Duke’s Comeback Effort Falls Short at Miami, 64-58

Sunday, January 28

Coral Gables, Fla.

2 p.m.

Duke University

13-7,5-4ACC

Miami

13-6,3-5ACC

Duke

Miami (FL)

Oluchi Okananwa takes a shot at Miami in ACC women's basketball action

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke’s Comeback Effort Falls Short at Miami, 64-58

1/28/2024 4:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Coach Lawson Presser Highlights

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Blue Devils outscored Miami 15-8 in the final five minutes but couldn't complete the comeback in a 64-58 loss to the Hurricanes in ACC women's basketball action Sunday afternoon.

Freshman Oluchi Okananwa led Duke (13-7, 5-4) with 13 points while classmate Jadyn Donovan had a good all-around performance with 10 points, four rebounds and six assists. Miami (13-6, 2-5) held the Blue Devils to just 23 points in the first half and held off the late charge from the visiting squad.

Duke outscored Miami in the paint, 28-14, and outrebounded the Hurricanes, 36-31, but Miami's 42-percent shooting from distance proved to be the difference.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The first 10 minutes was a back-and-forth affair featuring a pair of ties and four lead changes.
Trailing 8-7, Miami used a 7-0 run over a span of 1:45 to jump ahead 14-8. The Blue Devils matched the Hurricanes, scoring the period's final seven points for a 15-4 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
The Hurricanes' defense was the story in the second quarter as they held Duke to just eight points to surge in, 33-23, at the break.
Duke trimmed the deficit to eight in the third quarter as the Blue Devils put up 18 points to make it a 49-41 margin with one stanza left to play.
Freshmen Jadyn Donovan and Oluchi Okananwa paced the efforts with six points apiece while Kennedy Brown (4) and Camilla Emsbo (2) also contributed to the Blue Devil scoring.
The home team took its largest lead of the game, 56-43, at the 5:36 mark of the fourth quarter.
Duke responded with a quick 6-0 spurt via a pair of makes at the charity stripe by Taina Mair along with buckets in the paint from Emsbo and Richardson to pull within 56-49 with 4:05 left to play.
Miami made a triple to push its advantage back to double digits, but Duke refused to lie down.
The Blue Devils scored eight of the game's next 10 points and pulled within three, 61-58, with just under a minute remaining as Mair cashed in all three free throws after Miami fouled the Duke guard on a triple.
Duke forced a turnover on the ensuing Miami possession to get the ball back with a chance to tie or make it a one-point game. A Blue Devil turnover and a foul put the Hurricanes back at the line to make it a two-possession game, 63-58.
The Blue Devils missed a pair of shots as Miami iced the victory with one more free throw with nine seconds remaining.

GAME NOTES:

Three Duke players finished in double figures – Oluchi Okananwa (13), Jadyn Donovan (10), Reigan Richardson.
For the game, Duke outrebounded Miami 36-31, doubled the Hurricanes in the paint (28-14) and finished the game with a 19-8 edge in bench scoring.
The Blue Devils registered an 82-percent assist rate on the day with 18 dimes on 22 made field goals.
Nineteen of 20 Duke opponents this season have been held below their respective scoring averages entering the game. Miami's 64 points were 5.2 fewer than its average of 69.2.

UP NEXT
Duke travels to the Keystone State to close out its two-game road swing, taking on Pitt Thursday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m., live on ACCNX.

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

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