Duke Sets Sights on NCAA Quarterfinals

DURHAM, N.C. – The weekend saw the seventh-ranked Duke women's lacrosse team advance to its 16th NCAA quarterfinal appearance as the Blue Devils secured two wins during the tournament's opening weekend.

The Blue Devils captured a 19-3 victory Friday over Mount St. Mary's in first round action before a thrilling 13-12 win over No. 12 Maryland Sunday in the second round. Duke has now reached the quarterfinals in 12 of its last 13 appearances under the direction of head coach Kerstin Kimel.

DYNAMIC DUO
The attack duo of rookie Katie DeSimone and Gabby Rosenzweig has been a point of emphasis all season and was on full display this weekend in the opening rounds. The dangerous duo combined for 22 points in Duke's two games as DeSimone scored eight goals and dished three assists. Rosenzweig added three goals and eight assists.

DeSimone has registered a hat trick eight times this season to Rosenzweig's 12. Rosenzweig also ranks ninth on the NCAA active career leaders charts with 309 points (146 goals, 163 assists).

"Gabby has been someone I've looked up to always," DeSimone said. "Every single day on the field, I just want to learn and I'm like a sponge every time I'm around her. She has so much knowledge that she throws at me and it's been so amazing. I'm so grateful that I've been able to play with her over the past year and I'm so excited for everything that's to come in the next couple of days."

LeROSE BETWEEN THE PIPES
Junior Sophia LeRose has been a force between the pipes for Duke this season, and Sunday's victory over No. 12 Maryland was no exception.

Duke was held without a goal for the final 20 minutes and Maryland tallied six goals in the second half to pull within one (13-12) late in the contest. The Terps had a last second opportunity to tie the game as Libby May got a good look at the cage but LeRose was solid all day and collected her 11th save to secure the win. LeRose added three ground balls as well to follow her career-best save percentage showing from Friday's win over Mount St. Mary's (.778).

This season, LeRose owns a 10.18 goal against average to rank 15th in the nation and third in the ACC.

DUKE DOMINANCE AT THE DRAW
The Blue Devils are 13-5 this season when winning the draw and continues to rank among the national leaders in the category. Duke is second in the country in draw control percentage (.643) and seventh in draw controls per game (16.78).

Junior Maddie Jenner leads the ACC with 10.00 draw controls per game and is third nationally heading into Saturday's contest. Jenner owns 180 draw controls this spring and has posted a season-high 15 three times this season, just one off her career high.

NCAA STATISTICS – DRAW CONTROL PERCENTAGE

UMass – 0.656
Duke – 0.643
Stanford – 0.633
Monmouth – 0.616
Boston College – 0.610

NCAA ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS – DRAW CONTROLS PER GAME

Maddie Jenner, Duke – 8.27
Caitlyn Petro, UMass – 8.21
Julianna Sanchez, Campbell – 6.88
Reagan Roelofs, Navy – 6.85
Megan Halczuk, UMBC – 6.72

BARRY APPROACHES 100 CAREER POINTS
Midfielder Catriona Barry is just two away from 100-career points as she owns 70 goals and 28 assists. This season, she has five hat tricks and tied her career-high four goals twice, including Duke's thrilling ACC Championship opening game against Notre Dame. The Napa, Calif., native also has reeled in 150 draw controls, 69 ground balls and 51 caused turnovers over her career.

Duke will travel to Evanston, Ill., to take on No. 2 Northwestern Saturday, May 22 at 1 p.m. (ET) on ESPN3.

For more information on Duke women's lacrosse, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "DukeWLAX.

#GoDuke