DURHAM, North Carolina — Duke University scored the first 14 points of the game and the University of Maine was unable to make up the early deficit as the 14th-ranked Blue Devils registered a 69-39 women’s basketball victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday night.
Duke, coached by former Black Bears coach Joanne P. McCallie, shot 52 percent on the evening (26-for-50) and scored 26 points in the paint. Lexie Brown led the way for the Blue Devils (9-2) with a game-high 26 points on 11-for-13 shooting.
Haley Gorecki contributed a double-double while scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Erin Mathias added nine points and seven rebounds and Leaonna Odom chipped in with 11 points and six assists.
Sophomore guard Blanca Millan paced UMaine (6-6) with 16 points and five rebounds, but the Black Bears struggled from the perimeter. They shot a dismal 14 percent (6-for-43) from the 3-point arc with Millan going 4-for-16.
The 43 3-point attempts break the program’s previous single-game record of 41 set at Maryland Baltimore County on Feb. 1, 2014.
Tanesha Sutton posted nine points, seven rebounds and three assists for UMaine and Fanny Wadling chipped in with a career-high 13 rebounds to go with six points and three assists.
The Black Bears wound up shooting 20 percent overall (13-for-65).
Duke, which is 7-0 this season at home, outrebounded UMaine 46-30.
Gorecki hit a 3-pointer only 17 seconds into the contest to get Duke rolling. A steal by Mathias led to Brown’s layup, before Odom scored on a layup to put the hosts on top 7-0 with only 2:10 gone in the game.
Layups by Brown and Gorecki and a 3-pointer by Brown staked the Blue Devils to a 14-0 advantage at the 5:48 mark of the first quarter.
UMaine did not break into the scoring column until Wadling made a free throw with 4:36 remaining in the first quarter.
UMaine is now off for the holidays until a Dec. 28 meeting at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass.