Chloe Wells waited for another opportunity. Now that it's here, she is eager to take advantage of it.
Wells scored a season-high 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting to help No. 4 Duke beat Boston College 80-56 on Sunday.
Haley Peters added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Blue Devils (18-1, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their 34th consecutive home game against ACC competition.
Making her second start of the season after missing the first five games with a leg injury, Wells hit all three of her 3-point attempts and had three steals. She missed the spring semester last season while serving a suspension for violating university policy.
''I just feel grateful that I'm back and have the opportunity again,'' Wells said. ''Every day, I'm just going hard, whether it's on the court or off the court with my team, just trying to get everybody together. It's really great.''
Chelsea Gray and Tricia Liston scored 12 points apiece for Duke. Elizabeth Williams had 10 points for the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils shot 47 percent from the floor and finished with a 47-28 advantage in rebounds, improving their all-time record against the Eagles to 11-2.
''I thought we had two halves of great defense,'' Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said. ''Offensively, we were sharp in the first half, a little bit less so in the second. But overall, I loved the offensive balance and productivity.''
Kristen Doherty scored 14 points to lead Boston College (8-11, 2-6), which lost its fourth consecutive game.
Kerri Shields added 13 points and Nicole Boudreau had 11 points for the Eagles. Boston College shot 30 percent from the floor, including 6 of 24 from 3-point range.
''Duke's hands were so good,'' Boston College coach Erik Johnson said. ''They got deflections everywhere. Our drive-and-dish game, our ability to create shots for others, was clearly disrupted.''
The Blue Devils led 49-33 at halftime after shooting 56 percent from the field and making 8 of 10 3-point attempts.
Liston and Wells led the charge, each shooting 4 of 4 from the floor. All four of Liston's shots were 3-pointers, including one from the left wing that capped a 9-0 run to give Duke a 28-17 lead with 8:30 left in half.
Wells added a pair of 3-pointers before halftime, including a 25-footer from the right wing to beat the shot clock buzzer early in the game.
''It was definitely an energy booster,'' Wells said. ''I wasn't really focused on where I was at. I just knew the shot had to go up. I had the ball, so I let it go, and it went down for me. Definitely a lift for the team.''
Liston and Wells each made a 3-pointer during a 7-0 run that gave the Blue Devils a 40-24 lead late in the first half.
The Eagles stayed within striking distance with some hot 3-point shooting of their own after Duke's initial spurt.
Shields nearly duplicated the 4-for-4 effort of Liston and Wells before halftime, making three 3-pointers. Doherty also made two 3-pointers for the Eagles, who shot 5 of 11 from behind the arc in the first half.
When the 3-point shooting cooled to 1 of 13 after halftime, so did Boston College's chances of rallying against the Blue Devils.
''They make you pay for every mistake you make,'' Doherty said. ''When you get in those huddles when you make a mistake, what we need to work on is not letting it affect our next play as much as we do.''
Duke honored its 2003 team, which won the ACC championship and reached the Final Four, at halftime. It marked the first time that Gail Goestenkors, who coached the Blue Devils for 15 seasons and led them to four Final Fours before leaving to coach Texas in 2007, had returned to Duke to watch a game.
