BY JOE JOHNSON

jjohnson@heraldsun.com; 419-6667

DURHAM -- Duke expected to play an NCAA Tournament-caliber team when the Blue Devils scheduled James Madison. What they faced Friday night was a Top-25 squad that presented some problems despite the Blue Devils' 79-65 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

No. 7 Duke (8-2), which bounced back from a disappointing loss at Stanford earlier in the week, was led by Joy Cheek, who scored 10 of her career-high 21 points in the first half as the Blue Devils built a 44-34 lead.

"I just wanted to take advantage of my scoring opportunities," Cheek said.

Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie seemed impressed.

"Joy's aggressiveness showed up everywhere, even when she was matched up with [Dawn Evans]," McCallie said.

No. 24 James Madison (7-1) was led by Evans, who scored 18 points in the first half and finished with 31. She started the game with a driving layup, then hit a long-range 3-pointer on the Dukes' next possession.

"I try to take what the defense gives me," said Evans, who made six baskets from behind the arc. "It makes me unpredictable that I can score from inside or outside."

McCallie said Evans' ability to shoot from such long range kept her team a little bit off balance because they didn't want to let her score off penetration either.

"You never knew when she was going to shoot," McCallie said. "She did hit some really long shots, but she really had to work for them."

The defense on Evans was one of the Blue Devils' shortcomings, the other was average free throw shooting down the stretch.

If Duke had made more than 9-of-15 in the final six minutes, they might have prevented James Madison from continuing its fouling strategy. But James Madison, which trailed by 20 points when it started fouling, was only able to cut the Duke lead to 74-62 but got no closer.

"It takes some luck to get back in the game," James Madison coach Kenny Brooks said. "They have to miss free throws. We had to do it solely from the perimeter, and you're not going to beat a team like Duke from just the outside."

The Blue Devils finished the game 21-of-38 from the line.

"It would have been nice to get more points from the free-throw line," McCallie said. "We shot a lot of free throws. Maybe next time we'll put more in."

Jasmine Thomas scored 13 and grabbed 11 rebounds to record another versatile effort for the Blue Devils, while Keturah Jackson finished with 10 points.

The Blue Devils shot pretty well in the first half, going 17-of-36 (47.2 percent) but cooled off in the second, making 9 of 28 (32.1 percent). Duke had a 54-44 rebounding advantage.

Duke forced James Madison into 21 turnovers, which it converted into 19 points. The Blue Devils had a sizable advantage on the inside and it resulted in 34 points in the paint, including 15 second-chance points.

The Blue Devils return to action on Monday with a road game at Maine before returning home to face N.C. Central on Dec. 28.