Duke needed almost 30 minutes to finally prove its size, depth and experience mattered against scrappy Vanderbilt.
The second-ranked Blue Devils got it done with a scoring outburst down the stretch.
Tricia Liston scored 18 points while tying her career high of six 3-pointers and Alexis Jones added a season-high 17 points, leading six players in double figures as Duke cruised to an 88-69 victory Thursday night.
The Blue Devils led 58-54 before taking control with an 11-0 run that included a pair of 3-pointers from Liston and a three-point play from Chelsea Gray with 8:28 left. Duke shot a season high 62.5 percent in the second half.
''We got to our game in the second half,'' Blue Devils coach Joanne P. McCallie said. ''In the first half we weren't quite in our game, and that happens. Vanderbilt played a different defense than we've faced all year and they did a good job with it, because they're well-coached and we had to kind of adjust to that.
''We weren't as patient as we needed to be in the first half to set the tempo, but that's a great lesson for us. But the second half was us. The tempo, the steals, the defensive stops were a little bit more aggressive.''
Gray had 14 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists for Duke (4-0), which got 13 points from Elizabeth Williams and 11 each from Haley Peters and Chloe Wells.
Senior guards Jasmine Lister had 23 points and Christina Foggie 18 for Vanderbilt (3-2), which was playing its road opener and lost its second straight game.
It was the second straight win over an SEC team for Duke, which drubbed visiting Alabama 92-57 on Sunday. Duke leads the series with Vanderbilt 5-2.
''I don't know what the big difference was (in Duke's defense) later in the game,'' Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. ''They played the same zone and were the same size in the first half. They spread out more and made us pass around.''
Duke shot 51.7 to the Commodores' 48.2, won the rebound battle 32-29 and committed 19 turnovers to Vanderbilt's 28.
''In the first half we were being very complacent with taking outside shots,'' Liston said. ''We weren't working the ball inside out, feeding off each other or assisting very well. We weren't really in a rhythm, and when you're not in a rhythm things just aren't going to go.''
Duke has won 41 of its last 43 home games against non-conference opponents - with both losses to Connecticut - since a 67-64 loss to Tennessee on Jan. 28, 2008.
Peters hit two free throws with 11:16 left in the first half to take the lead for good at 16-15, but took a long time to put the zone-oriented Commodores away.
Peters left the game with an injury to her right knee when she picked up a foul with 3:27 left in the first half, but returned with 14:11 remaining. She played seven minutes in the second half, scoring two points, and is scheduled to have an MRI on the knee on Friday.
Gray missed the final month of last season after dislocating her right kneecap in a game against Wake Forest.
