No. 1 Duke romps Old Dominion

NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry had her eye on Abby Waner during the last two years Waner played in high school in Highlands Ranch, Colo.

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On Sunday, Larry's Lady Monarchs, shorthanded due to injuries to two starters, didn't watch Waner enough. The freshman guard scored 17 points - 13 in the second half - to lead top-ranked Duke to a 93-56 victory.

"We're trying to keep our feet under us right now, and we probably didn't keep as much track of her as we should have," Larry said.

Duke (2-0) made the outcome academic early, scoring 20 consecutive points in about 6 minutes to take a 26-4 lead with 11:07 remaining in the first half.

"We want to be a full-court pressing team, and I thought that pressured them early and led to some easy baskets for us," said Duke coach Gail Goestenkors.

Old Dominion (0-1), playing without injured starters Tiffany Green and Tamara Ransburg, had 10 turnovers in the first 9:30 and seven more by halftime, when it trailed 47-26.

Green broke her right foot during practice last week; Ransburg injured her knee earlier.

Larry said it was especially difficult to adjust to Green's absence.

"It was who was going to step up and compete," she said. "We made an awful lot of individual and collective errors. It was a physical game that could have created havoc for either team."

T.J. Jordan, who led Old Dominion with 17 points, said the team did compete, "but more so later on, when we should have done it from the tip-off."

"You've got to play through it," she said. "You can't sit there and sulk. You (have) got to get it back."

Lindsey Harding added 16 points for Duke, Monique Currie had 15 and nine rebounds, and Laura Kurz had 11 points.

Old Dominion had only two players besides Jordan score in double digits: Paula Muxiri with 12 and Tish Lyons with 10.

Duke connected on 53 percent of its field goals, while Old Dominion shot 34 percent. Duke also scored 22 points off turnovers and 17 points off rebounds.

Duke has all five starters back from the team that went 31-5 and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals last season, even though it had only eight players for most of the year. Led by Waner, it also brought in on of the nation's top recruiting classes.

"Our seniors did a great job," Goestenkors said. "They set the tone and they were great role models for our freshmen."