• Recap
• Bleachers

Cheek's double-double helps Duke top Charlotte

Nov 24, 2009 - 2:48 AM DURHAM, N.C.(AP) -- Duke's Joy Cheek saw some familiar faces on the opposing bench. She just didn't acknowledge them.

Cheek scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help No. 10 Duke defeat Charlotte 57-44 on Monday night.

"Once you're playing, it's like you don't know anyone," said Cheek, who grew up in Charlotte and had a good friend playing for the 49ers. "Everyone is the same once you get on the floor. I call them No. 3 if it's No. 3 and No. 24 if it's No. 24. I just see them as players and not as friends."

Jasmine Thomas added 10 points and a career-high eight assists for the Blue Devils (3-1), who overcame an early deficit with a 15-0 run in the first half.

Duke trailed 9-4 after four minutes but held the 49ers scoreless for the next 9:16 en route to building a 10-point lead. Charlotte shot 0-for-11 from the field and had seven turnovers during the drought, which ended on a pair of free throws by Jaquaria Forney with 6:50 left.

"What I like about this game is that the defense was there," said Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie, whose team came up with 15 steals and a season-high 12 blocked shots. "The defense is going to need to be there, so we need to shore up our defense and then build our tempo and chemistry on offense."

The Blue Devils, who led 32-23 at halftime, pulled away with a 10-0 spurt early in the second half.

"Quite honestly, they just out-hustled us and outmuscled us," Charlotte coach Karen Aston said. "Every loose ball was theirs. Every time there was a ball up in the air reboundingwise, they got it. That was to their credit definitely. They were impressive on the glass."

Erin Floyd scored 10 points to lead Charlotte (1-3), which trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half before cutting the deficit to 54-44 with 2:49 left.

"We need to focus a little bit more and slow down and be patient," McCallie said. "I thought there were a lot of shots out there to be had. But you certainly have to give credit to a scrappy game and scrappy defense by Charlotte."