It couldn’t have started any better for the women’s basketball team on Thursday night.N.C. State (13-5, 2-2) started out with an early lead against No.1-ranked Duke (19-0, 5-0) and minutes before half-time, the Wolfpack led 26-22. But that’s when the Blue Devils did what they do best.”Doing a better job defensively: once we did that, we were rebounding better and we got some easy buckets,” Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said.Duke would score 12 of the next 14 points to end the half, and the run would continue into the second half. The Blue Devils outscored the Pack 38-17 from the three-minute mark in the first half to the 6:30 mark in the second half, en route to a 65-51 win in Reynolds Coliseum.While only committing six turnovers in the first 18 minutes of the game, State would finish the game with 19 turnovers — resulting in 24 points of turnovers for Duke.Interim coach Stephanie Glance said Duke’s ability to create turnovers kept them in the game early and then helped them pull away.”[It was] critical. That was one thing that we talked about going in, that taking care of the ball against Duke and it will be the same thing against North Carolina,” Glance said. “You have to take care of the ball each possession.”Any chance State had for a comeback was eliminated after a bank shot three-point attempt at the end of the shot clock by Duke junior Emily Waner, which put the Blue Devils up 56-39.According to Glance, shots like that hounded the Pack throughout the night. “We ran the shot clock down on them several times defensively and they hit a couple baskets at the end of the clock,” Glance said. Despite the loss, Glance said there were many positive outcomes from the game.”We can take a lot from this game. We did a lot of things well,” Glance said. “This is Duke’s second-lowest point total of the year. We held them under their normal shooting percentage: we out rebounded them. We got to the free-throw line against them.”Senior center Gillian Goring, who guarded Duke senior center Alison Bales throughout the game, finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. But, she shot 6 of 18 from the field.While Glance did say the team “missed a lot of shots in the paint,” after the game, Goring didn’t want to talk about her second-career double-double.”I won’t really comment on my performance,” Goring said. “I had the energy from my teammates and knowing that I have to step up, make a presence. That’s what I’ve been working on in practice, and I’m just taking it over to the game.”From here it doesn’t get much easier for the Pack. Sunday, State will travel to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina, a challenge that senior guard Ashley Key is already preparing for.”I would have to think we gave [Duke] a pretty good scare in the first half, and we know that we can play the No. 1 team in the nation that tight,” Key said. “And take it to No. 2, No. 3 team in the nation, down the street, take it to them on Sunday.”