Richardson, Okananwa Pace Duke in 83-53 Win Over Richmond

Monday, November 6

Durham, N.C.

11 a.m.

Duke University

1-0,0-0ACC

Richmond

0-1,0-0Atlantic 10

Richmond

Duke

Photo by: Nat LeDonne / Duke Athletics

Richardson, Okananwa Pace Duke in 83-53 Win Over Richmond

11/6/2023 2:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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DURHAM – Junior Reigan Richardson scored a career-high 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field, including 4-of-4 from long range to lead the Duke women's basketball to an 83-53 season-opening win over Richmond Monday in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Blue Devils (1-0) had two players in double figures, with freshman Oluchi Okananwa turning in a spectacular all-around performance of 22 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two assists in 25 minutes of action.

Richmond falls to 0-1 on the year and was led by Addie Budnik with 17 points and six rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Jadyn Donovan scored the first Duke points of the season on a short jumper. Richardson followed with nine straight points to push Duke ahead, 11-6, at the 4:04 mark of the opening period.
Freshman Delaney Thomas extended the lead to seven shortly afterwards, cashing in a trifecta from the right wing off a drive-and-kick via Taina Mair to force a Richmond timeout.
The Spiders were paced by Rachel Ullstrom's six points in the first period. After the opening 10 minutes of action, the Blue Devils led 18-9.
Duke used a 12-4 start to the second period, featuring six points by Okananwa, to push its lead to 17 at the 6:45 mark.
Five quick points from Richmond pulled the visitors within a dozen, but the Blue Devils halted the mini surge with seven of the next nine points.
First, it was a right-corner triple from Mair, Kennedy Brown scored inside off quality high-low action with Thomas. Okananwa capped the Duke burst with a transition bucket after a nifty move to freeze her defender.
At the break, the Blue Devils held a 14-point advantage (39-25).
Richardson continued her offensive tear in the second half, shooting a perfect 6-for-6 clip from the field and scored 15 of Duke's 25 third-quarter points, including eight points in a span of 1:16. Mair added four points in the quarter and Brown, Emsbo and Okananwa each added buckets of their own as Duke's margin stood at 28, 64-36, after three.
Duke remained steady in the fourth quarter, outscoring Richmond, 19-17, to earn the 30-point victory.

GAME NOTES

Duke improves to 40-9 all-time in season openers with wins in 19 of its last 20. The Blue Devils also won their 25th straight home opener dating back to 1998-99.
The Blue Devils move to 8-1 all-time against Richmond and have now won three consecutive meetings with the Spiders, including the last two by an average of 40.5 points.
Jadyn Donovan became the first Duke freshman since current Blue Devil Vanessa de Jesus (11.25.20) to earn the start in her first career game as a Blue Devil.
Reigan Richardson poured in a career-high 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the floor, including a career-best four triples on a 100-percent clip.
Richardson's 15 third-quarter points matched the school record for most points in the period set by Rebecca Greenwell on Feb. 25, 2018 vs. North Carolina.
Oluchi Okananwa made her Duke debut one to remember as the rookie finished the game with 22 points and 12 rebounds, making her the first freshman since 2014, and just the seventh Blue Devil all-time, to post a double-double in their first collegiate game.
Rebecca Greenwell (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Azura Stevens (10 points, 10 rebounds) were the last two to accomplish the feat, both doing so against Alabama back on Nov. 16, 2014.
Sophomore Ashlon Jackson dished out a career-high six assists
The Blue Devils had two players finish with 20 or more points in the same game for the first time since Feb. 6, 2022.
The Blue Devils shot 54 percent (34-of-63) from the floor and 44 percent (7-of-16) from behind the arc for the game. Defensively, Duke held Richmond to 35-percent shooting and forced the Spiders into 18 turnovers.
Duke outscored Richmond 46-26 in the paint and 34-15 off the bench, also holding the advantage in second chance points (18-5) and on the fastbreak (16-2).

UP NEXT
The Blue Devils continue their season-opening homestand with a tilt against Coastal Carolina on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m., live on ACCNX.

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