UNC Wilmington women routed by No. 9 Duke, 107-45

UNC Wilmington women routed by No. 9 Duke, 107-45

Published Dec. 20, 2011 9:52 p.m. ET

This certainly wasn't the kind of history UNC Wilmington wanted to make.

The Seahawks set a school record for points allowed in a 107-45 loss to No. 9 Duke on Tuesday night.

They allowed school records of 48 baskets and 84 field goals attempted. The Blue Devils' record 36 assists were three shy of the most allowed by UNC Wilmington. And another ugly number - 40 turnovers - was eight shy of a UNCW record.

''We didn't play hard. We played tentative,'' Seahawks coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke said. ''We didn't run the floor well. We didn't defend at all. And that combination is just really, really bad.''

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Abria Trice had 12 points for UNC Wilmington, but the Seahawks (5-5) had nearly as many turnovers (21) as points (22) in the decisive first half. They fell to 0-22 against ranked opponents and had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Tawanna Lee finished with 11 points for the Seahawks, who haven't beaten Duke since 1982. Leading scorer Alisha Andrews, who averages nearly 15 points, finished with just nine on 2-of-7 shooting and had 13 turnovers.

''Because we didn't execute offensively and we turned the ball over, Duke was able to get out (in transition),'' Cooper-Dyke said. ''And because we didn't defend in the half court, Duke was able to really pick us clean and get any shot they wanted.''

Allison Vernerey scored 18 of her career-high 22 points in the first half for Duke (8-2). Tricia Liston added 18 points and Elizabeth Williams finished with 16.

The Blue Devils shot 57 percent, never trailed, built a 41-24 rebounding advantage and used a dominating start that included three overwhelming runs to claim a second straight lopsided victory since a loss at No. 8 Kentucky.

''In general, the energy was high, which I was able to feed of, and it really helped me keep going,'' Vernerey said. ''It was a really, really good group effort.''

Chelsea Gray finished with 14 points and 10 of Duke's school-record 36 assists.

''I think we were awesome'' passing the ball, Liston said. ''The stats said that, too.''

Chloe Wells added 11 points for Duke, which scored 78 points in the paint and turned UNC Wilmington's turnovers into 56 points.

The Blue Devils won their 30th straight at Cameron Indoor Stadium and finished with their highest point total since a 117-28 victory against North Carolina Central in December 2009.

Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said her team is ''coming closer to attacking for 40 minutes.''

Her team was playing its only game in a span of nearly three weeks. The Blue Devils have been off since Dec. 11 and don't play again until a Dec. 30 trip to Temple.

In that last outing, Williams was perfect, hitting all 10 of her shots.

This time it was Vernerey's turn to flirt with perfection.

She made all eight of her attempts in the first half, helping Duke built a 33-point lead at the break. The only question after halftime was whether she would match the school-record 12-for-12 performance set by Sheana Mosch against Clemson in 2001.

It didn't happen: Vernerey missed a contested layup with about 13 1/2 minutes left and finished 10 of 11.

But that was about the only thing that didn't go Duke's way. In their first game since a 58-point romp against USC Upstate, the Blue Devils showed few signs of rust in putting the Seahawks in a deep, early hole.

Duke opened the game with a 14-1 run that included nine UNC Wilmington turnovers, with Gray capping the burst with a layup 5 1/2 minutes in. After the Seahawks briefly chipped away at the lead, the Blue Devils responded with runs of 12-2 and 25-5 to push the lead well into the 30s.

Liston scored nine points during that last run that ended the half. Vernerey added eight during the burst, capped by a layup with just under a minute left that made it 55-22.

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