Blue Devils Drop Heartbreaker to Florida State

Thursday, February 10

Durham, N.C.

6 P.M.

Duke University

Florida State

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Drop Heartbreaker to Florida State

2/10/2022 9:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)POSTGAME NOTES PLAYER QUOTES FSU QUOTES LAWSON QUOTES GALLERY HIGHLIGHTS GOODCHILD/AKINBODE-JAMES INTERVIEW LAWSON INTERVIEW

DURHAM – The Duke women's basketball team mounted a late fourth-quarter rally but ultimately came up short, falling to Florida State, 59-56, Thursday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Senior Miela Goodchild led the scoring efforts for Duke with 13 points, including six in the fourth quarter. Junior Celeste Taylor paced the Blue Devils on the glass with eight rebounds and freshman Shayeann Day-Wilson finished with three assists.

Duke (15-8, 6-7 ACC) found itself in an early hole after starting the game 2-of-17 from the floor, with the two Blue Devil field goals coming from Taylor and senior Elizabeth Balogun. Graduate student Jade Williams drilled a jumper from the left elbow to snap a 2:35 scoring drought for the home team before a Vanessa de Jesus-Balogun 2-on-1 break pulled Duke within five (13-8) heading into the second quarter.

The Blue Devils controlled the second stanza and outscored the Seminoles 19-13 through the 10 minutes of play. A left-corner triple by de Jesus opened the scoring for Duke, then a 6-0 run shortly after pulled the home team within a point. Later in the period, Day-Wilson froze the defense with a hesitation dribble and drove the lane before kicking the ball out to Balogun who hit from distance. Duke grabbed its first lead of the game, 23-22, at the 3:48 mark when Taylor came off a pin-down screen and knocked down a short jumper from the left side. Florida State regained a three-point lead, but Day-Wilson scored the last four of the quarter to give the Blue Devils a slim, 27-26, margin at the half.

Taylor paced the offense in the first half with eight points, while tying with Balogun for a team-high four boards. Day-Wilson led Duke with a pair of assists at the break.

The tightly-contested third quarter featured a pair of ties and four lead changes. Goodchild (5), Williams (4) and de Jesus (3) combined for the 12 Blue Devil points. The Duke defense held the Seminoles without a basket for the final 3:11 of the frame, while an old-fashioned three-point play by de Jesus gave the home team a 39-36 edge heading into the fourth.

Florida State led 52-44 at the under-five media timeout after scoring 15 of the first 20 points in the quarter and held a 10-point apex with just under four minutes remaining. Duke refused to go quietly and launched an 11-2 run to get back into the game. Senior Onome Akinbode-James scored inside, then Duke cashed in three-straight triples to pull within one, 57-56. Gordon banged home a trifecta from the top of the key and Goodchild followed with a pair of her own – one from the right wing and the other in the deep-left corner.

The Blue Devils remained within striking distance and had multiple chances to tie or win the game late following back-to-back split trips at the charity stripe by the Seminoles. Unfortunately, Day-Wilson and Goodchild's attempts fell short, and a late turnover allowed the visitors to hang on for the win.

Morgan Jones led Florida State (12-10, 6-6 ACC) with 13 points.

Up Next:
Duke closes out its homestand on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m., by hosting N.C. State in Cameron Indoor Stadium, live on RSN-TV. The contest will be the Blue Devils' annual Play4Kay contest and fans are encouraged to wear pink.

#GoDuke