It took less than 10 minutes for No. 4 Duke to get untracked playing its first game in 12 days.
Coming off final exams and traveling cross-country, the undefeated Blue Devils went on to rout Cal State Bakersfield 97-63 in the Women of Troy Classic on Friday night.
Elizabeth Williams had 21 points and eight rebounds, Haley Peters added 16 points and Tricia Liston had 14 for the Blue Devils (9-0), who had six players in double figures.
The victory was coach Joanne P. McCallie's 150th in 182 games at Duke, making her the third-fastest coach in Division I history to reach the mark.
''The game was harder because it's late for us right now,'' McCallie said, noting it began at 10:30 p.m. EST.
The Blue Devils will turn right around and play host Southern California at noon PST on Saturday in the final day of the four-team event.
Tyonna Outland scored 16 points and Amber Williams added 12 for Bakersfield (2-11), which lost its fourth in a row and 10th in 11 games. The Roadrunners committed a season-high 27 turnovers, leading to 30 points by Duke.
''It was the same as any game,'' Outland said of the highest ranked opponent the Roadrunners have played. ''They applied pressure, but we took it very well. We had a lot of adrenaline.''
Peters made all six of her shots in the first half, when she scored 12 points and had five rebounds and three assists.
The teams played to a 15-all tie in the opening 7 1/2 minutes, with the Roadrunners hitting three 3-pointers in that stretch.
''The first few minutes we really wanted to try to put them on their toes early,'' Bakersfield coach Greg McCall said. ''Once they kind of got themselves settled down, we got rattled a lot and made some turnovers we shouldn't have made.''
McCallie was wondering where her team's defense was in the early going.
''We were just trading baskets,'' she said. ''It's important to come out of the gate defensively and I don't think we quite did that.''
But from there, the rout was on.
The Blue Devils outscored the Roadrunners 33-11 the rest of the half to go up 48-27. Duke had runs of 11-0 and 13-0, getting balanced scoring from seven different players.
''A lot of our runs started with defense,'' Williams said. ''A lot of our runs came with us getting consecutive stops.''
The Blue Devils shot 58 percent from the floor and owned a 38-10 edge in the paint while holding Bakersfield to 34 percent shooting and forcing 13 turnovers in the first half.
The Roadrunners scored the first four points of the second half to close to 17 points, the closest they came in the final 20 minutes.
Williams keyed another 11-0 run with nine points, extending Duke's lead to 59-31. The Blue Devils scored in the 90s for the first time since beating Valparaiso 90-45 on Nov. 23. They were coming off a season low in points in beating St. John's 60-42 on Dec. 9.
''I like how we dictated tempo,'' McCallie said.
The game was a California homecoming for Duke juniors Chelsea Gray of Stockton and Chloe Wells of Colton. The two players had numerous family and friends on hand. Gray just missed a triple-double, finishing with 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Wells had 10 points.
''It was great to see them,'' Gray said about her 20 guests who made the drive from Central California.
The Roadrunners fell to 0-7 against ranked opponents since joining Division I in 2006-07. The school is playing as an independent until joining the WAC next fall.
