No. 12 Duke Rolls Past N.C. Central, 82-29

Thursday, January 3

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

NC Central

Black Named One Of 31 Midseason Candidates For The Naismith Award

No. 12 Duke Rolls Past N.C. Central, 82-29

1/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -After No. 12 Duke's 82-29 drubbing Thursday of cross-town rival North Carolina Central, no one would blame the Eagles if they waited another couple of decades for a rematch.

No way, said NCCU coach Joli Robinson, whose team is in its first season as a NCAA Division I program.

"We wanted our players to experience what it's like to play one of the best Division I teams," Robinson said. She later added she'd like it if the Blue Devils, who last played NCCU in 1984, would make the drive over to McLendon-McDougle Gym sometime. "We'd love that. We'll have to work on that."

Duke coach Joanne McCallie said that Duke, ahead 4-3 in its series with N.C. Central, wanted to continue the rivalry.

"Locally, it's important for women's basketball," she said. But McCallie said she was focused only on Duke's next game, its Atlantic Coast Conference opener Saturday at Miami. "Every game is of equal value, and we prepare exactly the same for each one," she said. "You just try to collect them all as they come."

Duke's Chante Black hit all seven of her shots from the field and all three at the line Thursday as Duke (11-3) won its sixth straight overall and its 22nd straight at home. She finished with 17 points.

N.C. Central's 14-for-48 shooting and Duke's 51-26 edge in rebounding led to the Eagles' lowest-scoring game of the season.

"We're getting better every game," McCallie said. "You get to a point where you can't wait for the next one, to see what you can do."

Duke's Wanisha Smith had a season-high 14 points and seven assists, while Joy Cheek, Abby Waner and reserve Karima Christmas each added 10 points, to make the second time this year that five Blue Devils hit double-digit scoring.

"'Nish (Smith) was really seeing the floor tonight and getting the ball to the people who were open," Waner said.

McCallie wished more passes had gone to Black.

"Chante should have gotten the ball a bit more, considering that she was seven for seven," McCallie said. "I wasn't demanding it," Black said. "That's something I need to work on - demanding the ball more when I'm open."

Jori Nwachuka and Lavonna Hailey each scored eight points to lead North Carolina Central (2-15).

"It's always been a dream of mine to play at Cameron Indoor Stadium," said Hailey, who played high school ball at North Carolina's Charlotte Garinger.

The dream ended quickly. Duke led 36-13 at halftime, marking the fewest first-half points of any Blue Devil opponent this season. Black hit five shots from the field and had 11 points in the first half.

After hitting just 15 of its first 39 shots, Duke made 19 of its last 36 to end up with a 45.3 shooting percentage.

North Carolina Central went scoreless in the last 4:59 of the first half, and Duke closed with a 12-0 run. Duke used a 30-2 run over a 9:55 span in the second half to blow the game open.