A tired Duke team picked themselves off the mat and delivered a knockout punch
at a determined BC team, coming back from 8 points down to win 66-52. Duke shot
an awful 26% in the first half, with Monique Currie held to just 5 points.
Despite that, the Devils only trailed by 2. The Eagles, led by Brooke Queenan
and Kindyll Dorsey, took control of the game in the second half, putting BC up
by 8 with about ten minutes to go. Duke fought back behind Currie, Lindsey
Harding and Wanisha Smith to take the lead, but BC scored consecutive baskets
to go ahead 50-49 with six minutes left. The Devils closed them out with a
dominant 17-2 run to end the game. The players mentioned above all continued
to pour it on, along with Mistie Williams and Chante Black.
Some of Duke's players are struggling right now. Abby Waner seems a bit
overwhelmed by the intensity of ACC play, and the result is that she's trying
too hard. As she adjusts to the athleticism in the league and the overall
level of competition, she should be fine. However, she's quite aware that if
she can't contribute, she will sit, with several guards more than willing to
take up those minutes. Speaking of which, Smith is playing excellent
basketball the past few games. With Currie & Harding around, Nish is getting a
ton of open looks, and she's knocking them down. Bales has also entered a
mini-slump, thanks in part to the way opponents are playing defense, but she
needs to break out of it soon with NC State coming up.
Even if Duke isn't firing on all cylinders, they're a game away from 4-0 on
their road trip of 4 games in 8 days. Only 4 more road games remain on the
schedule, with dates in Chapel Hill and Blacksburg looming as the toughest.
Duke is now 5-0 in the league, having played more games than any other team at
this point. It's good to see Duke get heavily tested in a hostile environment
against a solid opponent, even if the loss does put BC at 0-3 in the
conference. They will certainly bounce back and score some upsets this season.