Richa Jackson led all scorers with a career-high 21 points.

In a proverbial game of runs, Duke had the last laugh with a staggering 20-2 run to knock out the plucky Wolfpack Women in the last seven minutes of the game. State was finishing a run of six games in eleven days and went to 0-3 in the league against three physical opponents. Duke is now a quiet 3-0 in the ACC and is doing it more with offense than defense. Duke got superb balance as five players scored in double digits, including a career-high 21 points from Richa Jackson. The player of the game in many ways for Duke was Allison Vernerey, who provided key leadership down the stretch as well as some eye-opening jump hooks from about ten feet out. When State pulled within six, she had the confidence to uncork a shot she very rarely takes and then to do it again a few minutes later. That said, Duke won in large part because they have started to understand when to attack and when to hang back a bit, which reduced their turnover output to 15 (just 6 in the second half). That came with a lot of pressure from State, who played physically throughout the game. The Devils also managed to thrive even though Elizabeth Williams had some serious foul trouble, playing just six minutes in the first half and dealing with four fouls in the second half. This was a game where Duke seemed to get better as a team, which is exactly what you want as the team approaches the first-quarter mark of the ACC season.

Top Performers

1. Allison Vernerey, DU: 13 points, 3 steals
2. Richa Jackson, DU: 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals
3. Tricia Liston, DU: 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals