Lady Blue Devils Squeak Past Wake Forest Despite Injury-Bug
DURHAM, NC – Despite seeing several players injured and not available to play, Duke defeated Wake Forest 59-51.
Alex Sharp and Elisa Penna opened the scoring early for Wake Forest with two corner threes that prompted an early Duke timeout down six just seconds in to the game.
Penna would really dominate the first quarter, matching Duke’s total points for the quarter at 10 and leading her team to the 17-10 advantage after the first 10 minutes. Penna would finish the game with a game-high 23 points.
The second quarter was back and forth. Duke would fight back to tie the game at 19. Wake Forest would use a 7-0 run to take a 28-25 lead.
Duke went in to the half trailing 28-27
Lexie Brown opened the scoring for the Lady Blue Devils to give Duke the early 29-28 lead.
Wake Forest would use a 7-0 run to take a seven-point lead at 35-29. Both teams would continue to trade baskets before Duke would get on a 10-0 run to take the four-point lead at 39-35 with 27 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Sofia Roma would help Duke seal the deal with five huge points and four rebounds in the fourth quarter. Roma finished with five points and four rebounds. Brown finished with 21 points, five rebounds, and five assists
The Lady Blue Devils would go on to defeat the Wake Forest Lady Deacons 59-51.
It was a rough game for the Lady Blue Devils, getting outrebounded 37-35. The injury bug has been serious this year for Duke, seeing at least nine players miss time this season. Just as she looked to be Coach P’s new go-to player, it was announced by Duke on Tuesday that Haley Gorecki will miss the remainder of the season with a hip injury.
Rebecca Greenwell looked very solid in tonight’s game, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds. This was one of her better games she has recorded recently after returning from a knee injury back in January.
Coach P mentioned that “there are no pity parties here…we gotta play!” When asked about how have things changed defensively, Coach P talked about how she felt her team was “getting better.”
With no worries in sight for the Lady Blue Devils, they will look to focus on improving their performances every game moving forward as they get closer to the postseason. “We just have to keep battling,” stated the 11th year Duke Coach.
Duke will hit the road for their next two contests as they will travel to face Clemson (Feb. 11) and Syracuse (Feb. 15) before returning home for two tough battles versus Florida State and North Carolina to end the season. Look for Duke to switch up lineups and for players like Roma and Leaonna Odom to really step up in the next few weeks.
(Photos courtesy of Mel Brown/Qiana Hendrix)