2014 ACC women's basketball tournament: Duke uses strong second half to put away Georgia Tech

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Duke Blue Devils made their first appearance of the 2014 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament a memorable one, handing Georgia Tech a 82-52 loss and eliminating the Yellow Jackets from the tournament. The Blue Devils move on to Saturday night's second semifinal, while the Jackets head home to prepare for the NCAA Tournament.

The Blue Devils used a 24-8 run over a 10-minute period to open up a double-digit lead in the second half, which they never relinquished. Duke was led by 19 points from Haley Peters and 15 apiece from Elizabeth Williams and Tricia Liston. Georgia Tech got 17 points from Tyaunna Marshall and 16 from Kaela Davis in a losing effort. The Jackets' lack of size was continuously exploited by Peters and Williams. The Devils dominated the paint, with Peters pulling down 10 rebounds to give her a double-double on the evening.

The Jackets seemed to lose steam after halftime, possibly due to the intensity of Thursday's nail-biter against Virginia. Marshall and Davis both had solid games , but fell far short of their offensive display from Thursday. Dawnn Maye once again did a commendable job running the point for Georgia Tech in place of the injured Sydney Wallace.