Tigers trounce Blue Devils, open ACC action with resounding win
CLEMSON, S.C. – Behind 22 points from Amari Robinson and a barrage of three pointers, the Clemson Tigers opened up ACC play in style with an 80-64 drubbing of the Duke Blue Devils in Littlejohn Coliseum on Thursday.
“I’m incredibly proud of our team and the work that they put in this week to get ready for this opportunity to play,” Amanda Butler said in the postgame. “I really felt like every moment in that game they had very clear purpose, played hard for each other, and they’ve earned the right to feel that way because of the work they’ve put in the last three days.”
The opening stanza of Thursday night’s conference matchup was a balanced offensive effort from the Tigers. Nya Valentine connected on a pair of outside shots to lead CU with 6 points, while Harris and Maddi Cluse each chipped in four points to help give Clemson a 19-18 edge going into the second.
The second period was a low-scoring effort from both teams. The Tigers outpaced the Blue Devils 16-12 but were able to keep their rhythm from the outside and shot 4-8 from three-point land to take a 35-30 advantage into the locker rooms.
Cue Amari Robinson.
Clemson’s All-Conference forward only had five points at the break, but she was a force to be reckoned with in the third period.
She shot an outstandingly efficient 5-6 from the floor, including 2-2 from beyond-the-arc and 2-2 from the charity stripe, and had a co-lead among all players with three boards as the Tigers ran away from Duke, closing out the third quarter with a 59-45 lead.
The fourth quarter was Harris’ time to shine as the Tigers looked to close out Duke to advance to 1-0 in ACC play. The experienced point guard led Clemson with 9 points after going 4-5 from the floor and Duke simply couldn’t keep up. Clemson closed out the night with a massive and extremely impressive 80-64 win over its conference rival to improve to 6-4 on the year.
“This is a quality win (…) to start ACC play with a ‘W’ is really a big deal for us,” Butler said of the Tigers’ big night. “There is a belief in the work we’ve done and a belief in each other. (It was) an outstanding win over an outstanding opponent.”
UP NEXT: Clemson looks to further establish its homecourt advantage by hosting Georgia State on Saturday, December 16 at 2:00 p.m.