University of Houston
0-2
Duke
3-0
Houston Loses at No. 6 Duke
11/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2006
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - Alison Bales and Bridgette Mitchell scored 16 points apiece Sunday to lead No. 6 Duke to an 81-35 win over Houston.
Abby Waner had 15 points and six assists for Duke (3-0). Wanisha Smith added 11 points. Mitchell's 12 rebounds helped Duke dominate the boards 58-36 and outscore the Cougars 48-16 in the paint.
Sha'Ratta Hawkins came off the bench for 13 points to lead Houston (0-2). With just seven healthy players, the Cougars got 17 points from their starters.
Ten Blue Devils scored, and none played more than 25 minutes.
Duke led the entire game and was up 39-18 at halftime. Bales scored four of the Blue Devils' first seven points and helped them jump out to an 11-2 lead. That grew to 26-6 after a reverse layup by Mitchell with 6:11 left in the first half.
Duke scored on eight of its first 11 possessions of the second half, paced by three layups by Mitchell, to lead 56-27 with 12:55 to play. Bales hit two baskets midway through the second half to spark a 12-0 run that Duke used to put the game out of reach.
"They are just bigger, stronger and faster," Houston coach Joe Curl said. "It could have been a whole lot worse than it looked on the scoreboard, and it looked pretty bad."
Waner hit three of seven 3-point tries in the first half and had 11 points by the break. Bales had 10 in the first half. The 6-foot-7 Bales helped Duke score 29 second-chance points. She blocked three shots in the game's first 15 minutes and ended up with four blocks.
Curl said 5-10 junior Tye Jackson could be back in the lineup within 30 days. Houston's leader in scoring and assists last season, Jackson suffered a knee injury Nov. 10 and had knee surgery Thursday.
"We could have four more, good players back in our lineup within a month," Curl said. "We get them back and we'll be better off."
