by DURHAM, N.C. (AP) It’s not just Elizabeth Williams and then everyone else for No. 15 Duke.
Freshman Azura Stevens scored 17 points and all five starters scored in double figures in the Blue Devils’ 66-58 victory over No. 8 Louisville on Monday night.
Williams put on a show once again – scoring all 11 of her points in the second half while blocking five shots – but got plenty of help from the other four players in the lineup.
”If everyone’s moving and everyone’s working hard,” Williams said, ”anyone can score.”
Oderah Chidom added 14 points and Rebecca Greenwell had 13 points with three 3-pointers in the second half to help the Blue Devils (16-6, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) win their third straight.
The Blue Devils overcame 22 turnovers by shooting 47 percent, forcing the Cardinals (19-3, 7-2) into two prolonged shooting droughts, and holding a 43-35 rebounding advantage.
”It’s coming together nicely,” coach Joanne P. McCallie said. ”I think everybody’s beginning to understand what they can do and, more importantly, they’re understanding what their teammates can do. … That’s the whole point of it, it’s a team and you’ve got to bring out the best in everybody, and that takes a lot of focus, and we’re taking steps in that direction.”
They earned their second victory over a top-10 opponent after previously beating then-No. 8 Kentucky 89-68 on Dec. 21.
Sara Hammond scored 17 points and Mariya Moore had 14 for the Cardinals, who shot 35 percent.
”We’re not the type of basketball team that can just go out and just play,” coach Jeff Walz said. ”We’ve got to follow a scouting report to a T. When we do that, we’re pretty talented. But we can’t just roll the ball out and say, `Hey, let’s play 5 on 5.”’
Duke never trailed and went up by 17 before Louisville chipped away at that lead, pulling to 56-49 on Bria Smith’s layup with about 4 minutes to play. The Cardinals didn’t score on any of their next seven possessions before Jude Schimmel’s 3 made it 62-52 with 27.7 seconds remaining.
Schimmel, who added another 3 with 2 seconds left, finished with 11 points.
Ka’lia Johnson scored 11 points for Duke, which used a 19-4 run that started in the first half and ended early in the second to push its lead well into double figures.
Stevens started it with consecutive layups, Greenwell hit two 3s early in the second half and Williams closed the burst with five straight points, capped by a layup that made it 40-23 with just under 15 minutes left.
