No. 16 Duke women advance past Wake Forest 77-68

Mar 6, 2015, 04:34 pm

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Kendall Cooper scored 21 points and No. 16-ranked and fourth-seeded Duke proved too much for 13th-seeded Wake Forest, advancing in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with a 77-68 win on Friday.

Duke faces top-seeded No. 2 Notre Dame, which defeated eighth-seeded Miami 77-61 on Friday, in the semifinals on Saturday.

Duke got out of the gate quickly, running up a 15-2 score in the first 5 1/2 minutes as Wake Forest missed five of its first six shots. Cooper's three-point play just before halftime put Duke up 36-21 at the break.

Wake Forest made an 11-2 run early in the second -- including a pair of 3-pointers by Amber Campbell -- to get within three at 45-42, but Duke came right back to score the next nine points to push it back to double digits.

Wake Forest's Dearica Hamby scored 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, her 19th double-double of the season and 44th of her career. She eclipsed her head coach, Jen Hoover, to become Wake Forest's all-time leading rebounder.