Duke Races to 89-49 Victory Over Iona, Advances to Second Round of NCAA Tournament

Saturday, March 18

Durham, N.C.

9:30 p.m.

Duke University

26-6,14-4ACC

Iona

26-7,18-2MAAC

Iona

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Races to 89-49 Victory Over Iona, Advances to Second Round of NCAA Tournament

3/19/2023 1:22:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Duke Postgame vs. Iona Duke Quotes (PDF)Opponent Quotes (PDF)Highlights

DURHAM – The No. 3 seed Duke women's basketball team punched its ticket to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as the Blue Devils came out of the gates red hot and never looked back, cruising to an 89-49 victory over No. 14-seed Iona on Saturday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke (26-6) finished the game with four players in double figures, led by seniors Elizabeth Balogun and Celeste Taylor with 13 points apiece. Taylor also tallied five rebounds and a pair of assists while Balogun added four rebounds to her statline.

Junior Kennedy Brown filled up the stat sheet as she chipped in 10 points, a game-high eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Redshirt-junior Jordyn Oliver rounded out the quartet of double-digit scorers with 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Iona (26-7) was led by Ketsia Athias with 20 points, five assists and four rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Duke opened the game with an 8-0 run and closed the opening period with a 14-4 spurt to take a 22-10 lead into the quarter break.
Seven different Duke players scored during the opening 10 minutes of action, led by Vanessa de Jesus and Oliver with six and four points apiece, respectively, off the bench.
The Blue Devils kept their foot on the gas in the second quarter, outscoring the Gaels 25-6 during the period to take a 47-16 lead into the break.
Duke shot at a 60.6-percent clip from the floor during the first half while all 10 players that saw game action scored, led by Balogun, Brown and Oliver with eight points apiece.
Scoring was at a premium in the third quarter as the teams combined for 42 points. Iona was able to get its offense going during the frame with 18 points but were unable to cut into the deficit as Duke put up 24 points of its own.
The Blue Devils outscored Iona 18-15 in the final period and hit five of their last six shots to put the finishing touches on the 40-point win.

GAME NOTES

With the win, Duke improves to 26-6 overall and 59-24 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils also won an NCAA Tournament game for the 25th time in as many appearances.
Duke also moves to 4-0 against MAAC opponents in the big dance and 17-1 against the conference all-time.
Duke is now 6-0 this season in games immediately following a loss.
Four players finished the game in double figures – Balogun (13), Taylor (13), Brown (10) and Oliver (10)
Sophomore Shayeann Day-Wilson matched a season high with seven dimes.
The Blue Devils assisted on 22 of their 38 buckets and shot at a 58.5-percent clip from the field for the game – marking the highest field goal percentage by Duke this season.
Duke's defense was on full display Saturday evening as the Blue Devils registered 11 steals and six blocks, forced 18 Iona turnovers and held the Gaels' 14 points below their season scoring average (63.4).
The 49 points scored by the Gaels marks the 17th time this season that Duke has held an opponent to 50 points or less.
Duke scored 30 points off Iona's miscues and held a sizeable margin over the Gaels in points in the paint (56-32), bench points (42-4), second chance points (25-3) and fast breaks (14-0).

UP NEXT:
Duke advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where the Blue Devils will battle against No. 6-seed Colorado on Monday, March 20 at 9 p.m., live on ESPNU.

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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