No. 10 Duke 89, South Florida 52

11/15/2007 10:01 PM

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Chante Black gave Duke a much-needed lift.

Black scored 16 points, Joy Cheek added 15 and No. 10 Duke beat South Florida 89-52 on Thursday night.

Black and Cheek had seven points each to help Duke (2-0) take a commanding 38-15 halftime lead. South Florida (1-1) shot just 18.5 percent (5-for-27) and committed 16 turnovers in the first half.

Duke junior guard Abby Waner didn't play due to a left ankle injury. She has averaged 11.5 points in 70 career games with the Blue Devils.

``Whenever you have someone get hurt, you always look for someone else or the team to rise,'' Black said. ``Abby, she's going to be back, but we all had to step up and take what she gives us out on the floor.''

Black missed all of last season because of a knee injury that occurred in a preseason practice. She had eight points in Duke's season-opening win Monday at Denver.

``I think the offense this year will come from a lot of people,'' Cheek said. ``I think you'll find a lot of different people scoring that you might not have seen in previous years.''

Shantia Grace scored 12 points for South Florida.

Duke took control after South Florida got within 12-8 on a basket by Jazmine Sepulveda with 13 1/2 minutes left in the first half. Black scored five points during a 15-3 run that gave Duke a 27-11 advantage with six minutes remaining.

Cheek had a 3-point play and Brittany Mitch hit a 3 during the first half's final four minutes as Duke extended its lead to 23 points at intermission.

``The last four minutes, Duke really opened it up,'' South Florida coach Jose Fernandez said. ``We need to get better, and we will get better.''

Black hit four free throws and Cheek added a basket early in the second half, helping Duke go ahead 51-22 with 16 minutes to play. Black also had five consecutive points, including a 3-point play, as Duke took a 71-34 lead midway through the second half.

``I don't think coming in we ever expected it to be an easy win,'' Black said. ``You always have to think that this team is going to come out extra hard. We expected it to be a good, tough game.''

The game was played in Tampa, which will host the women's final four in April.

Duke coach Joanne McCallie told her players ``to breathe really heavy and sort of suck up the air in the place as something familiar to take home and want to come back to.''