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Women's Basketball
vs Baylor
Thursday, February 23
Durham, N.C.
8 p.m.
Duke University
vs
NC State
Photo by: Anne Evans
No. 11 Duke Welcomes NC State to Cameron for Thursday Night Hoops
2/22/2023 6:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
THE OPENING TIP
WINNING TIMES - THE WIN DIFFERENTIAL IN ACC PLAY
SHARING THE WEALTH
DISRUPTING THE PEACE – ELITE BLUE DEVIL DEFENSE
UPTICK IN EFFICIENCY
DUKE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
IN ELITE COMPANY
LAST TIME OUT
A QUICK LOOK AT THE WOLFPACK
UP NEXT
Duke will honor its senior class this weekend as the Blue Devils put a bow on the regular season, playing host to in-state rival North Carolina Sunday, Feb. 26, at 12 p.m., live on RSN.
To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."
#GoDuke
- Duke tips off the final week of the regular season with a midweek tilt Thursday, Feb. 23 against NC State at 8 p.m., on ACC Network.
- Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli will call the action for ACC Network while Chris Edwards calls the game on the radio on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield.
- Duke head coach Kara Lawson was named to the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List.
- Duke is the only Division I school to have both men's and women's basketball teams undefeated at home, combining for a 26-0 record at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
- Boasting a 23-4 overall record and a 13-3 record in ACC play, the Blue Devils are having their best season dating back to the 2016-17 campaign.
- With 13 wins through 16 ACC game's this year, the Blue Devils currently own the ACC's highest win differential in league play of +6.
- Duke is slotted No. 11 in the Week 16 Associated Press (AP) and No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
- Defense has been the calling card for the Blue Devils this season as the team has won each of its games by an average of 19.6 points and held each of its opponents below their season scoring average, including 14 of them to 50 points or less.
- Duke has held its foes to 50.7 points per game on 34.5 percent shooting from the floor, marks that currently rank third and sixth in the NCAA, respectively, as well as first in the ACC (as of Feb. 21).
- In the latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, Duke is slotted ninth (as of Feb. 21).
- Elizabeth Balogun was one of 10 players selected to the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Mid-Season Top-10 list while Celeste Taylor was named to the 2023 Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year 2023 Watch List.
- The Blue Devils have received a huge lift from their reserves, averaging 23.9 points off the bench.
- Thursday's game marks the 87th all-time meeting between Duke and NC State at the varsity level, with the Wolfpack leading the series 48-38. The teams also battled on the hardwood back on Feb. 15, 1974 prior to the Wolfpack reaching varsity status, with NC State tallying a 64-44 win.
- The Blue Devils won the first matchup in Raleigh earlier this season (Dec. 29), 72-58, behind a season-high 23 points from Celeste Taylor.
WINNING TIMES - THE WIN DIFFERENTIAL IN ACC PLAY
- Oh, what a difference a year makes. Entering the final week of ACC regular season action, Duke women's basketball boasts the conference's highest win differential in league play.
- After winning just seven conference games during the 2021-22 campaign, the Blue Devils have posted 13 wins through 16 league games this season - currently tied for first in the ACC - for a win differential of +6.
- The other five ACC teams currently sporting a win differential through conference play are Syracuse (+4), Clemson (+2), Virginia (+2), Florida State (+1) and Pitt (+1).
SHARING THE WEALTH
- Duke's starting five of senior Elizabeth Balogun, junior Kennedy Brown, sophomores Shayeann Day-Wilson and Reigan Richardson and senior Celeste Taylor has provided a steady hand for the Blue Devils this season, combining for 67.3 percent (43.8 points) of the team's 65.1 points per game.
- Taylor has reached double digits in 18 of the 27 games this season followed by Day-Wilson and Balogun with 12 apiece. Richardson has tallied nine double-digit scoring efforts, followed by Brown with seven.
- Taylor leads the offensive charge for Duke, averaging 11.7 points per game with Balogun (9.7) and Day-Wilson (8.7) right behind in second and third. Richardson and Brown round out the group with 7.0 and 6.7 points a contest, respectively.
- Duke's depth has been on full display as the Blue Devils have featured seven different leading scorers through 27 games this season, with Taylor (9), Balogun (6), Day-Wilson (6), Richardson (3) and Vanessa de Jesus (2) finishing with the team-high on multiple occasions.
- The squad features 10 players averaging at least 13 minutes per game with four of them logging 20-plus minutes a contest -- Taylor (28.5), Day-Wilson (23.9), Brown (23.7) and Balogun (22.6).
- Duke has assisted on 387 of its 663 made field goals (.578) for an average of 14.3 dimes per game.
- As a team, the Blue Devils rank second in the ACC in turnover margin (+3.52) and fourth in both scoring margin (+14.11) and three-point field goal percentage (.330).
