Blue Devils Post 66-50 Win Over Northwestern

Thursday, December 1

Durham, N.C.

5 p.m.

Duke University

7-1,0-0ACC

Northwestern

4-3,0-0Big Ten

Northwestern

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Post 66-50 Win Over Northwestern

12/1/2022 9:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Coach Lawson Quotes (PDF)Player Quotes (PDF)Coach Lawson Presser Lee Volker Postgame Availability Highlights Photo Gallery

DURHAM – Behind some stingy first-half defense and a balanced offensive attack that featured 21 assists on 26 made field goals, the Duke women's basketball team picked up a 66-50 victory over Northwestern (4-3) Thursday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Freshman Ashlon Jackson paced the Blue Devils' (7-1) offense with a season-high 10 points, three players – Elizabeth Balogun, Kennedy Brown and Lee Volker – chipped in eight points apiece while two more – Shayeann Day-Wilson and Celeste Taylor – added seven each.

Brown and Balogun each grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, with Jordyn Oliver (seven) and Taylor (six) combining for 13 of the team's assists.

Caileigh Walsh and Paige Mott each scored 13 points to lead the Wildcats.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Northwestern jumped out to an early 6-2 lead before the Blue Devils responded with an 11-0 run, which featured eight points from Volker, over the final 5:09 to hold a seven-point lead after 10 minutes.
Duke held Northwestern to 1-of-10 shooting during this span and forced seven Wildcat turnovers.
The Blue Devils extended their run at the start of the second as they scored the first nine points of the period to push the lead to 16, 22-6.
Northwestern trimmed its deficit to 12, but another Blue Devil spurt at the end of the second quarter – this one a 10-2 burst – extended the home team's lead to 20 at the half.
Duke saw its lead grow as large as 29 (45-16) at the 3:37 mark of the third quarter, using a 13-0 run across nearly four minutes to create more separation between themselves and the Wildcats. At the end of the quarter, the Blue Devils held a 52-27 lead.
Northwestern found its offensive rhythm in the fourth quarter, but the deficit proved to be insurmountable as Duke locked down the 16-point win.

GAME NOTES

Rookie Ashlon Jackson netted a career and season-high 10 points off the bench to lead the Duke scoring efforts.
The Blue Devils held their fifth opponent to under 50 points.
Duke assisted on 21 of its 26 made field goals. Oliver and Taylor combined to dish out 13 of those assists, tallying seven and six dimes, respectively.
Five Blue Devil players registered 33 of Duke's 46 team rebounds as each member of the quintet grabbed five rebounds or more – Balogun (8), Brown (7), Oliver (7), Volker (6) and Mia Heide (5).
The Blue Devils outscored the Wildcats 30-13 off the bench, 34-28 in the paint and 21-4 on the fastbreak.
Duke held Northwestern to 12 points in the first half, which is the lowest opening-half point total by a Blue Devil opponent this season.
With the 2023 ACC/Big Ten Challenge marking the 15th and final installment of the interconference event, the Blue Devils finish the challenge with a 12-3 all-time record, including 8-0 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke earned its first win in the all-time series against Northwestern.

UP NEXT:
The Blue Devils are back on the road this weekend as they make the three-hour journey up to Virginia for a matinee game against Richmond on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m., live on ESPN+.

To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."

#GoDuke