Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie wasn't worried when her team struggled early on against Central Michigan.
She knew that the second-ranked Blue Devils would eventually get going.
Tricia Liston scored 15 of her 20 points in the first half and added 11 rebounds to lead Duke to a 97-64 win over Central Michigan at the Paradise Jam on Friday.
Duke trailed 24-21 midway through the first half before scoring 18 of the next 20 points to take a 39-26 lead with 5:37 left.
''Those things will happen,'' McCallie said. ''We just had to shore up our defense, continue to execute and do the things we need to do. It is a long 40-minute game and you have to play all the way through it. I thought our team was very poised and focused. We did what we needed to do and got a good result.''
Freshman Oderah Chidom had season-highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
''To have double-doubles by Tricia Liston and Oderah Chidom were outstanding. For Oderah being a first year student-athlete, she was rebounding the ball beautifully and scoring with her 10 rebounds and 16 points.''
Elizabeth Williams and Alexis Jones added 14 points each for the Blue Devils (7-0), who will play Kansas on Saturday. Duke outrebounded Central Michigan 53-33 and had 24 assists.
After its run, Duke led 49-30 at the half and cruised through the final 20 minutes against the Chippewas (1-4), who were playing the highest ranked opponent in team history.
Niki DiGuilio scored 17 points to lead Central Michigan, which will face Xavier next.
