No. 9 Duke defeats UNCG, 84-39 in women’s basketball action

DURHAM, NC – Duke’s Krystal Thomas tallied 20 points as No. 9 Duke defeated UNC Greensboro, 84-39 in non-conference action at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

UNCG (0-3) was led by Monique Floyd who tallied seven points on 2-of-2 shooting from the floor. The Fairmont, NC native was also 3-for-3 from the free throw line. Jasmine Dixon and Ashley Mullins each tallied six rebounds in the loss.

Krystal Thomas led Duke (3-0) with 20 points and 10 rebounds on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor. Chante Black, Brittany Mitch and Joy Cheek were all in double-figures for the Blue Devils.

“While the score might not reflect it, we did do some good things today,” said head coach Lynne Agee. “The biggest things that we focused on fort this game was not quitting and playing hard for 40 minutes. I think that we did have several breakdowns but for the most part we stayed in the game and competed.

Duke opened the second half with several quick buckets run to pull ahead 50-2 but UNCG was able to use offense from the bench to cut the lead to 56-25 at the 15:12 mark. The Blue Devils used a 5-0 run midway through the half to take a 61-25 lead but UNCG used two quick buckets out of a timeout cut the lead to 63-29. A 21-4 Duke to close the game put the game out of reach.

Duke opened the first half with a three-point field goal from Bridgette Mitchell. UNCG responded and was able to quickly get down the floor but Floyd stepped out of bounds giving the Blue Devils possession. Gini Grimsley was able to cut the lead to 4-3 with a three pointer and a Duke travel gave UNCG the ball back on the ensuing possession. The teams battled on the boards but Duke used a jumper from Black to go up 6-3 at the 16:17 mark of the first stanza. 

UNCG kept the Blue Devils on their heels but several turnovers gave Duke an early 8-3 lead but a quick foul and two free throws from Floyd cut the lead to 8-5.  Duke was able to capitalize on several Spartans miscues and held UNCG without a field goal for seven minutes to pull ahead 25-10 with just under seven minutes remaining in the half.

The Spartans used a bucket in the paint from Jasmine Dixon and free throws from Brooks to cut the lead to 27-12 at the 4:10 mark but a three pointer from Emily Waner put Duke up 30-16 after the final media timeout of the half.

Duke closed the half on a 12-0 run to take a 44-16 lead into the break.

The Blue Devils dominated on the boards in the first half, picking up 28 rebounds while UNCG only had eight. Duke also held a 24-2 advantage with points in the paint. Duke’s Thomas led all scorers with 12 points and seven rebounds while Brooks paced UNCG with four points at the break. Dixon also tallied three rebounds. The Spartans were 9-of-11 from the line in the first half.

The Spartans are next in action at the 2007 Marriot Classic. UNCG welcomes Boston University, UNC Asheville and North Carolina A&T to Fleming Gym for the holiday tournament. The action starts on Friday with the Spartans taking on Boston University at 1 pm while North Carolina A&T and UNC Asheville battle at 3 pm.

AGATE
DUKE 84, UNCG 39

UNCG (0-3)
FLOYD,Monique 2-2 3-3 7; BROOKS,Kemena 1-7 4-5 6; SMITH,Kendra 1-2 2-4 4;GRIMSLEY,Gini 1-7 0-0 3; DIXON,Jasmine 1-4 1-2 3; MULLINS,Ashley 1-5 0-0 3;GIRSTAUTAITE,Agne 1-4 1-2 3; BANNER,TaShama 0-1 2-2 2; LING,Ashley 1-4 0-02; FRAZIER,Brittany 0-2 2-2 2; CHAMBERLAIN,Meghan 1-3 0-0 2; HYSON,Lakiah 0-2 2-2 2; WADELINGTON,S 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-43 17-22 39.

DUKE (3-0)
Krystal Thomas 9-16 2-3 20; Chante Black 5-9 7-8 17; Brittany Mitch 5-10 0-011; Joy Cheek 5-6 0-0 11; Jasmine Thomas 4-13 0-0 8; Emily Waner 2-3 0-0 6;Karima Christmas 1-3 1-2 3; Bridgette Mitchell 1-2 0-0 3; Keturah Jackson1-7 1-2 3; Carrem Gay 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 34-73 11-15 84.

Halftime Duke, 344-16 3-point goals--UNCG 2-7 (MULLINS,Ashley 1-2; GRIMSLEY,Gini 1-2;BROOKS,Kemena 0-3), Duke 5-19 (Emily Waner 2-3; Brittany Mitch 1-5; Joy Cheek 1-1; Bridgette Mitchell 1-2; Keturah Jackson 0-2; Carrem Gay 0-1;Karima Christmas 0-1; Jasmine Thomas 0-4). Fouled out--UNCG-None, Duke-None.Rebounds--UNCG 30 (MULLINS,Ashley 6; DIXON,Jasmine 6), Duke 44 (KrystalThomas 10). Assists--UNCG 7 (HYSON,Lakiah 2; LING,Ashley 2; FLOYD,Monique2), Duke 17 (Emily Waner 7). Total fouls--UNCG 14, Duke 17. Technical fouls--UNCG-None, Duke-None. A-5534

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