By: Ben McCormick
November 7, 2023
The student section in Cameron Indoor Stadium was filled with a different kind of student for the Duke women's basketball team's 83-53 win in its season opener versus Richmond.
Kids from elementary and middle schools around Durham and the surrounding area flooded into Cameron for Education Day. Instead of being in class, these kids got to trade places with some of the most notoriously rowdy, loud and rambunctious fans in all of college basketball. And they brought the noise. They filled in wonderfully for the Duke students who were in class on a Monday at 11 a.m.
No, 11 a.m. was not a typo. It was a rather early tip time, especially for a Monday. But that just meant the Blue Devils needed to get going early.
Reigan Richardson did just that for Duke.
The 5-foot-11 junior scored nine of Duke's first 14 points as the Blue Devils built a quick lead. Every time Richmond answered Duke, Richardson called right back and put the Spiders on hold with her red hot shooting.
Richardson is a familiar face amongst a largely new group of players. This year's Blue Devils operate with a noticeably shorter bench. Last season, head coach Kara Lawson's group had 17 total players, and the former WNBA star wasn't scared of going 13 deep on any given night.
That same level of depth is impossible with this group. While it's a talented team, it's a young one. And, there are only 11 players on roster to begin with. With senior Vanessa de Jesus out for the season with a knee injury, the rotation truly maxes out at 10.
That's why Richardson's role has expanded immensely sense last season. Yes, she was a starter last year, but now she will be expected to shoulder much more of the offense.
"Reigan's not a player we can have score zero," Lawson said. "Whereas, last year she could score zero, and we could still win."
She surpassed zero on Monday — and then some.
Every time she shot from beyond the arc, the honorary student section erupted from behind me.
"Give me three!" they said.
Richardson gave them four triples without a miss.
The building erupted with the children's screams, but it was Richardson who blew the roof off the place. Her confidence had reached interstellar levels.
Every time she got the ball, her release was quick and on target. She posted a career high 28 points on 12 of 15 shooting from the field. Richardson helped set the tone for the Blue Devils' performance.
She did a lot of her work in transition. Not just layups either, Richardson was knocking down pull up jumpers on the break as well. That's something she's been looking to add to her game.
"Over the summer, I've really been working on playing in transition and trying to score," Richardson said.
Richardson, who took a pregame nap, said that missing that nap will be "out of the question" from now on.
Duke didn't let the Spiders get any rest though.
Richmond was able to keep the game respectable during the first half — trailing 39-25 at the break (which is not ideal, but far from out of reach). It didn't devolve into a blowout until the second half, unlike last year's 100-49 throttling in Duke's favor, which was lopsided from the jump.
"I remember leaving [the game last year] saying, 'that was the best defense that I'd probably ever seen,'" Richmond head coach Aaron Roussell said.
Duke's defense boasted the second best scoring defense in the nation in 2022-23. While this year's defense is not a polished product, that's to be expected on opening day. Lawson's teams pride themselves on their ability to defend.
"I'm sure [Lawson] will tell you they aren't there quite yet," Roussell said. "But they really bothered us today."
The most bothersome Blue Devil was freshman Oluchi Okananwa.
Okananwa is a lively defender. Not many freshmen would get the first bucket of their collegiate career and then immediately find their defensive assignment and dog them for 94 feet. Then again, Okananwa stands out above many other freshmen.
"I was not surprised how she played because the style she plays with and effort she plays with is very consistent every practice," Lawson said. "That's how she plays every single practice."
Okananwa was constantly leading Lawson's defense, picking up full court, getting her hand on the ball and preventing buckets from the Spiders. Her offensive performance was equally as impressive. Roussell said that Duke seldom missed, but when they did, his team was bombarded on the glass — Okananwa was a big reason for that. Lawson knew Okananwa was good, but even she hadn't been able to predict the impact the freshman had on Monday.
At just 5-foot-10, she grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with a 22-point debut. A double-double with boards is impressive in a debut for any freshman, but especially for a guard.
"It really was a special performance by her," Lawson said. "If that's your first time or second time you've seen her play, what you see is the unbelievable effort she plays with on every possession."
Another standout freshman, Jadyn Donovan, scored the Blue Devils' first bucket of the season. She drove quickly to her right and went straight into the chest of her defender and dropped in a layup. Donovan led the team in scoring with 20 points in Duke's dominant 73-point exhibition win over Wingate on Saturday.
Despite her quick start, the former No. 3 player in the class of 2023, had a rough official debut as a Blue Devil. The talent is undeniably there for Donovan. She is fast, mobile, athletic and a strong slasher to the goal. She was Duke's most impressive player during the Blue-White scrimmage at Countdown to Craziness, and again versus Wingate.
Monday morning was a bit of a hiccup for the freshman star though. She turned the ball over five times in the first half, and six times on the game. Donovan scored just five points Monday, but this type of roadblock is to be expected according to Lawson.
"With four freshmen, they're going to have some bad games," she said. "That's what's going to happen. I know they're coming. I don't know when, but I know it's happening. It's just teaching them through that and keeping their confidence high. And they know that I love them, they know that I believe in them, so even when they play a bad game — they never question that."
The entire Duke squad certainly felt the love Monday from the student section. Following a dominant second half that led to a 30-point win over Richmond, the Blue Devils ran along press row and gave high fives to the young fans in attendance. The kids eagerly stormed over to hover their hand over the table, reaching over and around me to do so, and even shoving the table forward about four feet.
They might just be a group of kids. But their excitement should be mirrored by the Blue Devil faithful this season. There's reason to be optimistic about these young Devils this year. They are talented and capable. Most notably though, they play with the grit and toughness of a Kara Lawson team, and that will be difficult to beat.
@Duke_Wisdom | @BenMcC33 | @Duke_WisdomWBB
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