By Associated Press and Louis Fernandez, WRAL Sports

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Reigan Richardson scored seven of her 11 points in the first quarter when No. 11 Duke took off to a big lead, Jordan Wood finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, and the Blue Devils cruised to an 89-36 win over Radford in their season opener Monday.

“All last year, I took it as a learning year, making sure I was learning from the best coach out there, you can quote me on that one, and just really making sure that I’m taking each minute that I’m getting and I’m not taking it for granted,” Wood said on Monday afternoon after the game.

Richardson, on the Naismith Trophy watch list, scored nine points to lead Duke in the first half, playing 15 minutes before sitting out most of the second.

Delaney Thomas added 12 points, Jadyn Donovan had 10 points and nine rebounds and Oluchi Okananwa and Toby Fournier scored 10 points each for Duke.

“Solid first effort for us, I’m sure I’ll look at the film and there will be many things for us to improve on,” Lawson said after the game. “Just pleased to get the season underway and a big week for us with three games to start, so it’s nice to get the first win under our belt,” Lawson said.

Neither team shot well from deep on a combined 37 shots from the arc, but the Blue Devils scored 41 points off 34 turnovers.

Cate Carlson led the Highlanders with 10 points and six rebounds.

Duke scored the first seven points of the game and took off to a 26-9 first-quarter lead with Richardson and Wood combining for all the points in a 9-0 run. It was 40-24 at halftime before a 31-6 third-quarter run turned the game into a rout.

Duke announced Monday that sophomore transfer guard Riley Nelson, who was a 2023 five-star recruit, would redshirt this season because of a knee injury suffered last season with Maryland.

The Blue Devils will play two road games to finish out the week: at Liberty on Thursday and at No. 18 Maryland on Sunday.

Source: wralsportsfan.com