Blue Devils Power Past Virginia, 70-56, in ACC Opener

Wednesday, December 21

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

11-1,1-0ACC

Virginia

12-1,1-1ACC

Virginia

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Power Past Virginia, 70-56, in ACC Opener

12/21/2022 11:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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DURHAM – Behind four double-figure scorers, the Duke women's basketball team opened ACC play with a 70-56 victory over Virginia Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Junior Vanessa de Jesus led all scorers with 15 points off the bench, including a huge triple from the far right corner in the fourth quarter that halted the UVA rally and seized back momentum for the Blue Devils (11-1, 1-0 ACC).

Senior Celeste Taylor and junior Kennedy Brown both stuffed the stat sheet, as Taylor finished with 13 points, a team-high eight boards and four steals while Brown tallied 12 points, four assists and a career-high five blocks. Sophomore Shayeann Day-Wilson rounded out the quartet of double-figure scorers with 11 points, also registering two assists and two steals.

Alexia Smith paced Virginia (12-1, 1-1 ACC) with 11 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Duke held a 21-17 lead at the end of one. The first quarter was a physical, back-and-forth 10 minutes of play that featured four ties and three lead changes.
Virginia opened with the first five points of the game before Duke responded with seven straight of its own to surge in front.
Both sides traded baskets over the next five minutes, but the Blue Devils were able to create some separation late in the period. Perfect trips at the charity stripe by Taya Corosdale and de Jesus followed by an Ashlon Jackson trifecta from the far-left corner gave Duke a 21-15 lead, forcing the Cavaliers to call timeout.
After a slow start to the second period, Duke forced another Virginia time out as the Blue Devils opened up a 10-point advantage (31-21) at the 3:26 mark via a 7-0 run by Taylor and Brown.
The Blue Devils ended the first half with a bang as Day-Wilson dialed one up from distance and buried a deep triple from the right slot as time expired to give Duke a 38-26 lead at the break.
After Duke extended its margin to 17 early in the period, Virginia was able to chip away at the deficit across the ensuing four minutes before pulling within single digits, 46-37, with 4:09 to go.
The Blue Devils immediately responded with paint buckets from Corosdale and Taylor to push the lead back to double digits, then Jackson cashed in a triple from the left corner to give the home team a 53-39 advantage heading into the final period.
The Cavaliers refused to go away though, mounting another late rally attempt as they pulled within eight points at the 6:09 mark of the fourth.
Duke halted Virginia's run and snatched the momentum back, delivering the decisive blow on de Jesus' trey from the far right corner to push the Duke lead back to 11 (60-49) and put the Cavaliers on the ropes.
The Blue Devils closed out the game strong as they drained seven free throws down the stretch to polish off the 14-point victory.

GAME NOTES

Duke sees its record move to 11-1 this season and 1-0 in ACC play.
The Blue Devils improved to 33-14 all time in ACC openers and 20-6 at Cameron Indoor Stadium
Duke held UVA to nine points in the second period – the lowest scoring output by the Cavaliers in any quarter this season.
With the win, the Blue Devils move to 41-35 in the all-time series against the Cavaliers, while also handing Virginia its first loss of the season.
Four players finished the game in double-figures – de Jesus (15), Taylor (13), Brown (12), Day-Wilson (11).
Duke assisted on 14 of its 21 field goal attempts and also received another huge lift from its reserves as the Blue Devils held a 33-19 in bench points.
Of Duke's eight blocks in the game, five of those came from Kennedy Brown – a career-high
The Blue Devils scored 24 points off 19 UVA miscues.

UP NEXT:
The Blue Devils make the short trek up to Raleigh for a date with No. 7 NC State on Thursday, Dec. 29. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m., live on ACC Network.
To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."

#GoDuke