Vanessa De Jesus and Duke saw non-conference action with a dominant 78-35 road victory over Charleston Southern, Wednesday morning (Manila time) at CSU Field House in Charleston, South Carolina.
De Jesus, a sophomore guard, did not get a point and dished out one assist. Still, she was able to make it up in the rebounding department, tallying 10 rebounds.
Blue Devils dominated, outscoring the Buccaneers, 38-11, in the second half on their way to improving to 9-1 overall and 1-0 in ACC action.
Senior Elizabeth Balogun paced the Blue Devils with a season-high 14 points to go along with seven rebounds. Classmate Miela Goodchild and junior Nyah Green also notched double-figures. The pair added 10 points apiece while pulling down six and four rebounds, respectively.
Duke came out and scored the first six points of the contest and built a 10-2 lead early behind four quick points from Balogun and graduate student Jade Williams.
Charleston Southern came back with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 12-8. The Blue Devils closed the first quarter on an 8-2 run to hold a 20-10 advantage after one.
Balogun kept up her strong play in the second quarter to help Duke to a 40-24 lead at the half. A product of Lagos, Nigeria, Balogun registered 11 points, seven rebounds, and one steal in the first stanza as she hit 5-of-9 field goals.
As a team, the Blue Devils struggled shooting, hitting only 32.6 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from downtown.
Charleston Southern (0-11) was led by Alyssia Faye and Skylar Baltezegar with eight points each.
Duke will be off for the Christmas holiday, before returning to action on the road Dec. 30 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
