COLUMBIA, S.C. – Three Blue Devils finished their night as double-figure scorers, but it wasn't enough for No. 8 Duke (8-2) in an 81-70 setback to third-ranked South Carolina (8-1) Thursday evening at Colonial Life Arena.
Taina Mair had a fantastic all-around game with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Delaney Thomas contributed 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting while
Oluchi Okananwa posted 12 points and seven rebounds.
South Carolina finished its night shooting 57 percent from the floor and outscored the Blue Devils in the paint, 48-34.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- South Carolina held a double-digit lead after the opening 10 minutes of action, using a pair of extended scoring runs to build up a 28-12 advantage.
- Taina Mair led four Blue Devil scorers with five points in the first quarter.
- The Blue Devils got off to a strong start in the second frame and used a 12-4 run to trim their deficit to 12, 36-24.
- Delaney Thomas' four points led the way during the spurt while Ashlon Jackson, Taina Mair and Jordan Wood contributing buckets as well. Jackson's and Wood's came from behind the arc.
- Toby Fournier, Oluchi Okananwa and Reigan Richardson joined in on the scoring action for Duke, but it was the home team that held a 20-point lead at the break.
- South Carolina opened the third quarter with a three-pointer to extend its lead to 23. Thomas answered with a jumper at the other end as the teams traded baskets over the opening five minutes of the period.
- Trailing by 23, Duke put together a 7-0 spurt to cut the Gamecocks lead to 16, 66-40. Okananwa started the run while a tip-in from Donovan brought the Blue Devils the closest since it was 43-28 late in the second quarter.
- South Carolina outscored Duke 6-2 in the closing minutes of the period to head into the final 10 minutes ahead by 20, 68-48.
- Jackson started the final stanza with a strike from distance, bringing the lead back down to 17, 68-51. Duke's hot hand continued with Okananwa draining a three and then Mair hitting from distance to make it a 12-point game, 69-57. Donovan laid the ball in on a fast break, cutting South Carolina's advantage to 10, 69-59, and forcing the Gamecocks to call a timeout.
- Donovan knocked down a jumper out of the timeout to bring Duke within single digits, 69-61, for the first time since the 5:28 mark of the first quarter.
- South Carolina's Chloe Kitts found the bottom of the net, upping the lead back to double digits as the Gamecocks never looked back en route to the, 81-70, victory.
NOTES:
- Duke eclipsed 70 points for the 10th consecutive game, matching its longest streak of 70-point games to open the season dating back to 2013-14.
- The Blue Devils totaled more second chance points (17-7) and outrebounded South Carolina for the game, 33-28, including an 18-9 margin on the offensive glass
- The 28 rebounds by the Gamecocks were 19 fewer than their respective season rebounding average entering the game (46.8) and marked a season low, five boards fewer than the previous low of 34 against UCLA (11.24).
- Duke finished with at least three players in double figures for the 10th time in as many games - Taina Mair (14), Delaney Thomas (14) and Oluchi Okananwa (12).
- Sixty percent of Duke's scoring came via the extra pass, with the Blue Devils dropping 18 dimes on 30 buckets.
- The Blue Devils tallied double-digit steals for the fifth time on the year, finishing the night with 12 thefts.
- Junior Taina Mair turned in a solid all-around performance with 14 points, four rebounds, four assists and a game-high four steals.
- Sophomore Delaney Thomas reached double figures for the third time in her last four outings, shooting a perfect 7-of-7 en route to finishing with 14 points.
- Thomas had her hand all over the stat sheet, rounding out her night with four boards, three steals and two assists.
- Oluchi Okananwa provided a jolt of energy off the bench with the sophomore turning in 12 points and seven rebounds - five coming via the offensive glass.
- Sophomore Jadyn Donovan posted a near double-double with eight points while posting team highs in rebounds (8) and assists (5).
UP NEXT:
No. 8 Duke opens ACC play against Virginia Tech Sunday, Dec. 8. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m., on ACC Network.
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