jjohnson@heraldsun.com; 419-6667
DURHAM -- From one point down to leading by 24 in the first half, Duke's victory over Wake Forest on Sunday played out like many of the previous 33.
Bridgette Mitchell matched her career high with 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Blue Devils to a 65-51 win.
"Our first half was great," said Mitchell, who became the fifth different Duke player to score 20 or more this season. "Our second half wasn't. We weren't as intense. In the first half, everything was there. I was more aggressive. My teammates found me. That's what helped me score."
Wake Forest actually outscored Duke 36-30 in the second half and forced the Blue Devils into one more turnover that it committed in the game.
"They disrupt you more than anything else," Wake Forest coach Mike Petersen said. "They make you shoot maybe a little quicker than you normally do even though it's from the spot. But I think we disrupted them some, too."
Wake Forest (10-6, 1-1 ACC) has improved as a team but just not enough to overcome the types of mistakes it made against Duke's swarming pressure defense in the first half. The Demon Deacons turned the ball over 11 times in the first half and had a scoreless drought of almost 13 minutes, and Duke (14-2, 2-0) efficiently took advantage of the situation.
From that point though, Duke went on a 27-6 run leading up to halftime. Wake Forest got a basket early in Duke's run and didn't score again until Brittany Waters hit one of two from the free-throw line with 1:20 left in the half. Then Tiffany Roulhac made a 3 from the top of the key just before time expired.
The Demon Deacons reduced their mistakes in the second half, but by then it was too late.
"For 28 minutes I thought we played well," Petersen said. "For 12 minutes it looked like we'd never met each other."
Lakevia Boykin led Wake Forest with 12 points, including three 3-pointers. Wake Forest made six 3s in the game, which had been a concern coming into the game for Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie. Most of the long-range shots were made when the result of the game was no longer in doubt.
"I liked our first half," McCallie said. "In the second half I felt we let up. We've got to be a 40-minute team. Wake is a much-improved team. Their shot selection is better, not as random as it seemed last year, which I think hurt them some."
Wake Forest handled Duke's pressure much better in the second half, too.
"When we broke the press, it was wide open," said Wake Forest guard Lekevia Boyken.
Petersen said his team was much better at attacking the basket after breaking the press in the second half.
"In the second half we went to the basket but in the first half we didn't," Petersen said.
Jasmine Thomas, who's been Duke's anchor in the last four games, exploited Wake Forest's defensive deficiencies by scoring 11 of her 13 points in the first half.
"We made some careless turnovers," Thomas said of the Blue Devils' second half.
