DURHAM – Locked in another defensive battle, the 21st-ranked Duke women's basketball team held off Virginia, 57-48, on Sunday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium to move to 13-4 overall and 4-3 in the ACC.
Freshman
Shayeann Day-Wilson and sophomore
Vanessa de Jesus each collected double-digit scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
The Blue Devils scored the first six points of the contest and used lock-down defense to build a 14-5 advantage after the first 10 minutes. Making her third straight start, Day-Wilson paced Duke with six points and two steals, while the Blue Devils held the Cavaliers to 2-of-15 field goals for 13.3 percent.
Duke used 63.6 percent shooting on 7-of-11 field goals in the second quarter and outscored Virginia, 20-13, to take a 34-18 into the half. Senior
Jiselle Havas capped off the quarter for the Blue Devils by draining her second career 3-pointer at Duke, just as time expired.
Day-Wilson led all scorers with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor and collected two steals. de Jesus added six points, while
Elizabeth Balogun chipped in four points for the Blue Devils. Senior
Onome Akinbode-James blocked a season-high three shots in the first half.
Duke came out in the third quarter and struggled early with four turnovers, while missing its first four shots. Sophomore
Nyah Green scored the Blue Devils' first points of the quarter at the 5:04 mark on a triple to give Duke a 37-22 advantage. Duke ended the period holding a 46-29 lead with 10 minutes remaining. Green drained two key 3-pointers in the quarter to provide a big lift.
The Cavaliers had a 10-0 run of their own late in the fourth period, cutting the Duke lead to 50-45 with 2:33 left. Day-Wilson calmly drained a pull-up jumper just inside the free throw line to halt the Virginia run and give the Blue Devils a 52-45 advantage with 46 seconds remaining. Duke's de Jesus added five free throws in the final minute to ice the game and claim the home victory.
Akinbode-James finished with a season-high five blocked shots to go along with seven points and seven rebounds.
Virginia (3-13, 0-6) was led by Kaydan Lawson with 10 points.
Game Notes:
- The Blue Devils picked up their 16th-straight win over the Cavaliers.
- Duke held Virginia to only five points in the first quarter, which was tied for the second-fewest points in the first quarter by a Blue Devil opponent in school history
- Miela Goodchild missed her first game of the season due to health and safety protocols. She had started the last five games and coming off a team-high 17 points in the last game
- Celeste Taylor missed her fourth straight contest with an injury, after getting hurt at Syracuse on Jan. 9
Up Next:
Duke will welcome North Carolina to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Thursday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. The game will be aired live on ACC Network Extra.
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