After wins against Xavier and Central Michigan, the Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball team crushed Kansas on Saturday to take the Paradise Jam’s Island Division title.
Duke dominated the first half. With about five minutes to go, Tricia Liston’s layup gave the Blue Devils a 13-point margin. Kansas whittled it to nine, trailing 29-20 at half. But that was as good as it got for the Jayhawks.
In the second half, Duke turned up its intensity on both sides of the court, holding the Jayhawks to 20 percent field goal percentage for the game, and went on to win by 33 points, 73-40. Liston led Duke with 19 points and was named Tournament Most Valuable Player.
Liston scored no less than 19 points in every game her team played during the tournament. Duke’s Elizabeth Williams, who finished with 17 points during Saturday’s game, was named to the All Tournament Team.
For Kansas, Keyla Morgan finished with 11 points and was also named to the All Tournament Team.
In Saturday’s earlier game, Central Michigan – which lost to both Kansas and Duke – beat Xavier, 88-62.
The Chippewas came out firing early and with 11 minutes left in the first half, Niki Diguilio’s three-pointer gave the team a double digit lead, 24-13. Central Michigan continued the pace, the lead was 14, 46-32.
Central Michigan never let its foot off the gas. Another three-pointer from Diguilio – who finished the game with 21 points – pushed the lead to 27. The margin got as large as 29 and Central Michigan coasted to the win.
Digulio’s 21 points led the Chippewas, while Kerby Camm followed with 18 points. For Xavier, Kyla Davis led her team with 13 points.
The Paradise Jam women’s tournament is split into two divisions, the Island Division and Reef Division, with teams playing round-robin style. The best of three games takes the title in each.