01/05/2009 - Associated Press

DURHAM, N.C. — All Duke needed to fuel its offense was some defense.

Chante Black scored 15 points and Shay Selby added a career-high 14 to lead the fifth-ranked Blue Devils to their 10th straight victory, 87-52 over Temple on Monday night.

Duke (12-1) missed its first eight shots from the field before two free throws by Black with 16:12 left in the first half tied the game at 2 and allowed the Blue Devils to set their pressure defense for the first time. That was the start of an 11-0 run in which Temple turned over the ball on five of six possessions.

“Early on they missed shots, so they couldn’t press,” Owls coach Tonya Cardoza said. “Once they were able to put the ball in the hole, they put on their pressure, and we didn’t handle it. We just gave up easy buckets, basically handed it right to them and let them get easy opportunities.”

Once the Blue Devils started scoring, they didn’t stop.

The Owls (8-5) cut Duke’s lead to 13-8, but the Blue Devils responded with a 23-3 run to take a 36-11 lead with 6 minutes remaining in the first half. Temple turned over the ball on eight of nine possessions, including six straight, to ignite Duke’s second big run.

“Pressing is just an opportunity to crank up the intensity and get some easy buckets,” said Duke guard Jasmine Thomas, who scored 11 points. “You always want to throw it at the offense and make them make turnovers and then capitalize off them. It just gets us pumped to do that.”

Joy Cheek had 13 points for the Blue Devils, who led 47-22 at halftime.

Shanae Cotton scored 18 points to lead the Owls, who committed 18 of their 29 turnovers in the first half.

One play early in the game set the tone for Duke’s defensive intensity. Cheek made a steal, and teammate Karima Christmas dived on the floor to chase the loose ball. Christmas shoveled it forward to Abby Waner, who delivered a behind-the-back pass to Thomas for a layup that gave Duke a 9-2 lead.

The Blue Devils continued their smothering defensive effort in the second half, holding Temple to a season-low point total and 33.3 percent shooting from the field for the game. Cotton was 6-of-10 from the field, but her teammates combined to go 10-for-38.

“I loved our intensity and our hustle and our fight out there,” said Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie, whose team led by as many as 41 points in the second half. “It was a very, very explosive game for us for 40 minutes.”