Duke has struggled this season, and was just 4-6 coming into Thursday’s game against South Dakota State. After losing four straight, the Blue Devils got a solid win at Virginia Tech and got another against the Jackrabbits Thursday, winning 97-54.
The game was close for most of the first quarter with South Dakota State down just 16-15 with 2:35 left. And then Duke blew the Jackrabbits away.
Duke kept SDSU from scoring again until the 7:22 mark in the second quarter, when the lead ballooned to 35-17.
At halftime, that swelled to 55-28 and the game was essentially over.
It’s quite a change from earlier and when you pair it with the Virginia Tech win, it’s potentially an indicator that some issues have been straightened out.
Taina Mair racked up 22 points to lead Duke, on 9-12/3-4 from the floor. Toby Fournier had 20 points and 9 rebounds and Riley Nelson added 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
Jordan Wood lost her starting spot after the disastrous taunting at West Virginia, but appears to be earning some trust back: she got 25 minutes off the bench, scoring 10 points on 4-6/2-3 shooting. She also had 7 rebounds.
Duke visits Belmont on Saturday before visiting Syracuse after Christmas, and by then we should get a better sense of where things stand.
- Duke women’s basketball rides promising momentum past South Dakota State 97-54
- Six Score Double Digits in 97-54 Win over South Dakota State
- Meyer Scores 27 in Loss at Duke
- Duke has no trouble with South Dakota State at Cameron Indoor Stadium
