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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Coming off a 12-day layoff, Duke figured to struggle on offense. Not so on defense, where the Blue Devils could
take advantage of fresh legs.
"We felt that having played almost two weeks ago that we would
be a little rusty coming out," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said
after second-seeded Duke cruised past Campbell 71-42 on Saturday in
the first round of the women's NCAA tournament East Regional. "I
think our intensity defensively was very good. But offensively we
were a little out of sync."
The Blue Devils (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP), runnerup to Purdue in last year's tournament, will play Western Kentucky, a 68-65 winner over Marquette, on Monday.
Missy West scored 15 points as Duke (27-5) won its six straight
first-round game -- the best run in school history -- by the largest
margin for the Blue Devils in the NCAAs.
"I had a lot of confidence coming into the game," West said.
"But I think I forced and rushed a lot of things."
The Blue Devils, who beat North Carolina March 6 in the Atlantic
Coast Conference tournament championship, struggled with 20
turnovers and missed some easy shots.
Duke's Georgia Schweitzer, the ACC player of the year, was held
to 11 points. She has been playing since Feb. 14 with a divot
fracture on an ankle bone. Lauren Rice added 10 points for Duke.
"For the freshmen, it was just a little bit of nerves. But for
the rest of us, we needed to play a game. Hopefully we got this out
of our system," Goestenkors said.
Campbell (22-9) won the Trans America Athletic Conference
championship to earn its first trip to the NCAA tournament. Stacey
Hinkle led Campbell with 14 points.
Many Lady Camel fans decked out in bright orange and black made
the 40-minute drive from Buies Creek, N.C.
"I was overwhelmed with the people who came from Buies Creek.
We are very proud of our crowd," Campbell coach Wanda Watkins
said. "I'm sorry we didn't give them more to cheer about."
Campbell tied it 2-2 after Lisa Rugg's basket, but the Blue
Devils moved ahead 12-5 with 14:52 left in the first half and
Campbell just couldn't keep up.
Duke still looked a little off balance early in the second half
after a sloppy first half. On two fast breaks, Duke players lost
the ball out of bounds near the basket.
Duke finally executed consecutive fast breaks perfectly. During
one, Rochelle Parent drove downcourt and laid the ball softly into
the basket. After a Campbell turnover on the ensuing possession,
Rice and Sheana Mosch traded passes down the lane before Rice
handed off to Mosch for an easy layup and a 45-18 lead with 15:19
left.
The Blue Devils' lead reached 56-26 after Mosch's fast-break
layup with 9:41 left.
Duke's starters were pulled with about five minutes left to
play, but Schweitzer returned with three minutes left. She hit a 3
with 38.8 seconds left for the final margin.
"When we took her right before the end I knew she wasn't in a
good way, and I wanted her to feel good about herself and her game
going into Monday night's game," Goetenkors said. "She hit a 3,
and I think she felt better about things."
It was not Schweitzer's best outing. In one sequence, she missed
a shot, fouled Syreeta Gambrell hard on an attempted jumper at the
other end and then traveled on Duke's next possession.
Duke had nine turnovers and 10 personal fouls en route to a
36-14 lead at halftime. The bright spot was West, who scored 12
points on 5-of-11 shooting.
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ALSO SEE
Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
Campbell NCAA Team Report
Duke NCAA Team Report
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