Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Countdown to Craziness on October 3, 2025 at 7 p.m.
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7 p.m.
Women's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
Sunday, November 17
Durham, N.C.
3:00 PM
Duke University
2-2,0-0ACC
42
vs
63
Northwestern
3-0,0-0Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Northwestern
19
6
29
9
63
Duke
11
14
4
13
42
Northwestern Downs Duke, 63-42, Sunday in Cameron
11/17/2019 5:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. – A disastrous third quarter Sunday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium led to a 63-42 Northwestern victory over Duke in women's basketball non-conference action in Durham, N.C.
After outscoring Northwestern (3-0), 14-6 in the second quarter to even the score at the half, the Wildcats outscored the Blue Devils, 29-4, in the third quarter to take a 61-36 lead through three quarters. Duke could not recover from the deficit in the final frame. The loss snapped a 15-game winning streak for Duke at home against non-conference foes.
The Blue Devils (2-2) were led by junior Jade Williams with 11 points, while graduate Haley Gorecki added 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.
Duke got off to a tough start missing its first seven shot attempts and trailed 8-0, before senior Leaonna Odom found Williams for an open layup at the 6:47 mark of the first quarter. The Blue Devils went on to make three straight attempts to cut the Wildcat lead to 12-7, before trailing 19-11 after the first 10 minutes of action.
The Blue Devils would clamp down on defense and went on a 12-0 run over a span of nearly 10 minutes to even the score, 19-19, with 4:08 remaining in the second quarter. Gorecki, who hails from Palatine, Ill., drained her first three-pointer of the contest at the 2:45 mark to give Duke its first lead of the contest, 22-21. The Wildcats added a late bucket and the score was even, 25-25, at the half.
Duke's defense held Northwestern to only six second quarter points and only 3-of-15 field goals. Williams and sophomore Miela Goodchild paced the Blue Devils with six points each in the first half.
Northwestern opened the second half with another big run, 10-0, and led 35-25 until Williams scored her eighth point of the contest off an assist from sophomore Onome Akinbode-James at the 5:28 mark. The Wildcats went on to outscore the Blue Devils, 29-4, in the third period and led 54-29 with 10 minutes left in the contest.
The four points by Duke was the fewest in the third period by a Blue Devil squad in school history. The Blue Devils hit only 2-of-18 field goals, while Northwestern sank 58.8 percent (10-of-17). Duke held a 13-9 point advantage in the fourth period.
For the game, the Blue Devils hit a season-low 28.3 percent from the field. The 21-point home loss was the largest in the Joanne P. McCallie era against an unranked opponent. Overall, it was the worst home loss against an unranked foe since Feb. 8, 1989 against Clemson, 71-50.
Northwestern was paced by Lindsey Pulliam with a game-high 26 points.
The Blue Devils will return to action Thursday, Nov. 21 against Idaho State. It will mark the second of five consecutive home contests in Cameron Indoor Stadium with a tip at 7 p.m.
#GoDuke
Team Stats
NU
Duke
FG%
.391
.283
3FG%
.364
.211
FT%
.625
.364
RB
39
44
TO
9
16
STL
8
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F/C
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF/C
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