No. 2 Duke Crushes No. 1 Tennessee, 75-53

Monday, January 23

Durham, N.C.

7:30 p.m.

Duke University

Tennessee

No. 2 Duke Crushes No. 1 Tennessee, 75-53

1/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Lindsey Harding scored a team-high 15 points and added a career-high eight steals as the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils crushed No. 1 Tennessee 75-53 Monday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Harding led five Blue Devils in double figures as Monique Currie scored 13 and Mistie Williams, Abby Waner and Chante Black each scored 10. Jessica Foley added eight points and Wanisha Smith seven for Duke.

Williams just missed a double-double with nine rebounds and Smith added six assists and five rebounds for the Blue Devils.

The game was even for the first nine minutes as a Black jumper tied the game at 14 at the 11 minute mark of the first half before Duke held the Lady Vols to just one basket the next six minutes and went on an 11-2 run to pull ahead 23-16.

The Lady Vols fought back and brought the game to within a basket at 23-21 with three minutes left in the first half before Duke ended the half on a 7-2 run. Currie scored four in the half's final run to give Duke a 30-23 halftime advantage.

Tennessee brought the game back to within five by scoring two of the first three baskets in the second half but Duke responded again as Williams hit two layups and Abby Waner hit a huge three-pointer to put Duke up 46-31 on a 14-4 run just seven minutes into the second half.

Tennessee attempted to fight back but Abby Waner countered a pair of Sidney Spencer three-pointers with a pull-up triple at the 8:49 mark to give Duke a 17-point, 58-41 lead. A Harding steal and layup over Candace Parker with the foul gave the Blue Devils their first lead over 20 points at 67-46 in the middle of a 13-0 run that eventually gave Duke its big lead of 27 at 73-46. Two late baskets from Tennessee made it a final score of 75-53.

Duke was able to keep Parker in check as the freshman had 17 points but Duke forced her into seven turnovers. Duke also held Shanna Zolman to 0-of-7 from the field and zero points.

Duke will travel to Clemson, S.C., to take on the Tigers Thursday in a 7 p.m. tip-off before returning to a sold-out Cameron Indoor Stadium for a No. 2 vs. No. 3 match-up with third-ranked North Carolina Sunday at 7 p.m. on espn2.