There have been many, many times lately that Azia Bishop has doubted herself.

At night, the Kentucky post player would turn to her roommate, fellow freshman Bria Goss, and talk about how UK Coach Matthew Mitchell's expectations of her just seemed so high.

Almost too high, she said.

But Mitchell might have been on to something.

"Coach wanted her to step up," Goss said with a smile. "Tonight, she took a big step up. "

Together the freshman roommates helped lead No. 10 Kentucky to a big 72-65 win over No. 6 Duke in front of a crowd of 14,508 at Rupp Arena on Thursday night.

It was the second top-10 team UK has knocked off in as many games and the win helped the Cats remain unbeaten at 9-0.

It's the first time in program history that the Cats have knocked off back-to-back top 10 teams.

"We made some tough, tough plays," Mitchell said after the win, which came in front of the largest crowd to ever see a UK women's game. "It didn't look pretty all the time, but they responded to the moment and it was a big moment."

It was a big moment for Goss and Bishop, who combined for 31 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and four steals.

A'dia Mathies led all scorers with 23 points, four rebounds and four steals, but the junior guard was more than happy to share the spotlight with the freshmen duo.

"I don't think we could have won without them tonight," she said. "As a matter of fact, I know we couldn't have won without them tonight. I am very proud of them."

It wasn't the easiest of weeks for Bishop, who played just two minutes in UK's win over then-No. 10 Louisville on Sunday.

Her coaches questioned her toughness and grit. They challenged her this week.

"She had been underperforming, there's no doubt about it," Mitchell said of Bishop. "We had a long talk and let her know we believed in her ability and she had to start playing better."

Battling Duke freshman Elizabeth Williams, the No. 1 recruit in the nation last season, Bishop found her game.

In the second half, Bishop had 10 of her career-high tying 12 points and 10 of her 11 rebounds. Bishop also had four blocks and two steals in the latter half, when Kentucky used its pressure defense to contain Duke.

Williams led the Devils with 17 points and six rebounds. Haley Peters added 13 points and six rebounds.

Devils Coach Joanne P. McCallie called Bishop, the 6-foot-3 freshman from Toledo, Ohio, the player of the game.

"When you have a player come off the bench for a double-double in a game like this — a physical game like this — I would call her the player of the game," McCallie said. "She was terrific."

Kentucky trailed the Devils (6-2) by eight points midway through the first half and by three at the break before opening the second half on an 11-4 run, which included six unanswered for the Cats.

UK's pressure defense forced the Devils into 24 turnovers, which was eight more than they were averaging this season.

"That's terrible on our part," McCallie said. "Of course you have to give credit to Kentucky."

Against a much bigger lineup, the Cats scrapped and clawed and hustled their way to 21 second-chance points, which also frustrated McCallie.

"That's not going to work at this level," McCallie said.

"We've got some lessons to learn."

In the second half, Kentucky extended its lead to 10 points, 62-52, on one of Mathies' four three-pointers. The junior guard had her fourth 20-point game of the season.

UK has a date with Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday before heading north to face No. 3 Notre Dame.

So Mathies and her UK teammates tried to temper their enthusiasm.

On a scale of 1-10 Mathies called the win "an eight.

"We still have some improvements to make," she said.

Goss agreed.

"This win isn't going to be the highlight of our season."