Toby Fournier scores 24, Duke beats Charleston 81-64 in 1st round of women’s NCAA Tournament
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Toby Fournier scored 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting and Duke maintained its momentum by opening the first round of March Madness with an 81-64 victory over the College of Charleston on Friday.
Jordan Wood had 17 points on 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and Delaney Thomas had 19 points and nine rebounds for the third-seeded Blue Devils (25-8), who are hosting the first and second rounds of the women’s NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Since a 3-6 start, Duke is on a 22-2 run that includes their second ACC Tournament championship in a row.
But coach Kara Lawson still was frustrated, becoming animated with her players during a four-quarter timeout despite a comfortable margin. She noted that 20 Duke turnovers led to 22 points by Charleston, which also scored 12 second-chance points and made 22 free throws.
“Those are areas that we need those numbers to come down,” Lawson said. “I wake up intense. I’m always at the next level. There’s an urgency about me. It’s March. You want to win. You want to play well. No matter what the score is, there’s a standard by which we play. If we don’t play that, then it’s my job to get them to that level.”
“Those are areas that we need those numbers to come down,” Lawson said. “I wake up intense. I’m always at the next level. There’s an urgency about me. It’s March. You want to win. You want to play well. No matter what the score is, there’s a standard by which we play. If we don’t play that, then it’s my job to get them to that level.”
Final Four bound?
Harmony said she would be unsurprised if Duke made the Final Four after reaching the Elite Eight last season. But does Lawson, who said Thursday her team “isn’t perfect,” think the Blue Devils can fix their weaknesses in time to go a round further this year?
“It’s not like a broken light bulb where you can just go to Home Depot and get it and twist it in,” Lawson said. “It’s a gradual growth toward having a higher percentage of adherence to the scheme. We’re going to have mess-ups, right? We want to lower the amount of them. Even if we play great, we still might have 12 turnovers.
“So it’s really about shrinking those numbers down. We want to have as few as possible, but these teams are good, so you’re going to have some. So it’s not having zero tolerance for mistakes but having a low tolerance.”
Taryn’s future
Despite Taryn Barbot turning in a big performance on a national stage, Harmony remains unworried about a powerhouse team poaching her star player. The Barbot sisters stayed at Charleston despite contact from more than 80 teams about transfer offers after last season, according to Harmony.
“She’s 20 and is going to make her own decisions,” Harmony said. “She’s an adult. It’s whatever is best for her. So I’m not even thinking about that. There’s no doubt that she is a Power 4 player, and this is where she’s happy. And that’s the important part is the kid’s happy with where she’s playing. If she’s not, then she has to change.”
Up next
Duke will play sixth-seeded Baylor on Sunday. The Blue Devils lost 58-52 to the Bears in their Nov. 3 season opener.
