Women’s basketball: Duke blows past Panthers

The Duke Blue Devils feasted a day early.

The Pitt women’s basketball team never figured… The Duke Blue Devils feasted a day early.

The Pitt women’s basketball team never figured out how to slow Duke’s forwards in the paint — let alone shut them down — and the No. 6 Blue Devils pounded the Panthers, 93-55, Wednesday night at the Petersen Events Center.

Duke set a Petersen Events Center record for most steals in a game with 16 and also tied the record for most field goals, finishing with 37.

“I think we were able to wear [Pitt] out a little bit tonight,” Duke head coach Joanne McCallie said after the game. “I think our depth showed, and we had tremendous senior and junior leadership.”

A 14-2 run midway through the first half gave Duke (5-0) breathing room after a back-and-forth start, and a dominant second half that saw the Blue Devils outscore Pitt, 50-21, showed why they’re considered a Final Four contender.

“They’re worthy of being sixth in the country,” Pitt head coach Agnus Berenato said after the game. “There’s a reason why they went to the Elite Eight last year, and I think they continue to get better. They’re big, they’re strong and they’re quick.”

Six Blue Devils finished with double-digit points. Jasmine Thomas led Duke with 16, but her major contribution was as a ball distributor. She fed the ball down low to Krystal Thomas, Haley Peters and Karima Christmas as often as she could, and the Panthers had no answer short of fouling.

“I think that we’re working toward understanding that elite level of play, which means you do share the ball,” McCallie said. “You do get the ball to the open player. You do let your teammates do what they can do and have everybody play their role.”

Thomas finished with five assists, and Peters had 12 points. Krystal Thomas had 11 points and Christmas added 10.

The other two Blue Devils in double figures, Shay Selby and Kathleen Scheer, finished with 15 points and 10 points, respectively.

“Six people in double figures is something this team is capable of doing quite often,” McCallie said.

Selby’s 15-point effort off the bench was a career high.

“She just really ignited them,” Berenato said. “They just shared the ball very well.”

Duke’s bench outscored Pitt’s, 44-2. Berenato said that depth was a major issue Wednesday night, as the Panthers bench is entirely freshmen.

“Their bench was scoring on our starters, so it’s hard to go ahead and take that chance to put that [bench player] in,” Berenato said. “Some of the younger kids have to step up.”

Pitt (2-2) stuck with the Blue Devils early in the game, as the Panthers distributed the ball well against Duke’s aggressive defense. Taneisha Harrison, Brittaney Thomas and Chelsea Cole all had two baskets early, and Jania Sims had two assists.

A jumper from Harrison put Pitt up, 17-14, nine minutes into the contest, and the Panthers had all the momentum.

“I think we were pretty even,” Harrison said after the game. “It was a good flow.”

But the Panthers couldn’t stop Duke from pulling down offensive boards, and the 17-14 lead would be their last. Duke had nine offensive rebounds in the first half alone, and the Blue Devils out-rebounded Pitt on the night, 40-23.

Berenato put Cole and Leeza Burdgess out on the court together to try to counter Duke’s strength under the rim, but instead the Panthers jump-started a 14-2 Duke run by turning the ball over on consecutive possessions.

Pitt finished with 25 turnovers.

“We lost our confidence, and then we turned the ball over,” Berenato said. “Their defense did a nice job on us because of their size and athleticism, but I thought that, for the most part, turnovers were the whole game.”

Harrison was the bright spot for Pitt, knocking down a season-high 16 points. The Panthers shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half, but they went cold late in the game, and Duke ran away with the victory.

Pitt plays at home again Sunday at 2 p.m. against Loyola University Maryland. The Greyhounds are 0-4 this season.