DURHAM, N.C. – Redshirt freshman guard Rebecca Greenwell guided the 16th-ranked Duke Blue Devils to a 65-40 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Thursday.
Greenwell’s 21 points, the fifth time this season she’s hit the 20-plus mark, led all players while true freshman forward Azura Stevens pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds.
In helping Duke improve to 12-5 overall and 3-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, Greenwell, the reigning ACC Freshman of the Week, registered her third consecutive game with four made three-pointers.
Forwards Elizabeth Williams and Oderah Chidom added nine points each to help power Duke’s 52-percent shooting which eclipsed Virginia Tech’s 25-percent conversion rate from the field.
Vanessa Panousis paced the Hokies with 14 points that included four baskets from behind the arc.
“I think it was a good, focused game by our team in terms of execution and getting back in the rebounding situation, in the second half in particular,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
“I thought Becca was really, really aggressive. They had to try and deny her the ball, which is always good because that provides opportunities for her teammates and can mess the defensive rotation of the team if they’re going to try and face guard and take somebody out. We played strong and aggressive – a business-like good game.”
Though Virginia Tech led early, 9-7, the Blue Devils countered with a 17-0 run and took advantage of numerous Hokies turnovers to lead 30-16 with just over six minutes remaining in the opening half.
Duke shot 58 percent from the field and held a 37-24 lead at the break.
Greenwell opened the second half with eight points in the first four minutes of play and extended the Blue Devils’ lead to 45-26.
Strong defensive play kept the Hokies off the board for nearly six minutes, but Duke experienced scoring trouble as well.
The Blue Devils came out of it sooner with back-to-back three-pointers from senior forward Amber Henson (5 points, 5 rebounds) and junior guard Mercedes Riggs (3 points, 5 assists), while Stevens continued to crash the boards.
The Blue Devils held Virginia Tech to just two points during the final four minutes, and closed out the 25-point victory in commanding fashion.
Notes: The Blue Devils posted 18 assists and finished with a 41-29 advantage on the boards…Duke held the advantage in scoring points in the paint (28-10), off turnovers (19-8), and on fast breaks (10-5)…The Hokies held even (13-13) with the Blue Devils in second-chance points…Duke’s bench scored 14 points to Virginia Tech’s five with Henson, Riggs, Erin Mathias (4 points, 2 rebounds), and Kendall Cooper (2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists)contributing…Chidom was injured during the second half (shoulder) after playing 18 minutes. McCallie was not sure of her status following the game.