Arianna Roberson, Riley Nelson Score 15 Each as No. 4 Duke Pulls Away From Green Bay 76-60

DURHAM, N.C. For 20 minutes, the preseason ACC favorite looked like a team still learning each other's names. Then the third quarter started, the paint opened up, and Duke turned a nervy opener into a 76-60 win over Green Bay on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Arianna Roberson came off the bench for 15 points and four blocked shots, Riley Nelson matched that total with a perfect 6 of 6 night at the free throw line, and the No. 4 Blue Devils survived a first half in which Green Bay held its own and led for stretches. Duke led just 33-31 at the break. It outscored the Phoenix 43-29 after it.

It was the season opener for both teams, played in front of 2,838 fans, so Duke starts 1-0 and Green Bay 0-1. Here is the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and Duke's official recap (opens in a new tab).

A first half that belonged to nobody

Green Bay did not come to Durham to be a warmup act. The Phoenix were picked to win the Horizon League for a fourth straight year, and they played like it early, winning the first quarter 18-16 and trading the lead back and forth with a Duke team that looked a step slow. The game had 10 lead changes, and Green Bay held a lead as large as six points.

Kristina Ouimette was a big reason. The guard knocked down 4 of 9 from beyond the arc on the night, and that perimeter shooting kept the Phoenix within reach while Duke's half court offense sputtered. Maddy Skorupski played 39 of the 40 minutes and did not miss a free throw all night.

Duke steadied itself in the second quarter, taking that period 17-13, but the way it got there was strange. According to the AP, the Blue Devils did not score a single point in the paint in the second quarter. For a roster this size, that is not a sustainable plan. Duke had to manufacture offense from free throws and jumpers, and a two-point halftime lead was the result.

Part of the uncertainty was personnel. Duke played without Toby Fournier, its preseason All-ACC forward, who did not see the floor. That put more on the newcomers in Kara Lawson's rotation, and the first half rhythm reflected it.

The third quarter flips

Whatever was said at halftime worked. Duke went from zero paint points in the second quarter to 16 in the third, per the AP, and the defense did the rest. Green Bay went more than six minutes into the third quarter without a field goal.

The Blue Devils built the gap one layup at a time. Jordan Wood and Nelson scored at the rim to make it 49-37 with 4:15 left in the period, and Wood later finished a three-point play that pushed the lead to 16, the biggest of the night.

The only thing keeping Green Bay afloat in that stretch was the free throw line. The Phoenix went 12 of 14 at the stripe in the third quarter, according to the AP, which is a polite way of saying they could not buy a basket. Green Bay shot 6 of 27 from the field after halftime, a 22.2 percent clip that turned a coin flip game into a comfortable Duke win.

Green Bay never got closer than seven in the fourth quarter, and Duke closed it out without much drama.

Roberson's night off the bench

Roberson was the most efficient player on the floor. The center went 6 of 10 from the field, hit 2 of 3 from deep, grabbed five rebounds and blocked four shots in 23 minutes. That combination of rim protection and floor spacing is exactly the kind of versatility Duke needs while Fournier is out, and Roberson provided it without starting.

Roberson was not alone among the reserves. Duke's bench scored 32 of the team's 76 points. Autumn Fleary added nine points with three assists and made 2 of 3 from three, Wood chipped in five points with a block, and Bella Flemings hit a 3 and collected two steals. Green Bay's bench, by comparison, scored 12.

Nelson was the steadiest starter. The guard went 4 of 10 from the field and 6 of 6 from the line, and those free throws mattered in the first half, when Duke's offense had nothing else working.

Crump's debut and a balanced box score

Aaliyah Crump made a strong first impression in a Duke uniform. The Texas transfer played a team-high 34 minutes and finished with 11 points, five rebounds and six assists. Crump shot 5 of 13, which is not pretty, but the assist total says plenty about how much of the offense ran through the newcomer in game one.

Delaney Thomas added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds, three of them on the offensive glass, and made 4 of 7 shots. Emilee Skinner filled the stat sheet with eight points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block, though four turnovers came with it. Jadyn Donovan did not score but collected four rebounds and three steals in 15 minutes.

Four Duke players reached double figures, and the team shot 45.3 percent from the field.

The numbers that decided it were on the glass and around the basket:

Duke outrebounded Green Bay 44-31, including 14 offensive rebounds, and turned that edge into 19 second-chance points, according to the AP.

The Blue Devils outscored the Phoenix 36-24 in the paint and 19-11 in transition.

Duke blocked eight shots to Green Bay's one, and Roberson had half of them.

The one stat Lawson will not love is 17 turnovers against 17 assists. Green Bay converted those giveaways into 14 points, and Fleary and Skinner had four turnovers apiece. Against a Horizon League opponent it was survivable. Against the schedule waiting later this month, it will not be.

Green Bay's fight and its problem

For Green Bay, the effort was there and the shot making was not. Skorupski led the Phoenix with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals while going 8 of 8 at the line. Ouimette added 14. Meghan Schultz gave the Phoenix nine points off the bench on 4 of 8 shooting, and McKenna Johnson scored seven.

Elisa Mevius had a rough night as a shooter, going 1 of 11 from the field and 1 of 7 from three, though Mevius still contributed eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in 35 minutes. That line is a fair summary of Green Bay's evening: competitive everywhere except the scoreboard's most important column.

The Phoenix shot 32.8 percent overall and 30.4 percent from three. Making 15 of 18 free throws kept it respectable. Green Bay heads home with a clear takeaway: it can compete physically with a top five team for a half, but it needs more than one or two reliable scorers to finish the job.

What it means and what's next

This was not a vintage Duke performance, and it did not need to be. The Blue Devils, the preseason favorite to win a third straight ACC title, answered a tight first half with a dominant third quarter, got real production from a transfer guard and a bench that outscored Green Bay's by 20, and did it without one of their best players.

The concerns are fixable. The turnovers need to come down, and the half court offense has to find the paint earlier. If Fournier returns soon, Duke's frontcourt gets significantly deeper, and Roberson has already shown the ability to carry big minutes when called upon.

Green Bay hosts Loyola Chicago on Saturday in its home opener, according to the AP. Duke was set to face North Texas in San Antonio on Sunday, per the AP. That game was later called off, and the Blue Devils instead played at Florida Atlantic on Nov. 8, with a trip to Norfolk State on Nov. 12 and a home date with Marshall on Nov. 15 to follow. Bigger tests arrive soon after: Duke faces UConn in Boston on Nov. 28 and hosts South Carolina on Dec. 3.

Sources: ESPN, Duke Athletics, AP.

Photo: Duke Athletics.