC State and Louisville.
Balogun netted 16 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds to help Duke take down NC State, 72-58, on the road, then followed that up with a 20 point, 10 rebound performance in the seven-point win against Louisville.
Balogun's double-double was the fourth of her career and first since the 2019-20 season, when she totaled 12 points and 10 boards as a member of the Cardinals against Oklahoma State.
Over her last five games, Balogun is averaging 13.6 points – on 57.1 percent from the field and a 55.6 clip from distance – along with 6.2 rebounds. She has also scored 16+ points in four of the five contests.

UP NEXT
Duke resumes ACC play on Jan. 12 as the Blue Devils play host to Clemson at 7 p.m., live on ACCNX.

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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