But there was a ton of spark.

Abby Waner ignited it and never let it flicker out on the way to a 26-point performance that helped propel the top-seeded Blue Devils (31-1) into Tuesday's 5 p.m. second-round Greensboro Regional game against Temple at the RBC Center.

The suspense swirled throughout the first half, when it looked as if Waner had a chance to outscore the Crusaders. She was only down two at the break, 20 points to 22 for whole Holy Cross team.

The sleek guard started 5-for-6 from the floor and made 6 of 8 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. For variety, she added a baseline jumper and ran the court for layups.

Yet Waner, who is on a hot shooting streak that started at the ACC Women's Tournament, seemed happiest about leaping and blocking a Crusaders shot. She flashed a 100-watt smile and bumped chests with Wanisha Smith.

"I felt like Alison Bales for a moment," quipped Waner, referring to Duke's shot-blocking center who had five rejections to go along with 13 points and eight rebounds.

"I was very impressed," Bales said of Waner's block. "I'd give her a 10."

Waner cooled off a little in the second half but finished 9-for-15 shooting, adding four steals and one assist to sister Emily.

During her 26 minutes on the court, she stopped just short of dying her hair, which some of her teammates did prior to the tournament.

"Abby's the best pure shooter we've had," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "Her release, she gets it off about as quick as anybody."

Asked about a streak that includes 17-of-26 shooting on 3-pointers in the past three games, Waner credited it to taking "extra shots" in practice.

As for the Devils, whose goal is the national title, Sunday's game was a time to get a win, get the kinks out and get their legs back after a two-week layoff.

"I didn't think we played particularly well, [but] we did what we needed to do," said Goestenkors, who lit into the Devils during a first-half timeout for lagging on defense.

Holy Cross' Bethany O'Dell (19 points) was knocking in too many 3s, and the Crusaders were shooting 47 percent at the time. After Goestenkors' spiel, O'Dell didn't hit another 3 in the half, and Holy Cross finished with a 37.8 shooting percentage for the game.

"We depend on our defense,'' said Goestenkors, whose Devils turned into basketball bandits, winding up with 15 steals.

The Devils led 41-22 at the break, then started the second period with a 20-7 run despite Holy Cross coach Bill Gibbons' constant exhorting.

Duke's Wanisha Smith contributed nine assists, and Carrem Gay and Joy Cheek augmented the Waner-led offense with 10 points each.

For Holy Cross, the best moment came with about 40 seconds left when Brittany Keil hit a 3-pointer to reach the 1,000-point career mark.

But that didn't match the first-half wallop of Waner, whose shooting had fans wearing that "Holy Cow!" expression.

"She's been hot since the ACC Tournament, and we are going to ride her as long as we can," Goestenkors said.

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