Virginia Upends Blue Devils After Late Rally

Thursday, January 9

Charlottesville, Va.

6:00 PM

Duke University

7-8,1-3ACC

Virginia

6-9,1-3ACC

Duke

Virginia

Virginia Upends Blue Devils After Late Rally

1/9/2020 8:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Boosted by a 12-0 run late, Virginia came-from-behind to take down Duke, 66-63, Thursday evening in women's basketball action at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.

Duke led 59-51 with 3:38 remaining, but the Cavaliers (6-9, 1-3 ACC) used the big run to drop the Blue Devils to 7-8 overall and 1-3 in ACC action.

Graduate Haley Gorecki posted her second game with 20 or more points as she scored a game-high 27 points to go along with a season-high six steals, five assists and four rebounds.

Both teams got off to a sluggish start Thursday as the teams combined to hit 2-of-12 field goals to open the contest. The Cavaliers closed the first in a big way going on a 6-0 run and led 14-8 as the Blue Devils hit only 2-of-10 field goals. Duke turned the ball over eight times and was led with four points from Gorecki.

Virginia extended its run to 14-0 to start the second quarter and featured as big as a 14-point lead. At the 6:33 mark of the second, Gorecki drained her first three-pointer of the evening to stop the Cavalier run. The Blue Devils made a run of their own, 9-2, boosted by another trey from Gorecki, two free throws from senior Leaonna Odom and redshirt freshman Mikayla Boykin came off the bench to drain her first three-pointer of the season.

Overall, it was a sloppy first half as the teams combined for 31 turnovers and Duke had 17. Gorecki, who is from Palatine, Ill., paced the Blue Devils with 10 points, while Odom came off the bench to score seven.

Virginia hit 57.1 percent from the field in the first half, including 60.0 percent in the second quarter. The Blue Devils got hot in the second as well hitting 66.7 percent from the field and 75.0 percent from downtown.

Duke's defense clamped down on the Cavaliers in the third period as the Blue Devils went on an 11-2 run and held Virginia's offense without a field goal for over four minutes.

After the Blue Devils pulled ahead, 35-32, at the 5:50 mark of the third, the Cavaliers scored two straight bucks to regain the lead. The lead would not last long as sophomore Miela Goodchild sank her 99^th career three-pointer to give Duke the lead back, 38-36. The Blue Devils went on to outscore Virginia, 24-13, in the third boosted by 14 points by Gorecki, which were tied for the second-most in the third quarter by a Duke player in school history.

Gorecki reached the 20-point mark in the quarter and went into the final 10 minutes with a game-high 24 points, while Duke led, 48-43.

The Blue Devils built as big as an eight-point lead with 3:38 left in the contest, after Boykin connected on a layup and free throw. Virginia would not back down as the Cavaliers scored back-to-back buckets to cut the Duke lead to 59-56 with 2:34 left.

During the run, Goodchild connected on her 100^th career three-pointer, becoming the quickest Duke student-athlete to 100 treys in only 45 contests.

Another three-pointer by Virginia evened the score, 59-59, with 1:41 on the clock and then Carole Miller made the run 10-0, to give the Cavaliers a 61-59 lead with 51 seconds remaining. After Duke missed a go-ahead three-pointer, Virginia added two free throws with 18 seconds left to take a 63-59 lead.
Odom cut the Cavalier lead to 63-60 with a free throw and then Virginia missed two free throws. With a chance to tie, Goodchild missed a three-pointer and the Cavaliers went back ahead by four, 64-60.

Boykin, a native of Clinton, N.C., drained a three-pointer with .3 seconds remaining. Jocelyn Willoughby drained two free throws and a last second half court shot by Boykin came up short to give Virginia the victory.

Both Odom (12) and Boykin (11) each also finished with double-digit scoring for the Blue Devils. Duke finished with a season-high 28 turnovers on the night.

Willoughby led Virginia with 24 points.

Duke will return home to host Virginia Tech Sunday, Jan. 12 at 3 p.m., in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The contest will be aired live on Regional Sports Network.

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