Duke to Battle No. 3 UConn in PK Legacy Opener

Friday, November 25

Portland, Ore.

6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT

Duke University

Connecticut

Tickets

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke to Battle No. 3 UConn in PK Legacy Opener

11/24/2022 7:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Live Stats Watch (ESPN2)Listen Live Duke Game Notes (PDF)UConn Game Notes (PDF)

THE OPENING TIP

Duke hits the West Coast for the Phil Knight Legacy, opening tournament play with a first-round matchup against UConn on Friday, Nov. 25 at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. ET live on ESPN2. Pam Ward, Christy Thomaskutty and Stephanie White will be on the call, with Brooke Weisbrod reporting from the sidelines. Chris Edwards will call the action on the radio on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield.
The Blue Devils sit at 5-0 following their 58-41 triumph at Toledo on Sunday.
Reigan Richardson led the offensive charge with a game-high 13 points off the bench, while Kennedy Brown posted a near double-double with a team-high nine boards to go with 12 points.
Duke held the Rockets to three points in the second quarter on 1-of-11 (9.1 percent)shooting from the floor. That second-quarter point total is the third lowest by a Duke opponent all-time, while the field goal percentage ranks as the seventh lowest all-time by a Blue Devil foe.
The Blue Devils have been stout defensively, holding opponents to 47.4 points per game on 29.8 percent shooting -- These marks rank third and second in the ACC, as well as 14th and eighth nationally, respectively (as of 11.23.22).
Duke has received a huge lift from its reserves, averaging 39.8 points off the bench.
Friday marks the 16th all-time meeting between the schools and the first since the 2018 NCAA Sweet 16 -- a 72-59 UConn win.
Duke is seeking its first victory over the UConn since March 28, 2006, when the No. 4 Blue Devils captured a 63-61 (OT) win over the eighth-ranked Huskies.

SHARING THE ROCK

Duke has looked to make the extra pass this season, assisting on 90 of its 144 field goals.
The Blue Devils are averaging 18.0 assists per game, which ranks second in the ACC. Duke's assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.23 currently ranks fourth in the conference.
Redshirt junior guard Jordyn Oliver leads the team with 3.8 assists per game, while also boasting a 3.8 assist-to-turnover ratio -- the second highest in the conference.
Through her last four games Oliver has dropped 16 dimes, including six-assist outings against Charleston Southern and Texas A&M.
Sophomore Shayeann Day-Wilson is second on the team with 2.6 assists per game.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES

UConn (3-0) enters the week after picking up its second top-10 win of the year with a 91-69 performance over No. 10 NC State last Sunday.
Sophomore Azzi Fudd led the Huskies in scoring, matching her career high with 32 points.
Junior Nika Mühl set the UConn single-game record with 15 assists vs. NC State, passing Paige Bueckers' former record of 14. Mühl is currently leading the nation with 10.3 assists per game.
Sophomore Azzi Fudd earned Player of the Week honors from the BIG EAST, ESPN and NCAA after totaling 64 points in two ranked wins last week. Fudd set a career high with 32 points vs. No. 5 Texas and matched the total against No. 10 NC State.
The Huskies are ranked No. 3 in the latest AP Poll. UConn has been ranked in the AP Poll for 548 straight weeks.
The 2022-23 season is Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma's 38th at the helm for the Huskies. With a win at Tennessee in 2021, Auriemma became the fastest coach to 1,100 career wins. He leads the nation with an 88.5 win percentage.
UConn is without two players for the 2022-23 season -- Paige Bueckers and freshman Ice Brady. Both sustained knee injuries in the preseason.

A STEADY OFFENSIVE PRESENCE

The Duke quartet of senior Elizabeth Balogun, junior Kennedy Brown, sophomore Reigan Richardson and senior Celeste Taylor have provided a steady hand for the Blue Devils in the early 2022-23 season, combining for 55.4 percent (41.8 points) of the team's 75.4 points per game.
Brown, Taylor and Richardson have reached double-figure scoring in four of the five games this season, while Balogun has finished in double digits three times.
Taylor has led the offensive charge for Duke averaging 12.0 points per game, with Brown in second at 10.8 points a contest.
Balogun (9.6) and Richardson (9.4) have provided instant offense off the bench for Duke as the pair have combined for 19.0 of Duke's 36.6 bench points.

ON THIS DATE

In 16 games played on Nov. 25, Duke holds an 11-5 all-time record.
The last time Duke played on this day, the Blue Devils posted a 30-point victory over Longwood (94-64) in the 2020-21 season opener.
Duke and UConn have met once before on Nov. 25, with the Huskies grabbing the win back in 2007-08.

UP NEXT

Duke will square off against either Iowa or Oregon State on Sunday, Nov. 27 to close out tournament play.
The championship game will be played at the Moda Center (1 p.m. ET, ABC), while the third-place game will be held at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum (10 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

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