Waner, Bales Lead No. 4 Duke Past SMU, 75-45

Wednesday, December 20

Cancun, Mexico

4:30 p.m. (EST)

Duke University

SMU

Waner, Bales Lead No. 4 Duke Past SMU, 75-45

12/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Duke Sports Information

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) - Abby Waner scored 12 points and Alison Bales dominated the paint to lead No. 4 Duke to a 75-45 victory over Southern Methodist in the Caribbean Classic Tournament on Wednesday.

Bales scored 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had four blocks for the No. 4 Blue Devils (11-0), who held SMU to 22 percent shooting. Duke shot 42 percent, outrebounded the Mustangs 54-39 and had 12 steals.

Carrem Gay added 12 points and Brittany Mitch 10 for the Blue Devils, who went 6-of-14 from 3-point range and 17-of-22 from the free-throw line.

Janielle Dodds led Southern Methodist (7-4) with 14 points and five assists, and Katy Cobb had 10 points and four steals.

After a lackluster win over No. 25 Bowling Green on Tuesday, in which they tied a season-high with 23 turnovers, the Blue Devils were sharp against the Mustangs from the outset.

Leading 7-6, Duke got five points from Waner and four from Gay for a 16-6 lead with 13:20 remaining.

Duke closed the first half with a 19-7 run to lead 35-17 at halftime on 50 percent shooting. The Blue Devils were 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes.

Waner had 10 points and Bales added six points and three blocks by the break for Duke, which held SMU to 16 percent shooting in the opening half.

The Blue Devils went on 16-4 burst midway through the second half for a 63-36 lead that put the Mustangs away.

SMU missed its 12 3-point attempts and shot 17-for-25 from the free-throw line.

Duke closes the tournament Thursday against No. 22 Pittsburgh, which beat Liberty 54-47 Wednesday.

SMU finished 1-1, with a 73-50 win over Detroit on Tuesday.