Brown, Donovan Launch Duke Past Toledo, 70-45

Wednesday, December 20

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

7-4,0-1ACC

Toledo

6-3,0-0MAC

Toledo

Duke

Brown, Donovan Launch Duke Past Toledo, 70-45

12/20/2023 9:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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DURHAM – Senior Kennedy Brown netted a career-high 17 points and freshman Jadyn Donovan registered her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Blue Devils to a convincing, 70-45, victory over Toledo Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Donovan tacked on four blocks, two steals and an assist in an impressive all-around performance.

Duke (7-4) shot 50 percent from the field (28-of-56) and 86 percent at the charity stripe (14-of-16) and finished the game with sizeable margins on the glass (42-25) and in the paint (46-28). The Blue Devils outscored the Rockets, 21-6, in the third quarter to break open the game.

Sophia Wiard led Toledo (6-3) with a game-high 21 points. The Blue Devils held Toledo to just 31 percent shooting (18-of-58) and to just 15 percent (3-of-20) from long range.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Duke held a 16-11 advantage after the opening 10 minutes of play. The Blue Devils started the game with 10 of the first 12 points to create an early separation.
Kennedy Brown, Jadyn Donovan and Camilla Emsbo each scored four points while Reigan Richardson and Delaney Thomas also contributed to the scoring efforts.
The Blue Devils scored 14 of their first-quarter points in the paint and netted eight second chance points during the period.
Duke outscored the Rockets 16-14 in the second to take a 32-25 lead into the locker room. Toledo pulled within two possessions, four points, a couple of times in the period, but the Blue Devils never let the Rockets make the full comeback.
Sophomores Ashlon Jackson and Taina Mair joined in on the scoring action in the quarter while Brown, Donovan and Richardson added to their respective totals.
A 13-2 start to the third quarter put Duke in complete control of the game, 45-27, and the Blue Devils never looked back.
Brown, Donovan and Mair sparked the run for the Blue Devils. Oluchi Okananwa converted an old fashioned three-point play before Donovan and Mair capped the run with buckets in transition.
The Blue Devils tallied eight of the period's final 12 points, including Emsbo's layup just before the buzzer via Jackson's drive and dish, to give Duke a 22-point margin heading into the final quarter.
Duke outscored Toledo 17-14 in the final period to put the finishing touches on the victory.

GAME NOTES:

With the win, Duke improves to 7-4 on the season. The Blue Devils also move to 4-1 all-time against Toledo.
The Blue Devils shot 50 percent from the field (28-of-56) and 86 percent from the foul line (12-of-14).
Duke dominated the Rockets in the paint (46-28) and on the glass (42-25) while also winning the superlative battle in points off turnovers (20-11), second chance points (17-8), fastbreak points (14-6) and bench scoring (18-11).
On the defensive side of the ball, Duke held Toledo 23 points below its season scoring average (68.6) and well below its splits from the field (31 percent) and from distance (15 percent) – the Rockets entered the game shooting .407 from the floor and .299 from deep.
Senior Kennedy Brown and freshman Jadyn Donovan registered career nights for the Blue Devils in the 25-point victory over Toledo.
Brown registered a career-best 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 4-of-4 at the free throw line. She also added five rebounds.
Donovan netted the first double-double of her Duke career with 12 points and 10 boards, polishing off a strong all-around game with four blocks and two steals.
Donovan is the third Duke player this season to notch a double-double, joining Oluchi Okananwa (22 pts, 12 rebs vs. Richmond) and Delaney Thomas (10 pts, 13 rebs vs. NC Central).

UP NEXT
Duke wraps up non-conference play on Thursday, Dec. 28 when it takes on Coppin State at 7 p.m., live on ACCNX.

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