Duke Faces Adversity At Syracuse And Triumphs Anyway

Kara Lawson took her Duke team to Syracuse with some adversity Sunday, encountered some more on the court, and still won, 74-65.

Duke was missing Nyah Green going in as she was in the Covid protocols. Then Celeste Taylor suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter and was in a sling afterwards. And then on top of that, Elizabeth Balogun had an off game.

Fortunately, Onome Akinbode-James had a big game with 16 points, six rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Syracuse, remember, is rebuilding after a horrible off-season which saw almost the entire season transfer, including Amaya Finklea-Guity, who transferred to Duke (she didn’t play Sunday).

With the win, Duke moves to 11-2 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. Next up is a rematch Thursday with Virginia Tech, a team that Duke lost badly to at the end of December.

• Syracuse women’s basketball extends losing streak to 3 with 74-65 loss to No. 17 Duke
• Onome Akinbode-James propels Duke to victory against Syracuse
• Five Blue Devils Score Double-Digits in Win at Syracuse
• BOXSCORE (PDF)
• POSTGAME NOTES (PDF)
• GALLERY
• LAWSON INTERVIEW
• GOODCHILD/AKINBODE-JAMES INTERVIEW