DISRUPTING THE PEACE – ELITE BLUE DEVIL DEFENSE
- Disruptive defense has been the calling card for the Blue Devils early in the season as the team ranks among the nation's elite, having held its opponents to 50.7 points per game on a 34.5-percent clip from the field.
- Those marks check in at third and sixth in the NCAA, respectively, as well as first in the ACC (as of Feb. 21).
- Duke is also fourth in Defensive Rating, allowing its opponents just 0.663 points per possession.
- The Blue Devils have won each of their games by an average of 19.6 points and held each of their opponents below their season scoring average, including 14 of them to 50 points or less.
- Duke held its opponents to single digits in seven straight quarters, a stretch spanning from the 4th quarter at Notre Dame (Feb. 5) all the way through the first half against Miami (Feb. 12).
- In addition to leading the league in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, the Blue Devils are also second in the ACC in blocks (5.26) and rebounding defense (31.70), third in three-point defense (.277) and fourth in both defensive rebounding percentage (.736) and rebound margin (+6.26).
UPTICK IN EFFICIENCY
- Duke's duo of Shayeann Day-Wilson and Celeste Taylor have seen an uptick in their efficiency, particularly on the offensive end.
- The team's leading scorer this season, Taylor is averaging 12.0 points on 39.2 percent from the floor and 33.8 percent from distance since the start of ACC play.
- She has scored double figures in 11-of-16 games, including a season-high 23 points to help the Blue Devils knock off then-No. 6 NC State, 72-58.
- In non-conference play, Taylor put up 11.2 points on 44.0 percent from the floor and 29.4 percent from three.
- Day-Wilson has raised her play since the schedule transitioned to conference action, improving her scoring average as well as her shooting percentage.
- After putting up 8.8 ppg on 38.1 percent and 35.7 percent shooting splits in non-conference play, the sophomore has averaged 10.1 points on 40.7 percent from the field and 39.6 percent from deep.
DUKE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
- Duke checks in at No. 11 in the Week 16 Associated Press (AP) and No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches Polls.
- The Blue Devils are also ranked 12th in the ESPN Women's Basketball Power Rankings.
- The latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings has the Blue Devils slotted ninth nationally (as of Feb. 21), second in the ACC, with an undefeated record at home (12-0), a 10-3 mark in true road contests and a 1-1 record in neutral site games.
- With an average opponent NET ranking of five, the Blue Devils are 6-4 this season against teams ranked in the top 50 of the NET Rankings and 15-4 against the top 100, including wins over Notre Dame (No. 7), Virginia Tech (No. 12), NC State (No. 18), Louisville (No. 29), Miami (No. 48), FGCU (No. 49), Virginia (No. 51) and Oregon State (No. 53). Duke's four losses have come against UConn, Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech - the first three checking in at No. 2, No. 17 and No. 26, respectively, in the NET.
IN ELITE COMPANY
- The Blue Devils are the only women's basketball team so far this season to shoot 100 percent from the charity stripe and 64 percent or higher from beyond the arc in the same game, according to HerHoopStats.
- Duke cashed in nine of its 14 three-point attempts and went 15-of-15 from the foul line in the win over the Wolfpack.
- After tallying 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals against Syracuse, Celeste Taylor joined Chelsea Gray (3X), Haley Gorecki (4X), and Lexie Brown (4X) as the only Duke women's basketball players since 2009-2010 to post multiple career games of 15+ Points, 5+ Rebounds, 4+ Assists, and 4+ Steals, according to HerHoopStats.
LAST TIME OUT
- Playing in its final road game of the regular season, the No. 9 Duke women's basketball team used a balanced offensive attack to grind out a 56-52 victory over Virginia Sunday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena.
- Elizabeth Balogun led the charge for the Blue Devils with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a pair of steals.
- Taya Corosdale also finished in double figures for Duke, scoring 10 points off the bench.
- Celeste Taylor flirted with a triple double as she tallied eight points, a career-high eight dimes and a season-high 12 boards – one shy of her career high.
- Reigan Richardson added nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor.
- Check out the full recap here.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE WOLFPACK
- NC State (18-9, 8-8 ACC) comes into the week following a 1-1 week in ACC play. The Wolfpack posted a 77-66 OT win over North Carolina on Thursday before falling at No. 11 Virginia Tech (62-75) on Sunday.
- Diamond Johnson leads a balanced offensive attack for NC State with 12.3 points per game, followed by Jada Boyd (9.2), Jakia Brown-Turner (8.7), Saniya Rivers (8.5) and Camille Hobby (8.4).
- Rivers averages a team-leading 5.0 rebounds per game while Johnson paces the team in the assist column with a 2.9 average.
UP NEXT
Duke will honor its senior class this weekend as the Blue Devils put a bow on the regular season, playing host to in-state rival North Carolina Sunday, Feb. 26, at 12 p.m., live on RSN.
To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."
#GoDuke
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