Miami Falls At No. 5/10 Duke, 73-58
Jan. 9, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. (AP)–Karima Christmas scored a career-high 21 points to lead No. 5 Duke to its 11th straight victory, 73-58 over Miami on Friday night.
Chante Black added 17 points and Joy Cheek had 11 for the Blue Devils (13-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Christmas, whose previous career high was 14 points, shot 7-for-10 from the field and was 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
Duke outrebounded Miami 48-27, won its 12 straight ACC opener and improved 6-0 all-time against the Hurricanes.
Epiphany Woodson scored 16 points and Latoya Drake added 11 for the Hurricanes (10-6, 0-2). Shenise Johnson, Miami’s leading scorer at 13.5 points per game, finished with just three.
Duke never trailed but squandered a 28-15 first-half lead as Miami went on a 13-0 run during a 6 1/2 -minute stretch in which the Blue Devils failed to score on 11 possessions. Riquna Williams scored seven points during the spurt the Hurricanes.
The Blue Devils regained the lead 29-28 on a free throw by Christmas, and led 32-30 at halftime. They extended their advantage to 19 in the second half.
Christmas scored six points during a 10-0 spurt that gave Duke a 48-36 lead, and the Blue Devils lead by at least eight the rest of the way.
Miami shot nearly 37 percent from the field, above the 31.8 percent Duke came in allowing, but was just 2-for-18 on 3s and committed 20 turnovers. The Hurricanes took advantage of the Blue Devils’ miscues, scoring 26 points off Duke’s 24 turnovers.
