Blue Devils Defeat Syracuse, 62-50

Sunday, January 22

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

17-2,7-1ACC

Syracuse

13-7,4-5ACC

Syracuse

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Defeat Syracuse, 62-50

1/22/2023 4:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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DURHAM – Behind a balanced offensive attack and solid defense down the stretch, No. 13 Duke women's basketball registered a 62-50 victory over Syracuse Sunday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Shayeann Day-Wilson led the Duke (17-2, 7-1 ACC) scoring effort for the second consecutive game with 16 points while also tallying three assists and two rebounds. Celeste Taylor showed her versatility once again as she had her fingerprints all over the game, finishing with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Elizabeth Balogun rounded out the trio of double-figure scorers, filling up the stat sheet, with 10 points, six boards, two assists and two steals.

Alaina Rice paced Syracuse (13-7, 4-5 ACC) with 15 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Five different Duke players scored in the opening period for the Blue Devils, but it was the visitors who held a 15-10 lead at the end of one.
The Blue Devils commanded the second period and outscored the Orange 19-9, including a 14-2 run to close the quarter.
A 7-0 run capped by a Day-Wilson triple from the top of the key deadlocked the score at 22, then Taylor cashed in a three-pointer from the slot to give Duke its first lead of the game, 25-24, with 4:01 to go in the quarter.
Taylor added a pair of free throws and Balogun finished a transition bucket to push the Duke advantage to five, 29-24, heading into the break.
A transition basket by Richardson and a jumper from Taya Corosdale gave the Blue Devils their biggest lead of the game at 13 (39-26) at the 6:01 mark.
The Orange issued a response of their own, battling back to pull within four, 41-37, with 56 seconds left to play in the third.
Richardson connected on another jump shortly afterwards, giving Duke a six-point advantage heading into the fourth.
Syracuse pulled within two early in the period but never got any closer, as the Blue Devils strung together several stops leading to an 8-1 run to give the home team a 51-42 lead with 3:47 to go.
Later in the fourth, Taylor scored six straight to push Duke's advantage to a dozen – including a fastbreak layup off the feed from Reigan Richardson after she picked the pocket of the Orange's Dyaisha Fair, swinging momentum completely in the Blue Devils' favor.
Day-Wilson iced the game with four free throws to lock down the 62-50 victory.

GAME NOTES

With the win, Duke improves to 17-2 overall and 7-1 in ACC play.
The Blue Devils win their third consecutive game against Syracuse and improve to 8-3 all-time against the Orange.
Duke held its 11th opponent this season to 50 points or below.
The Blue Devils have held each of their opponents below their season scoring average, with Syracuse's 50 points checking in 25.6 points below its season average.
Three players finished in double figures for Duke – Day-Wilson (16), Taylor (15) and Balogun (10).
The duo of Shayeann Day-Wilson and Celeste Taylor combined for 15 of Duke's 19 points in the second quarter.
Duke finished the game plus-11 on the glass (38-27) and totaled more points in the paint (30-22), on second chance opportunities (10-8) and on the fastbreak (10-6).

UP NEXT:
Duke gears up for another top-20 matchup as the Blue Devils will square off against No. 12/ 10 Virginia Tech on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 8 p.m., live on ACC Network.

To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."

#GoDuke